The research shows the Top 10 safety and security lapses are:
1. more than three-quarters (76 per cent) don’t have a burglar alarm or have one but don’t always turn it on before they go out.
2. Six-in-10 (59 per cent) don’t always ask a tradesman for identification.
3. Almost half 48 (per cent) don’t bother leaving a light on when away from home.
4. Over four-in-10 (46 per cent) don’t always check that appliances are switched off every time they leave the house.
5. Just over a third (37 per cent) would not bother to have the locks changed if they lost their keys.
6. 27 per cent leave spare keys outside their house e.g. under a mat.
7. Over a quarter (27 per cent) do not possess a smoke alarm and those that do, don’t check it regularly.
8. Almost a quarter (23 per cent) smoke in their home or allow others to.
9. Nearly one-in-five (18 per cent) say they don’t always lock all their doors and windows when they go out.
10. One-in-six (14 per cent) have no idea how many people have keys to their home.

Despite the major gap between perceptions and reality about household safety and security almost nine-in-10 (89 per cent) of those quizzed believe homeowners that take safety precautions seriously such as fitting locks, alarms and other measures should pay lower insurance premiums.

But a surprising and worrying finding reveals that one in five (17 per cent) do not have a home insurance policy.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 17th, 2007 at 11:34 am and is filed under Safety, Home Security. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.