RACV and Neighbourhood Watch Victoria are encouraging Victorians, including those in Maribyrnong and Hobsons Bay, to take the necessary steps around their home to help improve their safety and security and ensure their home insurance is up to date.
The reminder comes off the back of the latest data from the Victorian Crime Statistics Agency that shows property and deception offences are the types of crimes that have had the largest increase in the last 12 months, up 15.6 per cent to 272,790. Property and deception offences include burglary, break and enter and theft.
RACV claims data also shows that over the last two years, almost 57 per cent of car key theft occurred in people’s homes.
RACV Head of Home and Business Insurance Kirsty Hayes said the sad fact of property theft was when victims found their insurance did not cover their lost items.
“It’s essential to check that your home insurance is up to date, with an adequate level of cover,” she said.
“You can calculate the estimated cost to repair or replace your contents by using a home contents calculator.
“You can also look into a variety of home security products from RACV to help protect your home including alarm systems and monitoring, smart home security and security cameras (CCTV).”
RACV and Neighbourhood Watch are also encouraging Victorians to use How Safe is My Place to help identify vulnerabilities in their property. Last month, the website was translated into Chinese, Punjabi and Vietnamese to expand the reach of Neighbourhood Watch – in particular to new migrants who may not have a similar program in their original countries.
You can find your local Neighbourhood Watch group at www.nhw.com.au/groups, or register through the website to start your own and you can learn more about RACV Home Security Systems here.
