Protecting Your Home While You’re On Holiday

It’s a great feeling to be taking a relaxing break but you want to feel confident that your house will be fine while you’re not there. Here are a few tips for keeping your home safe.

If you’re preparing your home for a period of unoccupancy, you might want to start by making a list of deliveries and subscriptions to take care of. Parcels left outside might advertise the fact you’re not in.

Talk to friends and close neighbours about keeping an eye on things for you. Is there someone trusted you can leave a key with who can pop by occasionally to put the bins out and collect your post? In case of an emergency, leave them a list of essential contacts and instructions for smart appliances, alarms and home security systems.

How should you leave your house while on holiday?

Keep the front of your house and your garden neat and tidy to avoid it looking unused or neglected. Check all windows are shut properly and locked with a key. Double lock doors and secure outbuildings and gates. It may invalidate your home insurance if you leave anything open. Hide all keys out of sight.
Leave curtains and blinds open to make the place look lived in.
Switch off and unplug any devices or appliances that don’t need to stay on.
Programme your alarm system.
Dispose of any packaging for expensive items and don’t leave valuables and devices on show.
Park your car on your driveway but don’t leave your driving ID or car keys in the hallway or kitchen.
Put keyless fobs somewhere out of range, so thieves can’t interrupt the signal and gain access to your car. If you are planning a driving holiday, you could ask your neighbour to park in your driveway while you’re on your road trip.
Buy a plug-in timer to programme the radio and lights to come on for a couple of hours.
As well as being a deterrent for thieves, home surveillance systems let you monitor and control lights and appliances remotely to give the impression that someone is at home.

Prepping your garden for the holidays

Keep things trim in the garden. If you’re going away in summer, give the lawn a good cut and tame flower and vegetable beds. You might want to set up a watering system in your raised beds or greenhouse to ensure your plants get enough water.
Pack away garden furniture and place tools and bicycles in a locked shed or garage.
Fit solar or motion sensor lights that can be operated by a timer or your smart phone.

Should I leave the heating on in winter

If you’re planning a winter escape, it’s best to protect your house from sudden temperature drops. Turn the water off at the stopcock. Keep central heating running on a low setting and lag exposed pipes. Check your home insurance covers you for home emergencies such as burst pipes and leaks.

If you’re going to be away for some time, you might want to drain the system down by closing off the stopcock and letting excess water out of the system so the pipes are empty. You may need to check your cover to see how long you can leave your home unoccupied under your policy.

Safeguarding your home for longer holidays

Consult your home insurance policy documents to see how long you can be away for without invalidating your cover. Most insurance policies will cover your property for up to 30 or 60 consecutive days with no additional terms or cost.

Your house is insured for 60 days in a row with Saga Home Insurance Check the terms of your particular policy cover the full extent of your holiday. If they do not, you may wish to take out unoccupied house insurance to give you the confidence to travel for as long as you want.

Even the most careful preparations cannot guarantee against burglaries but having sufficient buildings and contents insurance to cover any loss is better than having to replace everything at your own expense. We offer up to £1k to help you deal with the psychological effects of a break-in too.

Protecting your identity when travelling

Store digital copies of your passport and travel documents on your phone and keep pin numbers, log ins and credit cards separate. Take electronic copies of your insurance documents with you, so you can check anything you need wherever you are.

Be mindful of posting your holiday details on social media or discussing your address and travel plans in public. You won’t want to alert strangers to the fact that you’re away from home.

Check your policy to make sure your gadgets and electronic devices are protected while you’re travelling or if you need to take out travel insurance too. Now all that’s left is to pack your bags and have a thoroughly blissful time away.

Who are Saga's home insurance policies underwritten by?

Saga Home Insurance policies, exclusively for people over 50, are unique products designed specifically for our customers. They are underwritten by a number of carefully selected insurers that provide our high standards of quality and service.