Robbery/ break-in

Our daughters home was broken into over the week end. She was out of town. Her father and I had been working there til 7:30pm Sat night and locked the house up. They used a pry bar of sorts to pop the side door. They went thru everything; closets, freezer, drawers, etc. My question regards the home owners insurance. I don't want her to go into this naive to how it works. How does she get the maximum (not fraud)for the damage/theft? I know a couple who had this happen some time ago and they had all their clothing cleaned knowing they had gone thru every pocket in every coat etc. Her perfume tops/lids were taken off! A ring that included some diamonds from her grandmother was taken and how does she get a price on that w/ no photos. She lived as tho it would never happen to her. Her dads table saw was there but not taken but her pc was. Altho, some of her dads Craftsman tools left there were taken. We will be installing a few motion dection lights for her. thanks .

OH my! I'm glad she wasn't home! While I can't help you with the home owners insurance question, I can help with a few tips for her.

First and most important, her PC. That will have personal information on it, which is more than likely why they took it. She needs to contact all her credit cards companies and banks. Next, she needs to contact the Social Security office and alert them as well.

Have her check for any medications they may have taken. Those will have personal info, too.

Motion lights are an excellent idea as well as extra locks on the doors and windows.

Contacting the police for a neighborhood watch program might not hurt, either.

And this part might be delicate...but has she spoken to anyone other than family and the police about this? These kinds of things can be devastating to your peace of mind and it doesn't hurt to attend a support group. They can help with all kinds of things.

Good luck to her and you!!! Kwanjin

kwanjin -- That is excellent advice. We forget how much personal information is stored on our PCs and how prevalent identity theft is. Changing the locks would be a good idea. If that side door was a weak point in the house, I'd have both a security light and an alarm installed there.

I am so sorry this happened to Anastatia's daughter but am very grateful that she was not at home.

June

That is great advice. I hate to hear about things like this. When I was a kid my Mom's house was broken into and robbed while we were visiting my Aunt in another state. It still confuses/amazes me the stuff that they took. They took opened coffee out of our cupboards. It made me realize the insanity of the folks who did it. Unfortunately I don't know about the insurance parts either because I was just a kid. I do remember feeling so vulnerable though. The idea that someone you don't know had been in your house and gone through all of your stuff when you weren't there...that really freaks anyone out. The hard part was trying to go through the house and write down everything that was missing, some things are obvious, some things aren't....like how many blue towels did we have?

DH has always said we were going to make a video of the house and store it at our neighbor's in case of a fire. We've never done it, but we really need to...for fire or theft.

I wonder about your DD's ring...what if she talked to a jewelry appraiser? I would think that they should be able to give her some idea of the ring's worth just from a description of it. It's worth a shot anyway.

I wish all of you the best and hope that this is all over with very soon.
Heather

Thank you. Yes, she walked around the street talking to neighbors. And there is a neighborhood watch "lady" on the street who has hosted a few prior to my DD moving into the house. Now I think my daughter will host one. There is a security system adverstised that is not too expensive; laser watch or something like that. I will get back with what I find out. Her computer was a "gift" from her brother who upgraded. He had deleted all his info prior to giving it to her. She had the comcast cable/internet guy show up Saturday afternoon to connect her to the system. So, she had nothing on it, yet. And she is cancelling her checks etc.

This message was edited Oct 15, 2007 1:56 PM

The security system is called Laser Shield. $200.00 They have a website under that name.

I'm glad you found a security system that fits in her budget. The neighborhood watch is something that can't be replaced. We don't have one here, but I do have extra nosy neighbors...the two biggest nibs in town, so much so that other folks ask me if it bothers me to live next to them...I say NO! because they are peeping out their windows at the tiniest little noise. If anyone ever broke into our house I'm sure the neighbors would see them do it and call the police!

Something that I always thought was kinda goofy, but not so much since I've started gardening, is the idea of planting pointy and sharp plants under windows. Even some grasses would work. Yesterday DH and I were tying up my Variegated Japanese Silver Grass and it cut him on the face, not a cut you could see, but it drove him crazy all day. A Yucca or Agave under a window, a Cactus if they will survive in your zone...that would at least make someone think twice before they approached the window. I know that they went right in her door though. Still, it's an idea to make her feel safer.

We have a Doberman who gives me a lot of security when my DH works nights. Any type of dog is a great watch/warning system though...if you're a pet person. Our Sheltie barks if a cricket chirps...the our Lab and Doberman have to get into the act too...it sounds like a full blown kennel in here, but I would imagine to a bad guy it would sound like a place they don't want to enter.

I just feel so bad for your DD. I hope the police find who did it and that she gets her things back, especially her Grandma's ring.

Pointy plants are a good idea under windows. That's why we planted roses under ours. The cats are pretty good "watch-dogs", too! Anyone comes around the yard and the cats are all over whatever window they are by.

We used to have a cat that would do that too. Ruined every window blind in my house, the little goof ball. She would put her paw up and pull the blinds apart to peek out, then stick her head through the blinds. I knew everyone was thinking there were 3 very nosy neighbors on my block!