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Security - keep your propety safe


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Folks

For those of you who don't live in France, please can I remind you of the dangers of chatting on this forum, making it clear that you don't live at your property and giving a website, which gives a detailed location of where your property is.  You are leaving yourself wide open to theft.

This forum is as safe as any other.... but do remember that not everybody on the internet is as lovely and as honest as you!

I've seen several instances on this forum recently of people making it clear they are in England, along with a website telling any prospective thief exactly where their property is!

Please take care .... sad, I know.... but necessary.  Theft at holiday homes is not uncommon.

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Good advice chocccie!

I get the impression too that the rural French are certainly not as paranoid over security as we English townies.

I am a Homewatch co-ordinator in England  and people's lax attitudes even in the towns never ceases to amaze me. ( or am I paranoid too???)

I also get the impresion that a lot of 2nd homes aren't insured either!!!! Crazy of what?????

I also understand that there is a bit of a debate as to whether or not shutters should be closed on empty properties as this indicates they are empty?

( please be careful answering this if you have a website!!!!!)

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Its not only the properties that are at risk too but all the garden equipment,furniture and plants too that get stolen just as much and are quite often left outside with the attitude that there is no crime in rural France - poor misguided fools and this is the thieving season too with huge numbers of strangers about and gens de voyage doing their gatherings and yes, some are dishonest and steal things before anyone says I am discriminating.
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I cannot agree with you more.  Last year we had a theft of all garden furniture and our neighbours had all their plant pots (which they had only just filled with flowers) stolen.  They even took our fence (which was 7 panels of 6' x 5'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

We now lock EVERYTHING up and the fence has now been welded on to metal posts!

Of course, they could come back and smash the padlocks etc off but we live in hope that it was a "one off chancer".

Fiona

 

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Poppy - I had my solar lights stolen too!

Everytime we visited France from the UK I was so relieved to find everything intact.  Ironically, it was just after we moved out here permanently that we had a prowler/thief.  I had gone to visit my friend for a night or two and returned to find that five (out of a bunch of eight) solar lights had been pinched.  I had stuck them all in a bunch to charge up.  Not sure why only five were pinched though! 

We also found signs that the building we keep our tractor and garden equipment in had been jimmied (unsucessfully).  Then I went to look at the shutters and found a similar mark... I couldn't tell how recent it was though.

I know somebody who had their holiday home pretty much cleared out very recently ... they had obviously taken their time too.   A house up my lane was also burgled of outdoor equipment recently.

As for thinking the rural French aren't security concious ... which ones???!  Have you ever seen a ground floor window without either shutter or bars?  And most of them are insured up to the hilt, have dogs, sensor light, lazer guns, the lot.  (Well, I might have made the last one up!).

We've just put extra security on our ground floor shutters .... Mr. Bricolage had a sale on metal bars - the type that sit in brackets ... only about 10 euros a pop and they are really strong.

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Fiona, I know of several break-ins and acts of vandalism in my bit of the Lot recently.  All of these happened around the time of, and in the area of, the various annual village fetes.  Same thing last year.  Even the Maire got his meat truck nicked! 
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Choccie- this is getting very bizarre, only 5 out of our 8 solar lights were stolen and I think the ones left are  the only ones that were working properly. Hopefully it was just kids and thay could only carry 5. I know they were cheap and cheerful but it has put the wind up us and we make sure we lock the car etc at night which  we have never done before.  Cat- we have heard lots over the years about things disappearing during the fetes,washing off lines etc but we are miles away from villages and fetes. Don't like this new feeling [:(] 
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[quote user="Poppy"].  Don't like this new feeling [:(] [/quote]

 

I know exactly how you feel.  I couldn't sleep at night and had my husband up and down during the night to look out of the window if I heard a noise.  And of course, in the middle of the countryside there are plenty of noises.

But try not to fret.... most thefts are opportunistic, they want to be in and out quickly and quietly.  Fingers crossed it was just a one-off.

 

 

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I suppose we all when returning to our property after leaving it for weeks wonder if all is  " going to be well this time ".....I have been concerned of late by callers who want to sell me stuff....the last one showing  pictures of new roofs  that he had put on when it was plain to see my house has a new roof ... So was he just trying to see if the place was empty ? I am advised these people are not local  but "Passing through " and I have seen where they have piched up in the pic- nic  areas outside other villages in the area ...I  also turn the water off at the stopcock as my outside tap on the wall can be seen from the road . and lock the gates ...just in case a few big containors end up being filled while I am away ...I dont want to provide a supply source  for those who need to fill them !!  The shutters are locked  and i believe the insurers require it ....Most of my neighbours  shutter themselves indoors of an evening .....we know they are home .....but a passser by would not tell .... Do we advertise we have somthing worth pinching  by fitting an alarm ?.......... I am yet to see an alarm on a house in the village ..so to fit one may become a talking point.......... and I hate to think what might be said if it went off in the middle of the night ! .........Our  UK home has one ...and so does everybody in the road ... its not an event to hear one sounding ...The solar powered alarm systems that keep a battery charged inside the box up on the wall....and that are  linked to movement detectors with  batteries  and are radio signal linked to the siren are not expensive today ..... and would provide a  working system  while everything is shut down    but .....I havent heard of any break- ins where my place is ...yet       I suppose when it happens alarms will then start appearing ....

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Hi Nicos,

This was in France (Dept 83) - fortunately we have only had an attempted theft in Scotland!!!  Meant to add that the garden shed was also raided of ALL equipment ( many items which had never been used).  No doubt they made a pretty penny at the local car boot sale that weekend!

Like some of the other replies, do you fit an alarm system showing you may have something worth stealing??  The guy who looks after our premises (and accompanied us to Mr Bricolage) was horrified when I suggested getting this massive padlock (which would have secured the crown jewels!!!) saying exactly that - "they will think you have something worthwhile".  Well, I do think we have soemthing worthwhile - apart from the amount of money spent - they also violate our privacy and sense of security.  It makes me so angry that you work your butt off for someone to come along and take it from you. 

Also as to the alarm - we have a pool alarm (goes off in strong winds) - does anyone hear??  yes - probably.  Does anyone care to see if someone is drowning??? NO.  I rest my case on alarms!!!

However, lets all hope we arrive at our homes on the next visit to find all is well. 

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For a holiday home, the best burglar alarm is an alert neighbour. Failing that, I'd put up a camera or two rather than an alarm with a remote (or web-based) recording system. A nice picture of your "visitors" is worth a dozen alarms wailing into the wind.

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Nice idea Catalpa..........but ..........how do you get round the Insurers requirement that when your holiday home is unoccupied they require you to turn off the electricity at the consumer box..... and ..turn of the water and drain down the system .... and lock secured all shutters on the doors and windows ....I cant see them agreeing to you leaving the power on ....a short cuircuit causing a fire and they would not cover you !
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[quote user="Frederick"]Nice idea Catalpa..........but ..........how do you get round the Insurers requirement that when your holiday home is unoccupied they require you to turn off the electricity at the consumer box...[/quote]

Take out a policy which does not have that as an exclusion. Not all policies have to be totally "off the peg" - even in France - though one will pay extra for the level of bespokedness. [:P] If the camera or alarm is protecting items of worth, an increase in the cost of the policy may be considered worthwhile.

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