Tips to help prepare for the worst if you become the victim of a home burglary
No one wants to think about a home break-in, but if it happens, you want to make sure you have everything ready to maximize your insurance claim for your valuables.
Make sure you have clear, recent photos of your valuables that show their condition.
Have a copy of your receipt saved, showing how much you paid for it.
If your item has a serial number, keep a record of it.
Some people engrave their items. Marked property can be more difficult for a thief to resell.
All these things help maximize your claim to replace your item. They also help police investigate.
“That makes it easy for us to enter it as stolen,” Tacoma Police Lieutenant Shawn Malott said. “And so, if it does show up on a pawn shop or on an online site, we can definitely prove, ‘Okay, this is John Smith’s bike here.’”
Commonly stolen items include:
Jewelry
Electronics
Tools
Computers
Guns and other sporting equipment
Malott cautions that if you come home and you find your door open, you should not go inside, even though it may be your first instinct. He says to call 911 first in case burglars are still in your home.
