Before you go to bed and while you are away from home, make sure you lock those doors and windows and keep that porch light shining at night; break-in season is here again, says Aviva Canada.
Toronto-based Aviva is one of Canada's largest home insurers and every few years it does a survey of the claims it has paid. Late this spring, it issued its latest report.
What it showed was that once warm weather sets in, smash and grab thieves head back to work. The momentum builds slowly. Claims figures show that burglaries rise 4 per cent above the annual monthly average in June, 9 per cent in July and reach a peak of 20 per cent in August. Peak day of the week is Friday. In fact, the chances of a home break-in are 28 per cent higher on a Friday than on a Sunday.
Not surprising, says Wayne Ross, vice-president national property claims.
"Summer is the traditional holiday time for homeowners," he says. "Fridays are also the night many people go out on the town. Besides, it is a lot more comfortable for thieves to do their work in nice weather than in bad."
But there is good news. Smash-and-grab thieves seem to be particularly active during economic downturns. This year, since we have started to recover from a recession, overall claims from residential break-ins are down 25 per cent from last year.
Do not start cheering just yet. Your chances of a break-in might be dropping but your chances of having a flooded basement are up significantly.
"Water damage claims have risen dramatically," Mr. Ross says. "About half the claims made to us now are due to water damage."
Why? Two significant factors, he explains. The first is that increasing urbanization - all those new homes and condos - have put tremendous burdens on outdated sewer systems and paved over the green areas that used to absorb rainwater. Instead of going into the ground, the water winds up in basements when sewers cannot handle the surge.
The second is shifting weather patterns. "Those once-in-a-century storms now seem to be coming every year," he says.
Back to burglaries. While Ontario has a relatively low frequency of burglaries (79 per cent of the national average), if you live in the GTA your chances are 21 per cent higher of a break-in than anywhere else in the province.
If you live in a low-rise structure, like a detached, semi-detached or townhouse, your chances of a break-in are four times higher than if you live in a condo. In condos, if you live on the bottom two floors and have a balcony, you run nearly the same risk as a detached house.
"That is because balconies and patio doors are a favourite point of entry for smash and grab criminals," Mr. Ross says. "Entering through the front doors of a condo presents too great a risk of being seen by a neighbour."
People also often overlook safety precautions with sliding patio doors. They forget to put that sturdy stick or piece of wood in the bottom track to prevent the door being forced open from the outside.
Being a smash-and-grab burglar in the GTA also seems to be a more lucrative trade than in the rest of the province. Aviva says its average GTA claim is about $6,000 versus $4,800 in the rest of the province.
"I think that is because GTA residents tend to have more of the electronics that thieves like to steal - flat-screen TVs, laptop computers, video consoles and such," he says. "What smash-and-grab criminals want are things that are portable and that they can steal by getting in and out quickly."
So what can you do to prevent burglaries? It is a matter of common sense, Mr. Ross says. Have deadbolts on your doors and use them. Lock your windows at night and when leaving your home. Have a motion-sensor light near each entrance. Think about installing a burglar alarm.
"For smash-and-grab thieves one that makes a loud noise is probably best," Mr. Ross says. "The last thing these thieves want to do is draw attention so if the alarm goes off, chances are they will flee."
In condos, the same basic rules apply. But if you live on a lower floor, pay special attention to that sliding door leading onto the balcony.
So, if you take all these precautions, are your home insurance rates likely to drop? Not much chance of that, Mr. Ross says. The simple fact is that insurance rates are on the way up, being driven by a number of factors.
The first is that insurance companies really run two businesses; there is the insurance side and the investments side (that is what they do with all that money from premiums to ensure cash is there to pay claims). Right now, return on investments is low. To deliver the returns their shareholders demand, insurance companies have to focus on profit from their regular business.
The second is that home insurance is not just about theft; it also covers damage from fire, water, wind and third-party liability. All those storms we have been having are driving claims up and up - and as claims rise, so do premiums.
Finally, where is the safest place to live in Canada? New Brunswick, according to Aviva. It has just 43 per cent of the national average for burglaries. The worst is Quebec with 199 per cent of the national average.