Domestic Disaster: Dealing with a Burglary

It’s something that you never expect to happen to you. You return home with the family after a day out or holiday – or get in with a crowd of friends after a great night out – and find that your home has been burgled.

In this article we look at six things to do if the worst sadly does happen.

Six things to do if you have been burgled

Call the police

This sounds fairly obvious, but the shock of discovering a burglary can prevent you thinking clearly. Your immediate concern might be to check that pets are safe or whether something particularly special is missing but do call the police straight away. The sooner you call, the better chance they have of catching the culprit and hopefully getting your belongings back. Give them clear information about your address and the time you have been away from the property and if they deem it to be urgent they will get to you as soon as they can.

Make notes

In the immediate aftermath of a burglary your mind will be buzzing. So make notes – either on paper or on your computer or phone – of everything that comes into your mind. From facts such as times and where it seems the burglar has entered, to whether you have noticed anything suspicious recently, to items that you are certain are missing: everything is useful and your notes could be very helpful to the police during the investigation.

Take photos

When you are noting things down also take photos if they seem relevant. It is important to record any damage and any places from where items have been taken: but don’t disturb anything that may help the investigation. Your photos could help the police and also be useful when you are in touch with your insurer (see item 5).

Sort out replacement cards, keys or documents

This is really laborious but you will urgently need to cancel any missing credit cards and organise replacements. You will also need to consider changing the locks on your home and also your car if those keys have gone missing. Also check for less urgent – but no less important – documents such as driving licence, passport and any other kind of ID cards or travel documents. You need to report these missing as soon as you are able, both to prevent identity theft but also to organise replacements.

File a Police Report

A police report is the official record of the crime, and it is important to make sure it’s filed as quickly as possible. This is over and above the police coming to your home. You may have to file the report in person at a station, or it is sometimes possible to file online. Either way, you will be given a report number and other details that you will then need to use whenever you are in contact with police or other authorities about the burglary.

Contact Your Insurance company

You need to do this as soon as possible but will also need the following information to help you:

Your police report number
Other information as needed from the police report – such as alleged date and time of the crime
Damage to your home (before and after photos if you have them)
List of missing items
Estimated value of any specific items you want to claim for (receipts are helpful if you have them)

The more evidence you can provide to your insurance company to support your claim, the easier the whole process will be.

If you have suffered a burglary you may also need some additional financial assistance to tide you over. There will be repairs to your home needed and also you may need to quickly replace essential items to be able to carry on your everyday life. Even if you are covered by insurance it can sometimes take a while for the money to come through. This is where Loans2Go can help!

We offer a range of unsecured loans and if your loan is approved we can get the money into your bank account within 60 minutes when you apply online.

So if you are stuck for cash after a burglary then do get in touch with us and we will try to help. You can either enquire online, call us on 0330 400 0403, email us on [email protected] or What’sApp us on 07976 200 597.

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