The Secret to Surviving the Christmas Crime Wave (and Keeping Your Dallas Homeowners Insurance Rates Down While You're at It)

The Secret to Surviving the Christmas Crime Wave (and Keeping Your Dallas Homeowners Insurance Rates Down While You're at It)

Have a holly, jolly Christmas in warm, sunny Dallas-but make sure yo

Strange Christmas Crimes Straight Off the Police Scanner It's not just regular crime that's shooting up this Christmas! Here's a look at some of the strangest criminal escapades across the country during the holiday season: · Stealing Baby Jesus from the manger scene. · Drunk driving while pulling a parade float. · The planned assassination of an inflatable Frosty-twice. · A kidnapping-hosted by Santa. · Swiping plastic reindeer from area houses. · Vandalizing a vehicle with a plastic candy cane.

u're hanging on to your holly! Something about the Christmas season always manages to shake thieves out of their winter blues and send them out on some very….creative…crime waves! While having a pair of teenagers stab an inflatable Frosty or make off with a larger than life Mr. Grinch probably isn't going to do too much long term damage to your budget (or your homeowners insurance rates), having someone make off with all the presents under the tree-and swing by for the contents of your safe while they're at it-is a different kind of Christmas story altogether.

Since having your home cleaned out while you're out of town this Christmas is going to be murder on your Dallas homeowners insurance rates, it pays to be three steps ahead of the game. You don't have to go all "Home Alone" (1,2 or 3) on them. All you have to do is take a few basic safety precautions.

1) Don't advertise the fact that you're going out of town.

2) Hire someone to watch the house and bring in your mail while you're away.

3) Put deadbolts on all of your doors, and make sure the windows are locked before you leave.

4) Purchase an electronic security system-and use it.

5) Keep large Christmas presents hidden away until Christmas. It's a lot easier to break into someone's living room and steal a gift from under the tree tan it is to go digging through their attic…especially if your attic looks like mine!

6) Invest in double paned glass. It's a lot harder (and noisier) to break.

7) Leave a light on. Criminals love dark, quiet houses. You're going to pay a lot more to replace what they steal than you will on electricity.

8) Bring in your outdoor decorations if you're going to be gone for an extended period of time, especially if you live in a small(ish) neighborhood. That's kind of like having a huge oak tree in your front lawn on Halloween night that's just the right high for a good TP'ing-you're just asking for trouble from the neighborhood kids who know you're not home for Christmas.

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• The Secret to Surviving the Christmas Crime Wave (and Keeping Your Dallas Homeowners Insurance Rates Down While You're at It) - Nov 30, 2009 - 9:57:11 AM