Someone Broke Into My House. What Should I Do Now?

Break-ins can be scary. It can turn what was supposed to be your private sanctuary into a place that makes you feel unsafe and vulnerable – a place that you probably don’t want to live in anymore.

But, as unfortunate as this experience can be, it is possible for you to move on from a burglary and go back to how things were before it all happened.

Here’s how:

Call the Police ASAP

Call the authorities immediately and file a report. Doing so puts the incident on record. This is a crucial step for insurance claims, in addition to helping increase the chances of the perpetrators getting caught.

If you’re currently not in the house when the break-in was discovered, call the police right there and then. Don’t wait until you get home to call. Also, only enter your premises once the police are there – you’ll never know if the burglar is still there and you definitely don’t want to risk it. Don’t touch anything inside your home until the police arrive either; you’ll need the place to be as it is when the burglars left to make it easier for the police to find any key evidence that may help in solving the case.

Once the police do arrive, accompany them as they make a sweep throughout your entire house. While doing so, make a list of all the items that the burglar may have potentially took, including as detailed of a description as you can of each one and their approximate values. If you have pictures, even better. Make multiple copies of your list for insurance purposes.

Lastly, if you saw someone near your residence, especially making their way out, right around the time of the crime, tell the police everything you can remember about them. This includes your estimates on their sex, age, race, what they were wearing, and if they had any identifiable marks. Don’t forget to tell the police which direction the possible suspect went after vacating your property as well.

Get in Touch with Your Insurance Company

This is where having a homeowner’s or renter’s insurance come in handy.

As soon as the break-in happens, file a claim, and send them a list of all the things that you lost. Make sure that you send them everything that you also sent to the police. If you do that, there’s a huge chance that they’ll refund most of the items that you lost.

Of course, the process won’t be instant. The insurance company will have to verify your claim first. They’ll most likely send someone to investigate your claim in person. If that happens, it’s best to stay out of the investigator’s way and let them do their job.

Check Your Security Cameras

If you have security cameras around your house, now will be a good time to check on them.
Just make sure that you’re emotionally prepared to do this; seeing the burglar on camera can be a pretty devastating experience.

After viewing the footage, make a copy and send it to the police and your insurance company. Additionally, use the footage to learn from how the burglar entered your house and where you can improve the security of your home so you can begin taking safety measures on how to prevent it from happening again.

Clean Up Everything

Once you have documented everything, you can start slowly physically putting back the pieces together, starting with anything related to the break-in.

If you’re not particularly handy yourself, try to board up anything broken during the attempt until the repairmen can come in. If you can afford it, pay the premium to have everything fixed and made more secure asap.
The sooner that you can get things back to the way they were, the easier it’ll be to move on from the break-in.

Accept and Move On

This is easier said than done and perhaps the hardest part of the process. You may never even fully recover from the break-in, especially if it involved you or your family being physically harmed. But, you do have to continue on with your life, and the only way you can do that is to try to move on and make sure that it never happens again.

Do remember that time heals everything, although sprinkling in a bit of positive attitude wouldn’t hurt either.

If you were recently a victim of a break-in or a burglary, it’s easy to feel vulnerable and it’s understandable that you want to make sure that it never happens again.

In addition to taking the tips above, what you can do is to work with a home security service provider. They’re the ones who are best equipped to help you secure your home so you and your family are never put in this kind of precarious situation ever again.