The first time Kim Terca’s San Francisco apartment was burglarized six years ago, it wasn’t too traumatic. It wasn’t fun, but at least she had roommates with whom she could commiserate, and the laptops that were taken were rather old. Overall, it seemed like she emerged from the experience relatively lucky and had learned a life lesson: She promptly took out renters insurance.
The second time Terca was burglarized was more unsettling, however. It was a new apartment, sans roommates, and it happened on Christmas Eve, 2014. Terca, a marketing director, returned on Christmas Day to find much of her place cleaned out. The robber left the furniture and, well, plenty of her belongings, but many things were gone — irreplaceable family jewelry, all of her sunglasses, her Christmas gifts, her TV, her electronics.
“He even took my toothpaste,” she says.
There are approximately 2 million burglaries every year in the U.S., according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. If you, like Terca, discover you’ve been burglarized, take these steps immediately.
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Call the police. You know this, but it bears repeating. And if you sense there’s any chance the intruders are still inside your home, leave promptly.
“Get back in your car or go to a trusted neighbor’s house,” advises Becky Blanton, a former police officer who is now a motivational speaker in Richmond, Virginia. “Nothing is worth dying over. … Don’t play hero.”
You also shouldn’t touch anything, just in case the police want to dust for fingerprints.
Call your insurance agent. After the police have arrived and things are under control, call your insurance agent.
“Have a list, as detailed as possible, of any items that were stolen, in addition to items inside or outside of your home that may have been damaged in the course of the burglary,” says Los Angeles-based Paul Quinn, head of claims customer experience for Farmers Insurance.
It’s OK if you don’t yet have a copy of the police report, but any details about the report, “such as the police report number, the law enforcement agency that took the report, the name of the officer that took the report, the date the report was filed … will also help,” he adds.
In case you don’t know everything that was stolen yet, remember: “There will be a number of opportunities to update their claim. That is why communication throughout this process with your insurer is key,” Quinn says.
If your losses weren’t substantial, you may be able to manage your claims online or on the phone. But if you did lose a lot, Quinn says your insurer may send a claims representative to visit — an especially good idea if there was damage to your home.
“For example, if a door was pried open, it could be damaged along with the door frame. Similarly, items inside the home may have been damaged,” Quinn says.
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Get better security for your home. Once the police and insurance calls have been made, you may want to consider buying a security system, or replacing or upgrading your existing service. Because while lightning may not strike twice, burglars will, Blanton says.
“Once you’ve been the victim of a burglary, you’re likely to become a victim a second time within two years,” Blanton says. “Burglars know you’ll replace all that stuff they stole with the insurance money. So they wait six months to a year, or less, for you to get the money and replace stuff so they can hit you up a second or third time.”
She adds: “My family home was burglarized three times in three years. Why? Once inside, burglars also know the inside layout of the home, making it easier to hit a second time.”
Even if your burglars never return — maybe they were caught, for instance — you’ll want to improve your security. It will likely lower your insurance rates, in some cases by more than 10 percent, according to Quinn. Plus, you’ll sleep better at night, although it should be noted that, according to numerous statistics, most home burglaries occur during the daytime, when residents are away.
For her part, Terca had her locks changed and now has a security system with a $200 camera.
“It’s a small price to pay for peace of mind,” she says.
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Do some digging. Let the police do their work, and for the most part, stay out of their way and get on with your life. But you can look for clues to the robbery in your own home. You may find something the police didn’t stumble on, but more importantly, in our digital age, we are more connected than ever, and that’s something to keep in mind if you had any electronics stolen.
Terca says she changed the passwords to her devices, but she purposefully didn’t change her Netflix password post-burglary.
And, sure enough, a week or so after the burglary, she realized the thief was using her Netflix account via the stolen TV. She knew the police would be able to track him down with the IP address, but when she contacted them, their answer disappointed her.
“They told me they didn’t have the resources to go after it,” says Terca, who then tried to enlist the help of her phone service and small claims court, both of which, for a variety of reasons, couldn’t help her. Terca then alerted a local TV station to her dilemma in a last-ditch attempt at getting help. The broadcast prompted the police to apologize and agree to look into getting the IP address from the phone company. Months later, the police found the TV, abandoned in a motel room. The burglar was long gone. Terca can’t help but wonder if the thief might have been caught had the police jumped on her Netflix clue right away.
But if you do offer any leads to the police, don’t get your hopes up, because even if your stuff is recovered, you may not get a happy ending. Terca’s stolen TV is now sitting in the police evidence room. The burglar is still at large. And Terca ended up buying a new television set.
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4 Steps to Take Immediately After Your Home Is Burglarized originally appeared on usnews.com
