When it comes to home security, it’s often the little things that slip past our attention. You might invest in top-class digital security, or you might buy the best quality of door locks possible. Yet, break-ins – with around 3,500 reported every week, per recent figures – take place thanks to an easily accessible door letterbox. To help understand why letterboxes should not be ignored in your home security review, we spoke with Locks & Handles. As experts in home security, there was no better place to go!
We found some interesting insights into the best way to make sure that your letterbox does not damn you to a break-in. Other investments cost more, but might not provide the same impact in terms of warding off criminals. Every home security investment should come with the intention of reducing the risk of a break-in, right? Well, that’s precisely what these insights into door letterbox upgrades can do for you. Let’s take a look at how to best make sure your door letterbox does not let you down.
Why Burglars Love Your Letterbox (& Why You Should Secure It)!
As we mentioned above, home security can easily be compromised due to your door letterbox. You might have the latest digital locks in place; you might even have near-impenetrable security on your locks and doors. You may even have already invested in something like window bars. Yet, if your door letterbox is easily accessible, a criminal could:
- Reach through your letterbox and fish around for any locks or keys they can manipulate
- Steal your post, especially if the post or parcel has become trapped in the letterbox itself
- Feel around for potential vulnerabilities in your lock system, giving them a way inside
- Use a ‘fishing tool’ to try to hook any keys or valuables left near your doorway
As such, criminals who are not willing to risk a confrontation will simply fish through the letterboxes of UK households. This might help them to snap keys, car keys, wallets, personal IDs, and any other host of items you might think are safe at your doorway. This is especially true if you have window panes around your doors; this gives criminals extra insight into where to fish around to get a way inside!
Especially sophisticated criminals might even steal keys, clone them, and then fish them back through your letterbox. This means that you are none the wiser, but are now at exceptional risk of a break-in. How, then, can you make sure that your door letterbox is not going to become such a likely target? How can you make sure that attempted break-ins and fishing missions are a failure?
Seven Ways To Outsmart Burglars & Protect Your Letterbox
Luckily, preventing a burglary or theft from taking place via your door letterbox is quite easy. Here are some useful and actionable tips you can use to reduce such a risk in future:
Get A Letterbox Flap Replacement
If your flap seems overly loose or allows hands to fit through, buy a better alternative. Many models on the market provide lasting protection against unwanted entry. They only open up a certain amount; enough for mail to fit through, but not enough for someone to fit a hand or a fishing tool in.
Install A Letterbox Cage
While not often used, a letterbox cage is quite a useful addition. These can be installed to stop tools or arms from fitting through the letterbox. At the same time, the cage allows ample room for parcels to come through.
Fit A Letterbox Guard
A letterbox guard, or cowl, is an effective tool that obscures visibility into your property, stopping anyone from looking through the letterbox for signs of life.
Get A Draught Excluder
Something as simple as some draught exclusion bristles can be enough to stop someone putting their hand into your letterbox. These still allow for you to have parcels pushed through, but it does stop a hand from fitting through in full. It also helps to reduce energy loss and heat loss in the winter.
Upgrade To A New Letterbox
Most modern letterboxes in the UK come with anti-theft features as standard. These include letterboxes that cannot be snapped or forced open. These are usually tested and approved by security experts before they hit the market, providing them with a level of validity you can trust. These are ideal if you want to keep your letterbox without compromising home security.
Buy A Wall-Mounted Letterbox
Of course, another option is to get rid of your door letterbox altogether. Buy a wall-mounted model and you make sure that the risk of fishing is minimised completely. Now, the worst-case scenario is that someone breaks into your letterbox and steals the contents within. Not ideal, but better than them being able to break into your house and help themselves to your assets, right?
Remove The Letterbox Opening
If you would prefer just to take your post in person and risk a late/missed delivery, you can block up or outright remove your letterbox. This is not always a practical solution, but at least it completely removes the worry of someone using your letterbox against you!
Make Your Letterbox Theft-Proof – Now!
Hopefully, you can now see the urgency with which you should act at potential break-in points around your door letterbox. Even something as simple as buying a new, sturdier letterbox flap replacement can be enough to stop a criminal from getting into your home. Taking action now is imperative. There is no benefit to waiting; every day you leave your letterboxes vulnerable is a day it could be exploited.
You never know when a criminal catches on to the fact that your door letterbox is vulnerable. The best time to act on this was yesterday; the next best time is today. So, if you feel like your letterboxes could be exploited, invest in one of the above protective solutions for peace of mind!
