Preparing to leave your home and car for a holiday abroad

Preparing for a summer holiday abroad can be exhausting (photo: Adobe)

Amid the flurry of excitement and packing, many of us can feel anxious about the impending trip.

To keep stress at bay make sure your home and vehicles are prepared safely and left in perfect condition for your return.

A-Plan Insurance, www.aplan.co.uk, has drawn up these tips for anyone planning to get away this summer:

An overgrown lawn is an indicator that your home is empty (photo: Adobe)

Home preparation

1 Clean and tidy – Clean one or two rooms a day, ask the children to help and unplug all unnecessary appliances.

2 Kitchen preparation – Empty out your fridge, stock up on long-life milk and snacks and frozen ready meals before you go, and schedule a food delivery for your arrival home.

3 Utility preparation – Switch off your water. Check your boiler, as many new homes are equipped with a more energy-efficient holiday mode that allows you not to have to turn your boiler off for the few weeks you’re away.

4 Overall maintenance – The most important deterrent for burglars is ensuring your home is secure and impossible to get into.

Mow your lawn, turn off any outside lights and avoid post build-up. If

any deliveries are due to be made to your home while you’re away, make sure they are not left outside.

Ensure all your alarms are set.

Before leaving, lock all your doors and hide your valuables. Secure any outbuildings, garages or sheds, and keep any tools that could be used to break in out of sight.

Vehicle Preparation

1 Apply a steering wheel lock. This offers an obvious deterrent to any thief and a locking system that prevents the turning of the wheel, which means if they do get into your car to steal it, they won’t get far.

2 GPS tracker. A tracker is a great way to ensure you know your vehicle's whereabouts at any time. They can connect to your smartphone, making it super accessible to view.

3 Wheel clamp: This visual deterrent will also put off any chancing thief as it would take a long time for them to try to remove it.

4 Key signal blocker: One of the most common ways vehicles are stolen is by duplicating and cloning the signal from your key fob.

To reduce this risk, you can buy a key signal blocker lined with special isolation that prevents the frequency of your key from being duplicated, reducing the risk of your vehicle being stolen.