Welcome back to part 7, if you have implemented the recommendations we have made so far you will have gone a long way toward protecting your home. Nobody can promise that you will not fall victim to a thief, so in this article I want to give you a few tips on how you can help the police retrieve your goods if it should be stolen.

Make an inventory of your property.

Keep a list of your processions in a secure place, perhaps in a safe deposit box or with a friend, this will help the police if you do have a burglary, and it will also help to support a claim if you have a house fire or some other kind of loss.

The better the job you do on the property inventory the more help it will be. Now that digital cameras are readily available take pictures of all the rooms in your home and their contents. In case of a loss by fire or flood etc. it will help you in your claim with your insurance provider.

On your property list, show, which room the goods, were in. Describe the article as fully as feasible; include the manufacturer model number, size, color, and the material the article is made of as well as its price. It is also a good idea to include damage marks, repairs, etc because these are unique to your things.

Mark your goods with your Post Code, your Drivers License Number or some other number that is exclusive to you but do not use your Social Security number! Properly marked property is hard for a burglar to sell on to someone else, and it makes it easier to trace them back to you.

Always mark your assets by engraving in an area that cannot be simply removed and is not in plain sight, if you cannot engrave the thing use a permanent marker or an ultra violet pen. Some items are not suitable for marking and this is where a digital or video camera comes into its own.

Now that you have a catalogue of your property make certain you keep it up to date!

Having marked your property make sure that any possible burglar knows about it, a small sticker displayed on doors and windows will do the job. These are generally available from your local police station or crime prevention officer.

Burglary is the most frequent form of theft in the United States; by marking your property you are taking an important step in protecting your home and avoiding the distress that this type of home invasion causes.

In the next part of this series I will be giving you a few dos and don'ts to help you with your personal and home security, see you soon.