Don't put your home at risk!

Posting about your holiday on social media can put your home at risk

If you post holiday snaps on social media while you're away from home, or check in to far-flung locations (or even the airport!) during your trip, you could be leaving your house vulnerable to burglary. The warning comes from online safety organisation Get Safe Online, as many of us prepare for a summer getaway.

'When you post about being on holiday, you are essentially advertising that your home is empty,' explains Sarah Martinez, an online safety expert at Get Safe Online. 'A cyber-criminal can then easily find out your address from other online accounts and pay your empty home a visit. And if you've ever posted a picture of your house or hinted at your address on social media, you're making the pieces of the puzzle even easier for a criminal to put together.'

Roughly a third of us have mentioned an upcoming holiday on social media and 40% of us tag our location while we're away, according to research from Admiral Insurance. As well as alerting potential burglars to the fact your home is empty, oversharing in this way on social media could also invalidate your home insurance policy, meaning you'd be unable to make a successful claim if there were a break-in.

'Home insurers expect you to take 'reasonable care' when it comes to home security,' Helen Chambers from price comparison website Money Supermarket cautions. 'Examples of not doing this would be leaving a window open or a door unlocked at night. Another could be advertising your absence. If you do this you could find your insurer quibbling any claim you make, either reducing the pay-out or even not paying out at all.'

Ed: This article was taken from Good Housekeeping and is sound advice with the Summer holidays approaching