Halloween is a fun time of year, especially for children. But on the odd occasion events can turn sour when trick or treaters don’t play fair. Sometimes people have to make home insurance claims for malicious damage to their house.

This helpful guide will give you some top tips to help make sure your Halloween stays an enjoyable one.

How to keep your house safe during Halloween

There are many things you can do to help keep your house safe from naughty pranksters. Here are some top tips:

1. Open for business?

Older children and teenagers are much more likely to vandalise homes on Halloween, than little children trick or treating with their parents. And generally, younger kids will be out until about 8pm. After that time, you should consider signalling whether or not you’re ‘open for business’.

If you decide to close after 8pm, you can turn your house lights off. This will discourage revellers from coming to your house. And in the best case scenario, they might not even notice it as they go past.

You can also put up a sign to inform any latecomers that you’ve called it a night. Fun examples always help, such as “All treats gone. All tricks have been played”. Or “The witches have gone to bed, please call again next year.”

The other thing you can do if you’re really concerned, is take down any decorations you’ve put up. It doesn’t guarantee you’ll be safe from pranksters, but a non-decorated house is probably less likely to be targeted.

2. Stock up on treats

If you’re happy to play along with the Halloween festivities, then keep a good stock of sweets or chocolate for trick or treaters. That way you’re much less likely to be ‘tricked’ and become the victim of any unwanted attention.

3. Make sure you’re home

Quite simply, being at home is more likely to put off pranksters. Stay on your toes and if you notice anyone about to get up to something, interrupt them straightaway. If you’re able to, having lots of adults about will also put off naughty kids. And the more obvious it is that there are lots of you, the better it will be. So, perhaps answer the door all together, or mill about in the front room where revellers can see you from the street.

4. Prepare in advance

A little preparation can go a long way at Halloween. It’s worth spending a few hours making sure garden sheds, garages and other outbuildings have robust locks. And if there are any garden ornaments or furniture that you’re concerned about, move them out of the way – perhaps into your newly locked shed.

Of course, it’s important to make sure your house is covered before Halloween by getting some house insurance quotes.

5. Be friendly

At the end of the day, the fastest way to be a prank victim is to be grumpy and unfriendly towards revellers. So try to get into the spirit and you’ll be more likely to enjoy the evening and keep your house from becoming a target.

But despite your best efforts, you could still be the victim of malicious damage. So make sure you have adequate home insurance in place before.

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