Prevent Halloween Issues from Haunting Your Home

home halloween safe tips

Halloween is a time full of fun and mischief. It’s also a time of strangers visiting or walking past your home. Though many cities and states are changing Trick-or-Treat and haunted attraction protocols or canceling neighborhood festivities altogether due to the CoronaVirus, this remains a good time to check your house for potential weak spots. 

As the leaves are changing, here are some Halloween “horrors” you should watch for.

Keep Your Home from Being Haunted by Insurance and Liability Issues

Halloween is sometimes called Mischief Night or Devil’s night, and for good reason. With more people roaming your neighborhoods and coming up close and personal with your property, things that may just seem like childish pranks can cause real damage.

Discourage Tricksters

Tricksters may see an opportunity for seemingly harmless pranks – like toilet papering the trees around your house – but often these become escalated and result in real damage to your home or car.

One of the easiest ways to discourage mischief seekers is to make sure your public-facing properties are well-lit. Floodlights above the garage door (that you also make sure to keep closed) and porch lights that are either turned on at dusk or motion-activated can spook even the most determined potential vandal.

Ditch the Open-Flame Candles

Candles are Halloween staples that can end in disaster. It’s worth some consideration to decide whether these additions to your home décor are safe  – will they be played with or knocked over by children (yours or others)? Yanked down by the family pet? 

Ditch the real candles and light up your home Halloween decorations with battery-powered tea lights. Do you still want a nice fall scent to waft through the rooms? Inside, consider electric wax warmers, which tend to be safer than open flames.

Prepare for Strangers to Visit Your Property

If your community is still holding a door-to-door Trick-or-Treat event, this adds a level of liability for you, the homeowner: the potential for a trick-or-treater to get hurt on your property. To prepare for this, you can set up decorations away from your porch steps, stair railings, and other main walkways.

The Best Home Halloween Treat: Good Homeowner’s Insurance

Though it’s impossible to reduce your risk completely, homeowner’s and renter’s insurance can help protect you, if something unexpected does happen. Most standard policies will cover vandalism, living expenses if you and your family are displaced during home repairs caused by a fire, and it will even cover expenses that may occur if a trick-or-treater is injured on your property.

 

But to be safe, why not take the time to review your policy and what it covers – and does not cover – with your insurance agent?

First-time homeowner? Looking to switch policies or explore your options? Click here to learn more about Gebco’s homeowner’s insurance. For all of our insurance offerings, visit our home page, or call our offices: 800-464-3226.