A survey conducted by Seesam has revealed that people tend to think thieves are most likely to strike at home or in public, with less concern for the possibility that their cars or summer homes might be targeted. But what kinds of things in what kinds of places do the light-fingered go for most often?

The survey showed that what people are most afraid of when it comes to being robbed are that it might happen at home (48% of respondents) or that they may lose their wallet, phone or bike to a thief or pickpocket in public (45%) – justified concerns which are reflected in Seesam’s own statistics. “The majority of such cases do indeed take place in people’s homes or in public, with the number of thefts from summer homes having fallen in recent years,” explains Line Manager of Seesam Property Insurance Kristel Kobi.

2023 stands out for bicycle thefts
Among the incidents that have occurred in public this year, Kobi highlights the theft of keys, wallets and other items from people’s pockets in cafés and on public transport and, slightly more unusually, a suitcase being stolen from an intercity bus. “It can’t have been a case of someone taking another bad instead of their own, because there were no other suitcases left on the bus,” she says. “Presumably a passenger who got off the bus at an earlier stop took the bag even though it didn’t belong to them.”

However, it is bicycles that have been stolen more frequently than anything else this year: whereas in the first half of 2022 seven of the 22 thefts that were reported were of two-wheelers, that number has doubled this year to 14, despite the overall number of thefts remaining the same.

Bicycles are most commonly taken from stairwells and underground car parks in apartment buildings, but they are stolen from public parking areas as well, especially at night. Kobi also recalls a case in which two electric scooters were pilfered from a rear-facing terrace of a residential building surrounded by tall trees in the middle of the night.

Kobi says that such thefts are, naturally enough, a seasonal occurrence. “Winter sees thieves breaking the glass doors on terraces to get into houses, but as soon as spring arrives, the number of bike thefts skyrockets,” she explains. Annual statistics show that the three most commonly stolen items are bicycles, cash and valuables.

The highest claim resulting from a theft so far this year exceeded 53,000 euros, to which a further 11,000 euros was added for repairs to the property.

Conversely, thefts from summer homes have fallen in recent years. Kobi says this is less to do with people not keeping anything worth stealing in their second homes and more to do with the growing availability and affordability of security equipment and increased awareness. “People aren’t leaving anything valuable in their summer homes anymore that could be easily pawned off,” she notes.

To reduce the likelihood of falling victim to theft, Kobi says everyone should follow some universal rules:

• When leaving the house, check that all doors and windows are securely closed
• Fully closing curtains often piques burglars’ interest about what might be behind them
• When getting out of your car, don’t tempt fate by leaving any valuables within view
• Never leave any items you are carrying with you unattended
• Use a high-quality lock to secure a bike, preferably in a location covered by security cameras
• Valuable items (incl. electric scooters) should be stored at night in a locked indoor space, since underground car parks and other places to which others have access are not secure