The Redland City suburb of Alexandra Hills is the greater Brisbane area’s safest when it comes to home theft.
The 2013 RACQ Insurance Home Security Index shows Alexandra Hills has had the fewest home theft insurance claims in the past year for the Brisbane region.
And Cleveland is not far behind, also making the state’s top 10 suburbs where homes are least likely to be broken into.
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The RACQ index, which calculates the number of home theft claims made per 100 RACQ policies in each postcode, ranked the Alexandra Hills postcode 4161 in the top three Queensland zones least hit by house breakers.
The regional centres of Warwick and Rockhampton top the list.
Alexandra Hills had one claim for every 1000 policies, which is 20 times less than most postcodes in the Logan region. Cleveland had 1.3 per 1000 policies.
Councillor Murray Elliot, whose Division 7 covers Alexandra Hills, said the research “puts to bed the notion about perceived crime in the Redlands’’.
“The residents of Alexandra Hills should be very proud of this result and I am sure it will be reflected in lower insurance premiums for a range of products,” he said.
Deputy Mayor Alan Beard, whose Division 8 takes in part of Alexandra Hills, said it was “wonderful’’ that the liveability of Redland City, and Alexandra Hills and Cleveland in particular, had been acknowledged in this way.
“We are a great community, proud of our City and our local area, and this pride is reflected in way in which we value and support each other. Let’s celebrate together this really positive and uplifting story,” he said.
Councillor Craig Ogilvie, whose Division 2 includes Cleveland, said it was “a luxury to live in a community where you can feel comfortable”.
“This area has a country town heritage which underpins the community spirit,’’ Cr Ogilvie said.
Division 9 councillor Paul Gleeson, who represents part of Alexandra Hills, said the result was great for both the suburb and city.
“To have our more established areas highlighted in this way is a testament to our residents,’’ he said.
Birkdale also rated highly, with no Redland postcode on the list of the state’s home break-in hotspots.
RACQ Executive Manager Insurance Communications, Mike Sopinski, said that residents needed to be security conscious wherever they lived.
He said the 2013 Home Security Index revealed one-third of Queensland householders admitted to sometimes leaving their homes unlocked, making break-ins easy for thieves.
Almost one in four claims last year was the result of an open door or window.
Simple ways to prevent becoming a home break-in statistic (source: RACQ)
- Lock your premises.
- Make sure everyone in your home is security conscious.
- Have a routine that everyone follows to check locks and switch on alarms when the house is left unoccupied.
- Tell your neighbours if your home is broken into. This reminds them to be extra careful and report any suspicious activity to police.
- Don’t assume balcony doors or high windows are safe to leave unlocked – thieves are good at finding ways to overcome these obstacles.
- Put easy-to-carry, expensive items such as laptops, iPods and jewellery out of sight so thieves can’t see them.
- Do not leave doors or windows wide open, even while you’re at home.
- Don’t leave car keys or wallets beside open windows or doors.
- Engage deadlocks when you leave the house so that thieves cannot carry items out through your main doors.
- If you can’t arrange for someone to pick up your mail everyday when you’re away, ask the post office to hold it until you return. Also, attach a ‘no advertising material’ sign to your letterbox so it doesn’t overflow.
- Lock your meter box to prevent thieves tampering with your power supply.
- Keep your home contents insurance up to date.
