Holiday Safety Tips to Help You Enjoy the Season

The holidays are a time of celebration, love and charity. It’s the best time to spend time with with friends and family. But the truth is that all the celebrating can be a bit hectic, leaving us a little more distracted and stressed. The holidays actually increase risks, especially if you are on a quest for those special or hard-to-get gifts. Stores are overcrowded and online shopping increases digital theft opportunities. If that is not all, you’re you’re cooking just a bit more than normal, and holiday cooking fires are a real thing. This is a great time to review some holiday safety tips.

When the holiday season rolls around, it’s time to be extra aware of your safety hazards. Don’t let a mishap ruin the season. Below we provide you four holiday safety tips to help you make it a safe and enjoyable holiday season.

Four easy holiday safety tips 

1 | Watch out for and protect against porch pirates

Each year more consumers do their holiday shopping online. In fact, it’s been estimated that this year we could see a surge of 33% in online shopping. With more consumers look to the web to make their holiday purchases, this means more packages will be dropped off on front porches. This is where “porch pirates,” or thieves look to find increased opportunity to intercept home package deliveries.

If you intend to shop online this holiday season, take advantage of electronic delivery alerts and other protections to make sure your gifts are safely received after delivery. If you have the option to provide delivery instructions, have the packages delivered to a safe location at your home, or at a time when you’ll be home. Some online retailers may have pickup locations, if this isn’t too inconvenient you should consider having your items delivered to the nearest facility.

2 | Beware of Parking Lot Pilfering

While many will be shopping online, there will still be plenty holiday shoppers in malls, department stores and local retailers. The items purchased at one store or location will likely be stored in your car while making you next holiday shopping stop. The presents that you store in your car can catch the attention of thieves roaming through the parking lot in search of valuable items in unlocked or vulnerable cars.

When you park you car with packages stored in the back or trunk, you should follow these three recommendations to help frustrate potential burglars:

• Always lock your car doors
• Make sure the windows are rolled up
• Park in well-lit highly visible areas
• Put valuables in the trunk or hid them from plain view

3 | Online or In Store Always Protect Your Identity

When you go shopping you, of course, bring your wallet. You wallet is a treasure trove of personal and financial information a thief would love to get their hands on. If you’ll be shopping at stores this year, one simple step to protect your personal and financial information is to leave you wallet at home and only bring those credit cards necessary for the day’s purchases. Also, keep you credit cards separate from your identification, and never carry your social security card, passport or birth certificate with you. These are keys to preventing identity theft.

If you intend to shop online, be sure to only use secure and familiar websites, it’s not a good time of year to be trying new online retailers. Also, log off from a site after you have completed your purchase, and monitor your bank accounts and credit card activity regularly throughout the holidays.

4 | If You Plan to Travel – Make a Plan

Whether you are heading to the mall for some holiday shopping or taking a roundtrip to the family holiday celebration, holiday driving has a number of unique risks. The holidays frequently bring changing weather conditions, an especially hazardous condition if traveling on unfamiliar roads.

However, if you make a plan, provide extra travel time and eliminating distractions, you can help ensure safe travels during the holidays.

Conclusion

The holiday is for family, friend and building good memories. This holiday season, when you shop, travel, buy goods online or receive packages, make sure to follow some basic holiday safety tips and make it a great season.