Please rob me

by Donna Werbner on 19 February 2010  |  0 comments
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Ever tweeted about going on holiday or updated your Facebook status in a way that shows you are away from your home? If so, you are telling someone: please rob me. At least, that's the premise of pleaserobme.com, which lists information about everyone who leaves home and tweets about it.

Ever tweeted about going on holiday or updated your Facebook status in a way that shows you are away from your home? If so, you are telling someone: please rob me. At least, that's the premise of pleaserobme.com, which lists information about everyone who leaves home and tweets about it.

You may think no burglar would ever join up the dots but Mashable.com  says that video podcaster Israel Hyman was robbed after tweeting that he was away from home, and shows evidence that burglars are turning to social media to find their targets.

I'm looking into whether the Association of British Insurers has anything to say on this issue, but as far as I'm aware, the home insurance industry hasn't yet tried to crack down on this. Still, if you are publicising information about your whereabouts using social media sites or apps like Foursquare, then you may be putting your home unnecessarily at risk - and who's to say whether your insurer may define these sort of actions as negligent in the future?

Remember: if you get robbed three times in three years, you are likely to find it extremely difficult and expensive to get insurance in future years. So don't take unnecessary risks, and keep your belongings safe!

Update at 2pm, Friday 19th Feb

Just got off the phone to the Association of British Insurers. They said while no insurer has, as yet, turned down a burglary claim because the customer publicised the fact that their home was empty on a social-networking site, insurers are increasingly looking at this issue and their views on such claims may well change in the future, as the popularity of social networking online grows.

The ABI also emphasised that insurers are very aware of this issue at the moment, and that they always look at whether you've been negligent or reckless when you make a claim. Just as you wouldn't stand up in a pub and announce to everyone that you were going on holiday and your home was empty, they advise you not to do so on a social networking site.

So the next time you fancy posting about how much you're looking forward to going on holiday in X days' time or whatever, think twice about it. Then press the delete key!