If you're not a member of the Neighbourhood Watch already, then you've probably heard of the scheme or seen the round sticker with the smiley bobby and the happy community members.
But joining the Neighbourhood Watch is about more than getting a nice sticker. It's about creating a community in which its members can feel safe. And it doesn't hurt that it could also reduce your home insurance premiums.
What exactly is Neighbourhood Watch?
It's a group comprising of police, members of voluntary organisations and members of the public who wish to reduce the fear of crime through greater home security measures, general vigilance and reporting of suspicious activity, and good old-fashioned community spirit.
But more than that, the Neighborhood Watch forms an integral part of the Home Office’s crime-reduction strategy, and is considered to be the biggest and most successful crime-prevention initiatives ever released.
The Neighborhood Watch Trust was established in 2006, and is shaped and run by its grass-roots members. They are supported by a Neighbourhood Watch area coordinator, who liaises with a local crime-prevention coordinator at their nearest police station. There are approximately 170,000 of these schemes currently active across the UK. Quite a lot, then!
So what do the Neighbourhood Watch do?
The aim is to provide a support network for communities to:
- Step up the security of their property through shared advice;
- Increase vigilance, and build a network of crime reporting and ‘human home alarms’ in order to keep the local area more secure;
- Provide a network for the police to pass information to communities regarding crime trends or possible issues in their area;
- Generally build a greater feeling of community in local areas
In addition, the Neighbourhood Watch website is a really useful resource. They've got loads of useful packs and information on there, such as when and how to make a call to the emergency services; how to spot and deal with bogus callers and ID theft; tackling distraction burglary; protecting your home from fire; and plenty more besides.
And membership could reduce home insurance premiums, you say?
Yes, indeed it could. Virtually all home insurance providers ask if the policy holder is a member of a Neighbourhood Watch scheme. However, at the time of writing, not all provide a significant discount for members. But many do!
The possibility of discount arises because insurance providers will view you as someone who is less likely to become a victim of crime, because you are taking active steps to keep yourself safe and because you're part of a group who are all keeping a neighbourly eye on you.
A 2006 report which measured the effectiveness of the Neighbourhood Watch schemes concluded that in 79% of cases there was a noticeable reduction in crime in that area. This was revisited in May 2009 by Hertfordshire Constabulary, who verified the findings and concluded that the case of schemes’ impact on crime reduction was proven.
So even if you don't get an automatic discount from being a member of the Neighbourhood Watch, it appears that areas which have an active scheme are very likely to suffer less crime. As such, home insurance providers are also very likely to take this into account when determining your risk-based premium.
