Source: Stuff
It may be tempting to share your holiday plans and snaps on social media, however keep in mind you could also be advertising your empty home to potential burglars.
Insurance companies warn that under certain circumstances, posting about your holidays on social media could result in your claim being declined if you are burgled.
The issue arose after a Christchurch house was trashed and burgled after the alleged offender claimed he read on Facebook that the occupants would be away.
Although a case is yet to arise for insurance company IAG, it said a social media post publicising your holiday could result in a claim being declined should burglary happen.
IAG, the parent company to brands AMI Insurance, State Insurance and NZI said it was dependent on the circumstances.
Insurance relied on the principle of reasonable care, IAG media and community relations manager Shelley Huang said.
This meant the first time someone posted travel plans online and was burgled, the cover for loss would likely be covered, if it was clear they were unaware of the risk.
However, if they did exactly the same thing a second time, had not increased security, was burgled, then the insurance company could argue the person knew the risk, she said.
"To do so would be a breach fo the 'reasonable care' condition within policies and that might cause a claim to be declined," she said.
Insurance Council of New Zealand chief executive Tim Grafton said policy holders had a "duty of care" to protect assets.
Whether a social media post was public, if the home was secured and reasonable steps taken to protect it from burglary were all factors in determining its impact on an insurance policy, Grafton said.
Detective Senior Sergeant Scott Anderson said people needed to use "common sense".
"You wouldn't hang a sign outside your house saying you're away on holiday, so the same could be said for advertising the fact on social media," he said.
He said the people did not know who would view their posts or photos or who they were sharing the information with.
"Post your Fiji beach photos or your Queenstown ski photos once you are back, your 'friends' will still be envious," he said.
Willem Martin Kerris, 25, pleaded guilty in the Christchurch District Court on Tuesday to the Rolleston burglary.
Kerris, who lived in Rolleston, said he did not carry out the burglary himself on the weekend of January 30 to February 1, but arranged for a co-offender to do it.
He pleaded guilty on the basis that he set it up, and he sold a lot of the stolen property around pawn shops. He refused to name the burglar.
The victim said she did not make any posts to Facebook about being away from home that weekend, but Kerris told police otherwise.
Neighbourly, an emerging social media network, said once its moderators had phoned a man to tell him putting up a post that he was going away was ill-advised.
"He agreed it was not the best thing," Neighbourly head of communications Sarah Moore said.
Private messages were safer, she said.
"If you wouldn't put a sign outside saying it, then don't put it on social media," she said.
She agreed with police that photos should be posted up after the event.
Earlier this year, police warned the bereaved to take steps to avoid being targeted by "low-life" burglars using obituaries to discover when they will be at funerals.
Last December, Hawke's Bay man Paul Seabright's home was burgled while he was at the funeral for his wife, Christine.
Police told Seabright it appeared to be a random burglary, but he felt somehow the burglars knew the family were at a funeral.
Source: Stuff