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Home Security While on Holiday: The Complete Checklist

A calm departure plan for locks, deliveries, trusted contacts, alarms, cameras, utilities and the first day home.

Holiday security is mostly preparation, not surveillance. Reduce visible signs of absence, close known weaknesses, make alerts actionable and give a trusted person only the access and information they need.

Seven days before departure

People

Choose a trusted keyholder and backup. Confirm dates, contacts, alarm instructions and what counts as an emergency.

Property

Repair faulty locks, gates, lights and sensors. Do not leave important work for departure morning.

Deliveries

Pause or redirect mail, newspapers and regular parcels. Avoid publishing access codes in delivery notes.

Systems

Test alarms, cameras, smoke/CO detection, backup power and internet; update monitoring contacts.

Departure-day checklist

  • Lock all external doors and accessible windows
  • Secure garage, shed, side gates and ladders
  • Remove spare keys from obvious hiding places
  • Move valuables and documents out of view
  • Pause deliveries and arrange mail collection
  • Set safe, varied lighting schedules
  • Arm the correct alarm mode and verify it
  • Check camera zones, time and notifications
  • Test smoke, CO, leak and temperature alerts
  • Give keyholder instructions and contacts
  • Follow insurer absence conditions
  • Avoid posting live travel plans publicly

Believable and safe occupancy cues

Useful Less useful or risky
Trusted-person visits, collected mail, bins moved at normal times, curtains handled appropriately and a few varied light schedules. Lights left on continuously, unsafe appliances on timers or elaborate automation no one can troubleshoot.
Normal exterior maintenance and a vehicle arrangement made with someone you trust. Publishing absence dates, luggage photos or real-time location to a broad audience.

Make every alert actionable

  1. Define the event: door opened, person detected, alarm zone activated, power/internet lost or leak detected.
  2. Choose the first recipient: you, a monitoring centre or a local keyholder.
  3. Verify safely: use more than one signal where possible; never ask someone to confront an intruder.
  4. Escalate: record police, fire, building, insurer and monitoring contacts.
  5. Preserve evidence: make sure clips and logs remain available if a device is damaged or taken.
Do not rely on internet cameras alone. A router, power or cloud-service failure can remove visibility. Good mechanical security, local detection and a clear response plan remain important.

If the home will be empty for longer

Check the exact absence or unoccupancy conditions in your insurance policy. They can change requirements for heating, water, inspections, locks or notification. Apartments may have building rules for emergency access; monitored systems may need temporary contact changes. Requirements differ by country and policy, so confirm them directly.

When you return

  • Pause before entering if a door, window or alarm state looks wrong; move to safety and contact the appropriate emergency service.
  • Review alerts and access logs, then restore schedules and monitoring contacts.
  • Check water, power, smoke/CO devices, freezers and external buildings.
  • Record failures and false alarms to improve the plan before the next trip.

Supporting tools

Maintenance plannerHome inventoryCompare monitoringPost-burglary checklist

Official starting points include Police.uk and Garda burglary-prevention steps.

Safety note: General information only, not legal, insurance, fire-safety or professional security advice.