So my house got robbed today.

[LoganBuck]

So here is the story. Came home at 1pm for lunch to find that the front door was open but the storm door was closed. (The storm door is a two hand operation to unlock). Ran the garage door up, saw that the door to the kitchen was hanging wide open. Walked in and saw that our patio door had been shattered, and stuff taken, my bedroom had been completely ransacked, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade style. My wife's jewelry, the boys' laptop, my shotgun, a $10 DVD player in a drawer(ignoring Bluray Player in room), my wallet and checkbook, my best friend's wedding gift(wedding is Saturday), various hand tools, some odd cash around the house, my youngest's tooth fairy money from last week, and my oldest's State Quarter Collection, other stuff etc.

Sheriff came, did the walk through, took a statement, and a box that had been moved to check for fingerprints. My brother in law is a contractor, he is attending to my door. Called the bank, credit card companies, and insurance company.

Looking for advice, from those unlucky enough to have gone through this.
1. I need to get something going as far as identity theft monitoring, any suggestions?
2. Any suggestions dealing with the claim process?
3. Any other suggestions or ideas are welcome.

[Hoosier Red]

Oh Logan that's terrible. When I was held up I just called the credit card companies and made sure to pull my credit to monitor a month or so later. If you haven't already done so, www.annualcreditreport.com actually gives you a free credit report so you might want to pull that up in a few weeks or so.

Good luck.

[fearofpopvol1]

I don't have any real suggestions for you per se, but I hope you recover. Sounds like an awful situation that I wouldn't wish on anyone.

[GAC]

Man! I hate to hear that Logan. You live over in my general area too, and also out in the country right? We've never had any problems where I'm at, and it was one of the reasons I enjoy living in the country.

I hope they catch the bums.

[LoganBuck]

Originally Posted by GAC

Man! I hate to hear that Logan. You live over in my general area too, and also out in the country right? We've never had any problems where I'm at, and it was one of the reasons I enjoy living in the country.

I hope they catch the bums.

Yep, I thought so too.

My neighbor had a smoking guy, stop in driving a pickup truck. She came to the door, and he was surprised. He asked if she wanted to buy any firewood. He didn't have any in his truck. She said no and he left quickly. This was around 12:15. I found a cheap cigarette butt in my driveway. Collected it as evidence CSI style.

GAC, you go to Honda on 59/Meranda, right? Several houses were robbed over there.

[reds1869]

Originally Posted by LoganBuck

GAC, you go to Honda on 59/Meranda, right? Several houses were robbed over there.

Robbery in rural areas is unfortunately on the rise. There has been a real problem in the Indiana part of the tri-state recently. It's crazy because when I spent summers with my grandparents in rural West Virginia you could have put all of your valuables on the porch with a "take me" sign and they would still have been there weeks later.

[LoganBuck]

Originally Posted by reds1869

Robbery in rural areas is unfortunately on the rise. There has been a real problem in the Indiana part of the tri-state recently. It's crazy because when I spent summers with my grandparents in rural West Virginia you could have put all of your valuables on the porch with a "take me" sign and they would still have been there weeks later.

Part of the change, is because years ago, most homes had someone around. Now people move out to the country, and work 8-5 jobs, leaving their houses unattended. It is weird that I got robbed, because I never stray too far from home. My farm is 1 mile from my house by truck, and 6/10 mile by the way the crow flies. I can see my house, if I want too. I am normally at home, at the time this probably occurred. I was delayed yesterday. I am not the kind of person this dude would have wanted to mess with. Normally if someone I don't want to talk to comes to the door, I ignore them. I don't want to be bothered. Had he decided to break in then, he would have caught a bullet.

[Johnny Footstool]

Originally Posted by LoganBuck

Yep, I thought so too.

My neighbor had a smoking guy, stop in driving a pickup truck. She came to the door, and he was surprised. He asked if she wanted to buy any firewood. He didn't have any in his truck. She said no and he left quickly. This was around 12:15. I found a cheap cigarette butt in my driveway. Collected it as evidence CSI style.

This sounds like the dude. Good luck!

[GAC]

Originally Posted by LoganBuck

GAC, you go to Honda on 59/Meranda, right? Several houses were robbed over there.

I transferred over to the E. Liberty plant two years ago because it's only 10 minutes from my home. No more 45 minute drive to Anna. I live right behind Tree Links golf course, a short hop over onto US 33 and down to the plant.

While I live rural, it is on a road where numerous houses are situated close to each other, so we all watch each other's houses. Plus, because of our screwy work hours, I always have someone at the house 24/7, so that probably discourages thieves.

[PedroBourbon]

I lived "out in the country" on the outskirts of Louisville a few years ago and was robbed too. It's a humbling experience to say the least. You just feel violated and there is a 99.9% the criminals will never get caught.

As for your identity, I have been happy with identityguard.com.

As far as your insurance claim, the more pictures, receipts, etc you have for your stolen items, the better likelihood you will get a good return on your claim. I had a slew of power tools stolen but I had all the owner's manuals with the model numbers. I probably got full, if not more, value in return from the insurance company.

[SunDeck]

So sorry to hear this- it sucks completely.
It's been a long time since I had to do this, but here is my recollection:

You can put a fraud alert on your credit report. Can't remember exactly how it works, but you can report a potential threat to the safety of your identity so that you can monitor your credit more closely. These alerts expire after 90 days. Also, I can't remember if it you need to do it with all three reporting agencies or just one.
Of course, call your credit card companies, and your bank. Put a code word on your bank accounts for extra security.
Change all your passwords to everything.
Report your license stolen to your issuing state.

[oneupper]

Originally Posted by SunDeck

You can put a fraud alert on your credit report. .

This is something quick you can do. Just go to one of the credit agencies' web sites (Experian, Transunion or Equifax) and put your file on alert. It's free.
Or call them. If you call one, they will alert the other two.
This way taking out a new credit line requires more verification. The fraud alert is good for 90 days after which you probably have to renew it if you think you're still vulnerable.

I had to do this a few weeks ago as someone tried (unsuccessfully) to enter one of my bank accounts online.

[klw]

You should probably close the bank accounts and reopen them with new numbers if you did not already do that when you called the bank. Stolen checks are frequently cashed or used so you will be more protected if the accounts are shut. The items which you mentioned were probably targeted as they are easy to sell or trade for drugs. The credit cards are probably not likely to get abused if they are shut but it is a good idea as others said to track your credit report. The most likely way somebody would get caught for this is if they are dumb enough to cash the check at the bank. Sometimes they are even dumb enough to make the check out to themselves. good luck.

[Mario-Rijo]

Hate to hear it LB. I have nothing more to add to what these guys said but I've been there (kinda) and it sucks big time. I had my truck broken into a few years back (also robbed at gun point and locked in a freezer at work many moons ago) and I can still remember the feeling I had been robbed of something more important than the items stolen, I cannot imagine what it would be like for my home.

[reds1869]

I'm very sorry to hear the news. We had a similar situation about ten years ago and had a fraud alert placed on all of our accounts. Because of identity theft that occurred after the fact the reporting agencies extended our fraud alert indefinitely. I would certainly call all three.