Allison Dean Love, executive director South Carolina Insurance News Service, will suggest a variety of "hot tips" for holiday safety during WKDK’s "On the Move with Margaret" broadcast tomorrow 9:30 a.m.

Tis the season to protect your home from burglary: While over half million South Carolinians are planning to travel over the holidays, burglars may be planning to take advantage of those unoccupied houses. Nine out of ten household burglaries are preventable. Light, time and noise make the difference. A burglar won’t find your home an easy target if he or she is forced to work in the light, take a lot of time breaking in, and if the crime makes a lot of noise. One quarter of all home burglaries occur during the winter months. Most insurance companies give discounts for devices that make a home safe with installation of deadbolt locks, window grates, bars and smoke/fire/burglar alarms. Protect your home with security lights and by trimming trees and shrubbery.

Insuring Christmas gifts: Expensive items have limited coverage under standard homeowners’ insurance policies, so it it’s a good reason to review insurance coverage before 2010 begins. Check your policy to determine what limits you have on valuable items and jewelry. As the value of your possessions increase, so should your insurance coverage. Consider purchasing additional coverage through a floater that is purchased for items that are moved from location to location, covering losses wherever they occur.

Cook Your Turkey, Not Your House This Thanksgiving: While many South Carolinians are preparing for Thanksgiving and entertaining family, those cooking are urged to keep safety in mind. More home-cooking fires occur on Thanksgiving than any other day of the year. The US Fire Administration reports that about 5,200 Thanksgiving Day fires require a fire department response, cause $21 million in property losses, and result in about 2,200 accidents, 11 fatalities. Overall, indoor and outdoor cooking fires are the leading cause of household fires and home fire injuries. Food left cooking unattended is the primary cause of these fires.

Safe Shopping: It is the holiday season, and shoppers typically use credit cards, checks and cash in the malls and in cyberspace to buy seasonal cheer. Thieves take advantage of the holiday hustle to the identities of consumers who are careless with their personal information. Use caution when accessing ATMs, being aware of suspicious characters loitering in the vicinity; keep an eye on how store clerks and waiters handle your credit card carbons; keep carbon copy; do not print personal identification numbers; use your Social Security number only when necessary; cut down the number of cards you carry, and completely avoid carrying your Social Security card or passport; never leave your purse unattended in a cart or on a counter.

Protect your home from fire this season: Candle fires double during November and December, contributing to millions of dollars and hundred of lives lost to candle fires each year. Recommended safety for candle use is suggested: Use candles in safe, noncombustible holders, avoid carrying candles when lit, extinguish all candles when leaving a room, don’t place lit candles near open windows near blinds or curtains.

In addition, more than 600 fires are caused annually by improper care of Christmas trees. Trees should be bought fresh and kept watered in a stand that won’t tip over. Use only indoor lights on the home tree.

Insurance Fraud Awareness in SC: Officials hope increased awareness of insurance fraud will encourage consumers to use the SC Insurance Fraud Hotline to report cases to the Attorney General’s Fraud Division. The Fraud Hotline—

1-888-95-FRAUD-- is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Insurance fraud costs the average family nearly $1,000 per year. From faked accidents to workers’ comp fraud, these scams attempt to cheat consumers, the state and insurance industry out of millions of dollars.

Prevent Auto Theft:—A vehicle is stolen about every 30 seconds in the United States. The worst city for vehicle theft in our state is Myrtle Beach. To help prevent your car being one of 145 stolen each year in South Carolina:

∑ Always remove keys from ignition and lock the doors. One in five stolen cars have the keys in them and four out of five leave the doors unlocked.

∑ Park with front wheels turned sharply right or left and apply the parking brake. Ten percent of stolen cars are towed away.

∑ Activate anti-theft devices

∑ Park in a locked garage or patrolled parking lot. Otherwise, park near activity in a well lit area.

∑ Put packages out of site or in the trunk. Sometimes it’s not the car that gets stolen!

The South Carolina News Service is a non-profit agency and provides information about insurance issues to the news media, the public, and interested organizations. For more information on the above topics, call 803-252-3455.