Yes it is actually quite common. Someone told me that the main reason my insurance claim was processed so quickly was because it was for less than Fr.10,000 and with the tens of thousands of burglary claims per year in Switzerland, mine was a quick and easy file to close... he was just speculating
about the insurance, but I did read somewhere that there are indeed 10s of thousands of burglaries in Switzerland every year.

"Police crime statistics 2019

Continued decline in burglaries in Switzerland in 2019
23.03.2020 - In 2019, the police recorded around 36 400 burglaries, representing a decrease of 6.3% compared with the previous year. Since 2012 – a record year with 73 700 burglaries registered by the police – the number of offences has fallen by over 37 000, i.e. to less than half. "


https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home/news/press-releases.assetdetail.11147508.html

I wonder if a pro-tell sticker on the door does anything to help...

How annoying!

I read that burglars (or their friends) take note the address and access routes and entrances. They assume that the household will make an insurance claim, so they wait for a few months to give the people time to replace all their electronics, and then break in again, into a self-service store of new goods, as it were.

as the guy telling about the thief sleeping in his car said, these thieves are often bandits from the balkans or eastern europe who come for a few days or weeks and then disappear, targeting either homes or construction sites.

The border guards stop relatively often cars with burglaly tools crossing the border arresting everyone and then assigning crimes to them thanks to data and stolen goods that get identified, but if you don't catch them in that situation, you have no chance of catching them ever again because they go back to squatting camps in neighbouring big cities (in the case of romas) or back to their country, e.g. for "seasonal worker" criminals from impoverished parts of albania, doing either this or slinging drugs for a limited amount of time, usually hosted by a local drug user or small time criminal. I remember once reading about someone from lithuania who was caught sleeping under a bridge as well. Georgia is a good source of these tourists as well. I think the key is impoverishment, rurality, former communist past followed by societal breakdown. Professional criminals from more developed countries prefer stuff like highway robbery of armored trucks.

Yes, it does happen often. I knew someone who worked security for one of the major store chain here. Romanians come in bus loads. They arrive , go out and steal and then return to the bus for thee ride home. They have fear because if they miss the bus they are stuck here.

It is not just the East Europeans.

There is corporate theft. There is major corruption in the construction industry. Construction companies bring people from to work illegally because they are cheaper.

It will get worse as people are loosing their jobs. So don't be a victim and beware. Lock up.

I was told that if you go away for a few days (e.g. on holiday) and do not close the blinds then in case of break-in through the windows insurance might not respond due to negligence. Is this a thing?

You might as well place an ad saying "burglars, we're away for a while. Help yourselves" if that was true.

I live on the ground floor so my shutters are shut most of the time anyway. Less in the summer and more in the winter when you have lights on inside and it's easier to see in.

The building I used to live in earlier this year had 2 robberies.

What really spooked me was: how did they found out the entry number for the building?
How did they know that the owners would be gone on vacation?

I just returned from Portugal a few days ago, but during my stay there I had nights when I was really paranoid about my apartment here being broken into.

Sorry that this had happened to you. In a similar situation, I called the insurance and asked what they require: police report with the list of stolen items, receipt of what I had, that was all. They paid for everything, including computer.

Hi all, thanks so much for your advice and emotional support. Phew, I have been busy with work and personal life. Now, I am surveying about the window repair and replacement. Apparently, my wood frame window is also damaged from outside.

The window company came today and told us that if we replaced the damaged window only, the whole house will look a bit odd with unmatched color/ tone/texture wood frame windows of other rooms. I wonder if the insurance will cover the replacement of the damaged window only or the full set of windows, so that all the windows look the same from outside.

I just don't know if this is a reasonable claim. Anyone has any experience? Thanks in advance.