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An ex-burglar has been giving consumers hints and tips on how to minimise the risk of having their property broken into over the festive period – something which could make it necessary to claim on a home emergency cover policy.Peter Woolf, who was a career criminal until six years ago – and who has spent 18 years behind bars in more than 30 different prisons across the country – told police officers that he used a number of techniques to assess how easy homes would be to break into.”One preferred method was to pretend to deliver kebab shop leaflets and while I was doing it I would test people’s front doors to see if they were using their Chubb locks. If they weren’t then they were a potential victim,” he explained.Mr Woolf said that if it looked as though a property was unoccupied and he could hear noise, he would be put off and leave a home alone, Avon and Somerset constabulary reports.His comments echo those of a spokesperson for the British Insurance Brokers’ Association, who recently suggested using security lights on a timer could help to make homes less appealing to potential thieves.People should be wary of the four Cs when it comes to ensuring they minimise the risk of making a home insurance claim over the festive period, it has been suggested.The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) explains that the four Cs – identified as children, candles, chimneys and Christmas trees – can be a risk to people on their own and even more dangerous when combined.It warns people that more house fires occur between December 24th and January 6th than at any other point in the year, when properties are more likely to have all of the four Cs in their property at one time.Meanwhile, Hartlepool council’s principal Trading Standards officer Michael Walsh recently warned consumers to take extra care with decorative Christmas candles over the yuletide period, noting that they can be a “very serious” fire hazard to people if not used in a sensible manner.