[ponokareefer]

First off, that really sucks to hear you had a criminal in your house. I hope that you took others advise and called the cops. Although you may not get the money back, it's always a good idea to have the authorities involved when criminal activities occur. On another note, as you are applying the 10% hike, which I understand why, I'm guessing you don't have insurance, or it was denied. If it is the case of not having insurance, have you ever looked into it? There are a couple of issues of not having insurance. Obviously, you don't have coverage for losses like this if there is no insurance, but since you are out of a home, if you own the home or rent it, your home/tenant's insurance will not cover most losses because you are operating a business out of it. Slip and fall claims are more common than most people think, and although $1000 is something that most people can't just absorb, including myself, what would happen if you were faced with a client that fell off your front step, and sued you for $10,000? Also, what would happen if a tank sprung a leak and you were faced with replacing flooring, ripping out walls, and clean up expenses? Insurance is not cheap, but it could save your but in case something major happens. If you do have home/tenants insurance, just beware that if you haven't told them about this business and call them now, you could face the possibility of it being cancelled for not disclosing this to them, or it isn't a type of risk they write. Still, I would look into getting coverage somewhere for the business. If you haven't guessed by now, I am an insurance broker(ducking from eggs/hate mail). By no means am I writing this to solicit your business. I would recommend contacing whoever you deal with for your insurance right now and discuss coverage with them. I just want to see a fellow reefer be protected in case something like this happens again.