It was a couple of hours before a Massey family realised their car, along with the kids' carseats, had been stolen in the brazen daylight robbery of their home.

Hayley Wilmshurst's Honda Fit was found a week later smashed and abandoned not far from the family home.

Around one in four New Zealanders have experienced a break-in, according to recent research, with the majority of respondents saying the break-ins happened within 24 hours of somebody leaving the home.

The research, carried out by Colmar Brunton and commissioned by AA Insurance, surveyed 1100 Kiwis.

Wilmshurst said her car was stolen from the internal garage of her home, which was locked, during a daylight break-in.

She had been at work at the time and her first thought when she returned home was that somebody was playing a joke on her.

Both her father and her partner had arrived home before her but neither thought anything was amiss.

They thought Wilmshurst must have driven to work.

"The house wasn't messy ... it didn't look out of the ordinary," she said.

"It took us almost two hours to realise what had happened.

"Then I called the police straight away."

They then realised the bedroom window had been forced open and an iPad had been stolen from the house, she said.

The Honda Fit had two children's carseats and a pram in it when it was stolen.

"They would have come through my house, they would have seen I have two very small children who live with me ... they had no care in the world.

"That's the only car I had to be able to transport my children anywhere."

The couple were left out of pocket as none of the stolen items were insured.

The car was worth about $3000 or $4000, each carseat about $350 and the iPad about $300, she said.

"I only had third party insurance because my car sits in the garage all day...

"I didn't actually think that somebody could break into the house and actually steal the car from inside the house."

Wilmshurst said she had previously held comprehensive insurance on the car for six years but it had largely sat in the garage out of harm's way - "I never claimed, I never had an accident".

One person had gifted the family a carseat after hearing of the break-in.

"That was really helpful ... That was really nice."

After a joyride that allegedly included stealing a full tank of gas from a Westgate petrol station, the car was found a week later smashed on Zita Maria Drive.

The family were then stung with the cost of towing the smashed car.

It seemed to be a really common problem that stolen cars were being dumped on side streets in the Massey area, she said.

Wilmshurst said it was frustrating knowing how careless the offenders had been.

"This is something someone has had to work and pay for."

She was not able to afford to fix the car at the time, and has since sold it to somebody who is keen to make the repairs the car needs.

A police spokeswoman confirmed they were looking into the case but nobody had been charged at this stage.

AA Insurance tips to reduce your burglary risk: 
• There are a wide range of security options to help protect your home that often complement each other, such as alarms, security lights, and deadlocks on doors and windows. But they'll only work if you use them – even if you aren't out for long.
• Let your neighbours know what to do if your alarm is triggered, even by accident, and be sure you know what to do if theirs activates. Rather than approaching a thief, call the police or, if it's safe to do so, gather information like a description of the culprit and a licence plate number to help them track the offender.
• Make sure your valuables, including TVs and stereos, cannot be seen from the outside of your home, and your jewellery is well hidden.
• Make it difficult for someone to break into your home – lock your shed, put away your tools and wheelie bins, and trim trees and shrubs so there are no places for burglars to hide.
• If you're out the back of your house don't leave windows or doors open at the front.
• Let your neighbours know if you're going to be away, give them your contact phone number, and ask them to clear your mail, put washing on the line, or park in your driveway.
• Be careful when disposing of any tell-tale packaging for TVs, gaming consoles and new purchases.
• Look after your house and car keys, by keeping them away from your front door, and not putting personal details on them like your name, number or address.