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Original poster

Key in Door

57 replies

Irishmoma1 · 03/09/2018 21:23

Just wondering do you leave your keys in your front door at night or do you take them out? Just wondering what is best in terms of safety

OP posts:
IggyAce · 04/09/2018 07:29

In. But like previous poster turn them so they are hard to remove and letter box is quite low. I do it in case of fire.

FurryDice · 04/09/2018 07:34

Leave in.

  1. The door handle has to be turned upwards to even turn the key so good luck with that amount of fussing.
  1. I don’t have a letterbox as that’s downstairs outside.
  1. The door appears to be made of something akin to iron. Noose could bust it down.
  1. But back to the key. Surely if it’s in the lock it’s harder to break in?
Sitranced · 04/09/2018 07:37

Out. Kept in my bag in my bedroom. If we were burgled my insurance won't pay out if keys are in the door.

MsSquiz · 04/09/2018 07:39

DH leaves the key in the door (turned 90 degrees and no letterbox in door - solid wood)
I leave it stuck to our metal coat stand as it has a magnetised dot in it and it can't be seen from the front door.
DH always leaves his car keys on the hall table, which can clearly be seen from the front door, so each night I put them in the drawer of said table... 🙄

JynxaSmoochum · 04/09/2018 07:45

On a hook between the stairs and front door. Convenient for both front and back doors. Well out of reach from the letterbox.

dudsville · 04/09/2018 07:48

We have a full set of house keys minus the car keys near the front door. If we needed to suddenly get into the garage for instance or through a locked sidegate we could. Neither of us carries a full set of keys so this has been important. No one would find our car keys.

ASqueakingInTheShrubbery · 04/09/2018 07:48

On a hook on the side of the burglar alarm, so not hookable from the letterbox but very accessible if there was a fire.

dementedpixie · 04/09/2018 07:48

We have a hook in the hall where keys hang, next to the coat hooks. Far enough away from the door but always easy to find

Aragog · 04/09/2018 08:35

House keys are on the bottom stair so they are easy to grab in case we need to leave in an emergency.

But not visible or grab-able from doors.

Car keys are left in the front entrance - not visible from outside and can't be reached via the letterbox.

However they are downstairs and once inside visible.

If someone is going to break in for our cars they can get them without raiding through our stuff or coming upstairs.

We've had this type of break in whilst we were in bed. The alarm went off and they grabbed keys though they got the wrong ones - they got dh's work keys and fob, and our front door key. Our front door was sorted that day. Dh's work incurred a bit of work replacing all their keys and fob resets but sorted that day via their insurance.

And at least no one ventured further. The police and community team who visited us after both recommended these locations.

Aragog · 04/09/2018 08:36

My house insurance policy states that if keys are left in the entrance doors and you are burgled they will not pay us anything

Always worth checking individual policies.
Ours don't mention this at all.

Nesssie · 04/09/2018 08:39

Don’t lock the door at night, just pull the handle up so it can’t be opened from the outside.
But then I do have a German Shepherd who would not take too kindly to be woken up by a burglar... 😂

Glasstine · 04/09/2018 08:41

In the door for fire purposes and lack of interest in my 12 year old Mondeo

SoupDragon · 04/09/2018 08:43

Those who say the keys are “far enough away from the door“ if they are visible from the front door and in a straight line, they may still be hookable with a long enough pole. Make sure they are not visible.

Camsie30 · 04/09/2018 08:44

Mine come upstairs and are in a tin next to my bed as my car key is remote and they can be intercepted easily. Alarm always on at night.

Areyoumyhomewrecker · 04/09/2018 08:50

Front door in, back door out and hidden. Round here they tend to try the back and I know someone who left the key where it could be seen so they broke the window to get it.

FairfaxAikman · 04/09/2018 08:51

Our personal key sets are kept on us but we have a single door key with no adornments (to make it harder to fish) and that is left in the door at night.
As PP said, I'd rather be able to guarantee that I can find it and get out in the event of a fire.

LuckyLuckyLuckyMe · 04/09/2018 08:59

DH had keys on his bedside locker until a thief broke in and took them from the locker.

Luckily, the thief didn't wake anyone (he was a teenager and living with his family). It could have been worse. Now he leaves them by the front door and visible once in the house.

We used to leave the front door key on a hook on the wall until we had a power cut and I couldn't find my phone. It took an astonishing amount of time for me to get the key in the lock properly. It was really dark and my eyes hadn't adjusted.

We keep it in the door now but turned 90 degrees and it has nothing attached to it.

I would recommend that everyone try to get their key from where they have it in pitch dark and see if they can get it into the lock as quick as they think it can.

Thinkingofausername1 · 04/09/2018 09:01

I'd be climbing out the window in thick smoke. Not going downstairs Confused. I guess no one can make the decision until it actually happens.

ragged · 04/09/2018 09:13

Often in the Kitchen door which is main door we use. This "fishing" out worry confused heck out of me until someone said letterbox. No letterbox in kitchen door & we'd hear someone smashing the windows if otherwise wanted to fish. All good.

HappydaysArehere · 04/09/2018 09:25

This has been a source of argument in our house. Dh used to put them on the kitchen table in a small dish. As the most likely place for a fire was, I thought in the kitchen, I had visions of not being able to retrieve them. We now put them on a cupboard near the door but tucked behind a photo. Even so the fear of finding the correct key when there is a back door key as well and struggling to undo the chain doesn’t bear thinking off.

reddressblueshoes · 04/09/2018 09:46

Our front door we changed the lock for one where you turn a knob to lock it from the inside so keys are nowhere near.

Our back door we used to leave the keys in until someone removed a panel from the door- kicked it out, without us hearing- and fished the key out and ransacked our house while we were sleeping. It's now on a hook nearby, but realistically we'd have to pass the front door to get there in case of fire so if we couldn't get downstairs we'd be going out the window.

I really think it's worth changing locks/doors to avoid the scenario where you have to leave the key in the door. We rented a house like that once where it was also really stiff: a few times I got stuck in/outside the house because I couldn't easily turn the key and I did worry about fire in the middle of the night.

Haberpop · 04/09/2018 09:56

Leave them in, we don't have a letterbox.

SugarandVinegar · 04/09/2018 09:59

No key option on my door, it locks automatically when you close it.
It's a pita.
After seeing the Grenfell tragedy I got an emergency smoke hood,
I think they give you 30mins of breathing time and not horrendously expensive.
www.amazon.co.uk/Lovinn-Emergency-Escape-Self-life-saving-Respirator/dp/B07FY7W87N/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?keywords=smoke+hood+emergency&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1536051282&sr=8-1-fkmr0

WhirlyGigWhirlyGig · 04/09/2018 10:05

Mine are left in, front and back. I've been burgled whilst sleeping before so I know it's horrible but it won't kill you. Not having your keys in the fastest place possible, ie the door ready to go, could kill you in case of fire.

fiverabbits · 05/09/2018 00:36

ARAGOG
My insurance company who I have been with for years only started saying if keys in locks no payout in 2017 so your advice of checking each policy makes sense.