Do you lock your doors

[Scrambledegghead]

When you’re in the house? So you’ve come in, shut the door behind you and you’re going to be in for at least a few hours. Do you lock it behind you or leave it unlocked because you’re in? We leave ours unlocked and DM has made me promise never to do it again but I can’t get out of the habit! She locks hers when she gets in even if she’ll only be in for 5 minutes before going out again, whereas unless we’re going to bed, ours stayed unlocked.

should I be making more of a conscious effort to lock it, lest a murderer or a burglar comes in or am I in the majority?

Always. If I know I'll be going back out again at some point I'll quickly slide the bolt across but if I know I won't be going out again it's locked with the key, bolted and the keys removed and put out of sight

I've got a Doberman

Front door locks automatically as it's a Yale lock. Back door might be left unlocked but if I'm going upstairs for any length of time or I've hoovering I usually turn the key in the lock. Most burglaries are opportunists trying their luck with unlocked/open doors. Your insurance won't pay up unless there's signs of forced entry.

I keep mine locked but I don't live in a great area and people have been known to enter houses. I used to live in a village and the door was never locked.

We left a key in the door permanently.

Never had any issues. Zero crime in our area

Sold to a family who immediately put up cctv cameras and anyone would think that the place was getting ready for the Purge.

Still zero crime rates and neighbour who I met in the local supermarket was laughing about how terrified they were that someone would break in.
Unless a thief had made a wrong turning
you would never find the place Even Sat Navs used to take you somewhere else. More likely to see horses than cars on the road during the day.

We only lock it when everyone's out. My children often don't bother even closing it 🙄

We live rurally doors open in day DH is back and forwareds from workshop garden to house several times a day it is a pain to be locking and unlocking doors, to be honest windows mostly open too but here we are too far from road for opportunists people don't come here unless delivering things or invited. we lock doors at night and when going out for a while if just nipping to post office i probably wouldn't bother but sometimes we forget I would not panic if I did

We lived in a "zero crime area" but it has changed a lot over the past few years. Used to be that you knew everybody but not now.

We live in an area with a high crime rate and the police & insurance companies tell us to close and lock the doors, even if we're just nipping upstairs to use the loo. We've had people run through the garden being chased buy the police so I wouldn't risk leaving the door open if I wasn't there.

Our back garden is walled in by surrounding buildings and an ancient wall over 6ft high so very secure and our back door is open from first thing in the morning to last thing at night. If we are at home the front door is unlocked but closed. If I am in the back garden during the day I lock the front door and, if the dogs are being particularly jumpy and barking at shadows I lock it then as well if I am on my own.

Back door is always locked.
Front door is locked when everyone is at school and work as I'm pregnant and home alone with my toddler.
Once DH is home we tend to leave it unlocked until the last teenager has come home for the evening and lock it after them. I have a ring door bell so feel so much more comfortable leaving it unlocked now from before we got it.

IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere I'm not trying to worry you but we have 6 feet fences and they pop over them like they are nothing.

Mine locks automatically behind me but if it didn't I'd lock it.

Never during the day.

At night, I forget to lock it about half the time. Sometimes I come downstairs and find it is still propped open from the evening before.

Should add, we live in a terrace so we have the neighbours walking through our garden several times a day plus their friends, delivery drivers etc.

I've never had anyone wander in apart from dogs, on two occasions!

We now know why so many people hate insurance companies for not paying out when they've been robbed/burgled!

They don't pay out when the policyholder has been negligent, such as not locking doors! Yet, somehow, the policyholder blames the insurance company! As someone said above, if there's no sign of forced entry, the insurance company isn't going to pay out!

Locked.
Why would you take the risk?

Good job they don't charge per exclamation mark.

I know a man who has never locked his house in 60 odd years, & doesn't actually know where the key is,

My DB & SIL leave & go on month long international holidays & dont lock !😆

No. I leave the back door wide open when I do the school run! Do lock the front but don't really need to. Also leave my car unlocked a lot!
We are very rural, with good neighbours and I'm a 2 minute walk from the school! If I lived in a high crime area, large town/city then I think it would be very different.

We've lived in 2 houses, neither locked automatically. There's a handle in the middle of the door and to lock it you have to use the key (whether you're inside or out).
Had a yale lock I think it was growing up at my parents, which was good as it locked automatically but also downside is you can get locked out easier!

Nope, I wedge mine wide open all day so the dogs can come and go. Usually lock it at night time if I remember, always close it at night though.

Front for always locked.
Back door unlocked during the day and locked at night.

A very rural area is generally safe from personal harm. The main crimes committed rurally, leaving aside drug supplying, are fly-tipping and garage/shed theft. The most sought after item is a quad bike. I feel totally safe in my home rurally. If we see something across the fields we put the drone up so long as it’s not windy or dark. Normally it’s a trespasser shagging or this time of year someone capturing the sunset. No harm done. We caught a fly-tipper once who got aggressive, but once we started calling the police they promptly got into their van and headed off towards the main road.

When I’m in the centre of a large city I feel perfectly safe. The parts we all go to are normally the desirable parts, so less hard crime, lots of CCTV, safety in numbers. I feel totally safe in London, Bristol, Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham.

I think the fear of crime is cumulatively worse than actual crime for the vast majority of people.

Locked at night and in the day if I'm in the garden. Back door likewise but in summer leave my conservatory completely open even when I go out sometimes as the back door to the house which connects to the conservatory would be locked. Windows are only locked when we're away. I live in a bungalow but still sleep with the window open in the bedroom.
Fortunately I always lived in areas where I feel relatively relaxed about security, probably mistakenly!