Key Safes - a cautionary tale

[HurdyGurdy19]

We are never having another keysafe again.

We were woken at 4am by the police. Unbeknown to us, my son's car had been stolen from our driveway at 3am, was involved in a police chase with the Armed Response Unit, before crashing into a lamppost.

The three thieves, wearing balaclavas, gloves and with hoods up, had used a crowbar to get the keysafe off the wall, and then a screwdriver to get the key out. (They also pulled the video doorbell off the wall)

We have video footage of two of them using the key to come into the house, where they found my keys and our son's keys, coming back out of the house, locking the door behind them, (presumably so that when we had to unlock and open the door, our fingerprints would overlay any that they had left behind, despite them wearing gloves?) and getting into my son's car and driving off. Thank god they only came for the keys, and didn't go any further into the house. My son's bedroom is downstairs and thank god also that he didn't need to get up in the night to use the loo or anything, as I am certain they'd have had no qualms in smashing him with the crowbar 😢

I posted on our local area's Facebook page to see if anyone in the adjoining streets had any doorbell/cctv footage of them walking around, hopefully without their balaclavas on. Turns out these little scrotes have been around at least three nearby streets, trying houses and pulling off video doorbells and multiple pieces of footage have been passed to the police, so with a bit of luck, they may stand a chance of catching them. CID said they "have their suspicions" as to who it was, so with any luck, all the footage will help them identify them.

We have had a parade of police at the house today - the original officers who tracked us down via ANPR, then SOCO, then CID and we will be contacted by the Burglary Section tomorrow.

Our neighbours are now in the process of taking their keysafe off their house, and have told their children to do the same.

The keysafe for us has been a godsend (during my Menopause Years, I was forever forgetting my keys and getting locked out), but never again. We are now looking into changing the lock for a digital one so we never need a spare key again.

Oh but the hassle this has now caused. My son has had to take today and tomorrow off work as he needs his car to get there, and has had to speak to police, and his insurers (waiting for them to call back still) as he needs a courtesy car. So that's two days' lost pay for him. I don't have a spare key for my car (I can't count the number of times I've walked past the Timpson's cabin on my way into the supermarket and thought "I must see if they can cut me a new key for my car" 🙄), and now having to change the lock on the front door (the thieves still have our spare key from the keysafe).

I’m really sorry this happened to you OP, it sounds incredibly scary and confirms my long held suspicion throughout the teenage years, that however tempting, they are not a good idea.

What I would suggest though, is that if people do need to use them, that they only keep a door key in them and not car keys.

I’m so sorry to hear your experience- I hope everyone is okay. We have used them but they’ve always been located somewhere requiring another form of access first so in an outhouse with a padlock before you get to the keysafe or in the garden accessible via a padlocked gate. I wouldn’t put one anywhere visible.

There is two ways of looking at that though.

Some would say leave your car keys in an easily identifiable place near the front door. Then if a burglar breaks in to steal the car keys they find them quick and leave again. This means they aren't ransacking your whole house and decreases the chance of them coming into intact with you.

Others would say hide them so the thieves can't find them but then it depends how determined they are to steal the car as to the lengths they will go to to find the keys i.e will they trash the whole house, threaten you to give them the keys etc.

Personally we don't have the type of cars that car thieves are after but we have one set of keys downstairs in a fairly obvious place because if someone did break in I would prefer they found them and left. Cars can be replaced.

I agree with your logic. I always leave spare cash in a very obvious place. If someone broke in because they needed a quick fix, I would rather they found money and hopefully left straight away.

Crikey!!! Don’t give the game away! People have become nervous enough.

We’ve hid our key safe away from the front door so it’s not obvious.

That’s a good idea actually. So for example put a padlock with a combination lock on the shed, then put the key safe inside it.

the other more obvious problem is that with the button type, the buttons that are used get worn or dirty.

I’m more impressed that this number of police are attending a burglary. Guess you don’t live in London. 🙄

Horrible this happened to you OP (and pleasing the police are actually doing something!) but many older people have key safes required by their personal alarms to use if they fall over / fall ill to enable paramedics to let themselves in. I feel the chances of it being broken into in the way yours was is far lower than requiring help in that way

How horrible for you all, OP! It goes to show determined people will get what they want no matter what precautions you take though. I don't have a keysafe but when my house was burgled a few years ago, it was during the day, and the burglar had to break both the wooden side gate and the pvc back door to get into the house. The police told me it would have taken him about 20 minutes to get in and sometimes people are just determined.

Doesn't mean they're often in use. I have one but have only put a spare key in it 2-3 times in the 10 years I've lived here e.g for relatives arriving before I got back from work. It sits empty 99.9% of the time.

The car keys were in the house, the burglars used the house key to gain access and steal the car keys

I've got one we don't use on my wall ,I'm not sure I can get it off.

Op does your son have a really nice car that's a lot of trouble to go too. .awful

Op does your son have a really nice car that's a lot of trouble to go too. .awful

I was going to ask similar question.

I’m really sorry this happened to you op. It’s the reason that we decided not to have one.

For many older people they are essential for carers and emergency services, however they are far less likely to have cars on the driveway to attract thieves. Ime, many are out of direct view too.

How does it work with home insurance? We have one that was here when we moved in but I am worried about using it as I think they are a weak link

Yup, mine could break into one very quickly too. In fact we often say (a) how easy it would be for him to stick on a high viz and hard hat and go round ‘checking’ on things, i.e. breaking into key safes unchallenged, and (b) how we’ll never get one.

My adult DC have their own keys. If one gets lost (rarely) they tell me and we change the Yale barrel for a few bob. Much better than risking a key safe.

And OP, so sorry to hear about your horrible ordeal

@HurdyGurdy19

im so sorry. It's awful to think all of that happened & you didn't hear them or know they were in your house.

hugest hugs! I hope you can 'get over' it ok, but do take up the offer of any help to deal with it. If you need to. 🌷

I had a stroke earlier in the year (I'm 'only' 55) & my neighbour kept suggesting a key safe for the care team I had or for any other emergencies. She even offered to have it put near her front door, rather than mine (terraced, front doors, no porches etc) but I still didn't want one (she has a key, 2 local friends have a key).

but having said that, if you hadn't had a key safe they'd have just used the crow bar to get in your house, so probably just more damage to deal with! Don't blame yourselves, blame the fucking lie life that did it.

Annoying & costly as it is just remind your Son to be thankful none of you were hurt!! 😘

If emergency services need to get in, in a hurry, they have the means to do so (if my 'hardly ever not home & hearing of a bat' hasn't already opened the door!!

I don't have the kind of car a crime gang would go to any effort to steal 🙇🏻‍♀️

Getting your car key cut might not be that easy! You might need to contact the 'make' dealer & ask.

I've only ever seen key safes or boxes on holiday cottages - you get the key out when you arrive and put it back when you check out. Or for someone who has carers coming and going 4 times a day. I don't know anyone who has a keysafe on an ordinary home and can't really see why you would?

Horrible experience for you though OP.

Yes I’ve always thought they looked quite vulnerable to being broken into.

My parents have one for emergencies but it’s through the side gate, and then basically hidden in the back garden - you’d have to be shown where it was, an opportunistic thief wouldn’t find it unless they started searching everyone’s back gardens on the off chance someone had a key safe there.

To be honest I’m not sure why my parents bothered paying for a key safe. They could have just put it in a box and hidden that in the same place.

I’m pretty sure a lot of burglar types will know this already. Its probably more valuable home owners knowing how risky they are.

Well it is a three year old Vauxhall Corsa, so nothing spectacular, but apparently a popular boy racer car.

Contrasted with mine, which is an 11 year old Ford B-Max. They stole the key for that as well (thankfully located in my son's car by the police), but obviously weren't interested in a granny's car for a joyride. If, in fact, that is what it was stolen for, although I'm more inclined to think it was going to be broken up for parts, or sold on.

Generally cars taken through house burglaries are not just for joy riding. More than likely for parts.

You're right, of course. It's only a car and thankfully no one has been hurt, and that's what we focus on.

It could have been so much worse.

3am (so right about the time they arrived at our house) is my wake up time to go to the bathroom every night 🙄. I usually end up coming downstairs for a glass of water as well. For some reason my body woke me up for a wee at 3.20am, after they'd gone.