Is DH U or am I paranoid? Locking doors at night

[Spiderpigspiderpig]

We live in a bungalow. Front door and back door are on the left of the building and are opposite each other... Hallway & kitchen between them. We have another external door at the back on far right handside of building in ds room. So 2 rear external doors & 1 front one. The one in ds room is closest to all of the other bedrooms.

Before be Dh prefers to lock all door and hang keys up in kitchen.

I prefer to lock doors but leave all keys in locks.

His argument is that a burgular will smash a window and reach the key, so it's not safe to do this.

My argument is that if there's a fire we'll be trapped in the house as we won't be able to get to keys. Our windows don't open enough to climb through.

Who is bu?

I work for the fire service, if you contact your local station the crew will come out and talk through an escape plan and fit free smoke alarms (if you don't already have them) for you. 👍🏼🚒

Whatever you do, check your practice doesn't conflict with the requirements of your insurance policy. If keeping keys near a door, including car keys, keep them out of sight. With transponders in key fobs making it impossible to start a car without the fob, a common purpose in burglaries is to get the car keys (so the police told me when some arse smashed my car door and ripped all the wiring out trying to get it started).

I know someone years ago who had a hefty insurance claim denied because the bolts on his French windows weren't key operated as the policy required. The thieves had got in another way, and then used a filing cabinet to smash open the French windows from inside to get out (with antiques etc). Had the bolts been key operated it would have made no difference at all.

A previous poster remarked that their windows are not locked, just closed. My bog standard household policy says windows should be closed and locked at night and when out. If I am burgled again, and any window was not locked, I'd effectively be uninsured.

I am of the school of "rather burgled than incinerated". I was in a house which was burgled once: I survived. My dn's classmates were in a venue that caught fire and could not get out: they did not survive.

I superglued a small strong magnet behind my porch door and the keyring sticks to that. Very neat and easy to grab in an emergency, not accessible from the letterbox. I leave my patio door keys in the locks.

We live in a bungalow too and I'm just as paranoid about fire etc or needing to get out of the house quickly like you. But I keep keys hidden near the doors rather than in the doors. I've also been told that by a locksmith that insurance companies won't pay claims if they find keys kept in locks - I don't know how true this is but it makes sense to me. Lx