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AIBU?

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Original poster

To no the lock my door?

284 replies

FutureMrsRanj · 08/02/2017 23:34

Imagine this has been done to death but have just seen another thread where the op is being to,d to lock her door, is this normal? In the day? I don't think I know any door lockers but maybe I should start in case of burglars, I did wonder when reading a thread this evening as DC were asleep upstairs and I don't think I would hear from sitting room if someone quietly wandered in through front door, ddog would either greet them enthusiastically or carry on snoring

OP posts:
BastardGoDarkly · 09/02/2017 01:41

I never used to bother during the day, until I read a thread on here a couple of months ago Grin

It's just habit now.

MidniteScribbler · 09/02/2017 01:46

When I'm at my holiday house which is on a small island, no one locks their doors or takes their keys out of the car (you might lose them on the beach!). The whole island has a bit of an open door policy though (and nearly everyone is related to everyone else in some way!). It's not unheard of to go to the beach and come back and your neighbour has left you some fresh baking, or homegrown veges, or eggs on the kitchen bench. I lock up when we're away from the island though, but the neighbours has keys if she ever needs to go over there for anything.

AwaywiththePixies27 · 09/02/2017 01:48

My best friends mum had a house with a downstairs loo. She'd fell to sleep on the sofa. Woke up to what she thought was her daughter standing over her in the dark. They were brazenly rifling through her coat pockets and handbag as she slept right there, when she stirred and saw the figure she just assumed my best friend was looking for something in her sleep addled state. It was an intruder who'd gotten in through her downstairs loo. Never even occurred to her to even shut the window never mind lock it, after all, no one is going to fit through it right?...

UghUgh · 09/02/2017 01:51

Narky

Is your policy a really old one that you have kept renewing?

I'd also love to know the insurers as I would love to have that exemption. It's annoying having to remember to lock your doors all the time. I usually really careful to do it but it would be Sod's law that the one time you forget would be the one time the burglars pitched up. Confused

SingingInTheRainstorm · 09/02/2017 01:52

Hey if you like talking to your rubbish each to their own Grin

I think we can agree we're not living in the same era as when you'd rarely lock your door. We got paid by the insurers, but we lost the camera & video camera that had sentimental stuff on. Plus they pay under the odds for what the item is worth now, not at purchase.

If you feel comfy doing it, who are we to tell you what to do?

NarkyMcDinkyChops · 09/02/2017 01:56

It's fairly old alright.

I think some posters are thinking of their own houses/situation and failing to appreciate that others may live in very different places/set ups where things may be quite different. Just because you need to keep your doors locked at all times doesn't mean we all do Smile

wonkylegs · 09/02/2017 02:19

We don't lock our back door when we are in, in the day but it does sound a very loud beep everytime you open it, this is mainly so I can hear if the kids have nipped out into the garden but also would alert me to someone coming in. We lock it at night or if we go out.
Our front door has a latch and deadlock which generally stay closed because we rarely use this door.
To be fair I usually see people coming down the very long driveway way before they get anywhere near the house.

melj1213 · 09/02/2017 03:37

I usually have the doors locked when I'm in ... but that's usually because I haven't yet been out so haven't unlocked it from overnight yet, or have just come in and know I'm not going out again so lock it so I don't forget!

Having said that, my door is not always locked during the day if I'm home between running errands or going to work or something, mainly because my front door opens directly into my living room so anyone breaking in would be immediately seen by me, siting on my couch ... if I hadn't already watched them stop at my door through my large front window.

user1486613612 · 09/02/2017 04:55

You could have your front door unlocked in the past, but not so anymore. People were more honest and trusting in the past, nothing happened and everybody had their door unlocked if they were home (some even if they were not at home).

londonrach · 09/02/2017 04:56

I know one person who doesnt look their door. Everyone else yes surely its nature to do it when you come through the door.

Nquartz · 09/02/2017 05:38

Ours are always locked (front & back) whether we're in or out. The only exception is if we're emptying the kitchen bin or nipping out to the car.
We got burgled at uni because someone left the back door unlocked & they just wandered in. Only thing they stole... my purse.
We have a lock on the front door you have to lock, used to have one that locked automatically & it closed behind me one day locking DD in (4 months old) which terrified me. Luckily I knew DH's number off by heart & called him from the neighbours to come home

Legwarmersforboys · 09/02/2017 05:38

We lock doors & only leave open windows that have window restrictors fitted

stonecircle · 09/02/2017 05:51

Our front door can be opened from the outside when unlocked, which is annoying. We have an inner door which can't but we don't always remember to close it through the day.

But if anyone managed to get as far as the front door without being heard, they'd be met by 3 large and very loud dogs as soon as they came in!

ImogenTubbs · 09/02/2017 05:53

When I lived in London, doors were locked night and day. Now I live in semi-rural Spain we usually have them unlocked as we spend a lot of time outside, but then the whole garden is surrounded by a 7ft wall with a locked gate. I probably wouldn't otherwise.

Trainspotting1984 · 09/02/2017 05:59

"my home insurance is invalid if we have downstairs windows open, doors unlocked and no burglar alarm on."

That's only if you're outside the house though? We're talking about whilst you're in there.

Personally I've never lived in a house with a front door that doesn't automatically lock

kitkatchunkymonkey · 09/02/2017 06:13

Don't understand why anyone wouldn't lock it. What problem could possibly arise from locking the door?
Where I live there is a burglary every other night at least, sometimes before 9pm.
The other night someone was reported to be trying doors on several streets to find an open one.
Someone could easily sneak in and snatch your car keys, bag, wallet, even your child!
Say someone did sneak in, do you think they would shut the door behind them? Probably not. Leaving kids and animals to walk free of the adult in the house is in another room oblivious.
Locking the door when I'm home causes me no problems, it makes the house more secure and stops people wandering in.

Aebj · 09/02/2017 06:15

My front door is currently open. It's not locked. Nor is my laundry door locked. My kitchen door to garage is unlocked.
My back door and dining room door are locked but this is because I haven't used them today.
I lock all doors at night and when I'm out.
When we got broken into he( could of been a girl but always called the thief he), he got in through a shut window. It wasn't locked. A) it's not something I do . It doesn't cross my mind to lock the windows. B) I was heavily pregnant and couldn't reach the kitchen window even if I did want to lock it!

kitkatchunkymonkey · 09/02/2017 06:23

Insurance paying out for having doors open isn't really a reason to leave it open surely Confused

Doesn't matter where you live or how 'nice' your area is, you are not immune from it, burglaries can and do happen everywhere.

But hey, if you want to leave your doors open and leave it to chance, that's your call.

Finding your most expensive and sometimes sentimental possessions have been taken while you were in the house is not a nice feeling.

Blackfellpony · 09/02/2017 06:25

I don't lock mine often during the day but anyone who opened it would be stopped at the door by my two very large German shepherds!

I did start locking it on maternity leave to stop MIL bursting in without knocking though!

celtiethree · 09/02/2017 06:26

My doors don't lock automatically. When I'm in during the day they are unlocked, can't imagine how annoying it would be to have to keep opening the door for kids who are out playing. Doors are locked when no one is in or we're all in bed.

My insurance is not invalidated by leaving doors unlocked while we're in the house.

Monkeymarbles · 09/02/2017 06:27

I don't lock mine when I'm in, but my house is tiny so any robber would see me sat there. I like that neighbours etc just wander in.
90% of my patients leave their doors unlocked during daylight hours.
I'm from London, think this thread proves how far I've come!

EverythingEverywhere1234 · 09/02/2017 06:36

Not sure if PPs saying they've never heard of a door your lock manually are joking or not Confused

ANYWAY I have to admit, I am very hit or miss with locking our door. During the day, when we're both home (it's just DP, me and the DDog) it's unlocked, same as if were 'home' but just around the yard/farm. We've a fuck off big angry Alsatian in the yard tho so to walk past her would take a brave man indeed. Nighttime we do tend to lock both the front and back doors, although we're better at remembering to lock the front door than the back.
If someone wanted to come robbing, like I say, they'd have to get past crazy dog then they'd be an idiot to rob the house. Much more valuable things in the sheds, which incidentally have Far more security than the house with cctv and security lights everywhere. We're in the process of installing an alarm to link back to the house as well.
Very rural area, but a main road isn't too far away, so can't be too careful with the machinery!

honeylulu · 09/02/2017 06:39

I live in a town centre and there is no way I'd leave the doors unlocked. Even in the summer when the back door is open, I will shut and lock it if I go upstairs.
The front door locks automatically when it's closed - you can open it with the handle from the inside but not the outside - you can't leave it on the latch. I don't put the mortice lock on if in at home though except when we go to bed.
Even our windows can be locked in an open position (too small for burglar top get in or toddler to fall out!).
A police officer told us a few years ago that most house burglaries he dealt with was where the thieves broke in and took car keys from the hallway (and handbags, mobiles etc kept there), and then took the car. We always slept with our keys upstairs after that.

Creampastry · 09/02/2017 06:43

If you leave your doors unlocked you're not only inviting trouble, you are an idiot.

MrsFezziwig · 09/02/2017 06:44

narky why do you bother to have insurance against theft if you're so convinced that you won't need it that you can't be arsed to spend two seconds locking your door?

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