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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
Trainspotting1984 · 09/02/2017 08:13

I'm lost urgugh are you saying your hosiebold contend insurance states you must leave you door locked whilst you are inside? Because unless you have reason for a special clause to be added, it doesn't.

Insurance is one of these MN arguments for not doing things you may do IRL but they're rarely accurate.

BrieAndChilli · 09/02/2017 08:13

Our porch door has a Yale lock so automatically locks when you shut it, our inner porch door has lock that needs a key.
If in the house we don't lock the inner door but do when we go out.
We don't lock it with a key at night time but have a bolt we put across. This is so in a fire we could get out quickly and not have to fumble for a key, kids can also quickly unbolt the door. Back door is always locked unless someone is in re garden.

Saying that I have been out once for several hours and accidentally left both porch doors half openBlush, realised the conservatory doors were unlocked (and hadn't been used for weeks). We live in a village and our road is a dead end so no reason for opportunists to be passing so we got lucky!

mum11970 · 09/02/2017 08:14

No, my doors are very rarely locked. Front door is usually only locked to stop one of my dogs opening it and getting out, rather than to stop people coming in. One door is unlocked pretty much 100% of the time but is accessed through the dog run.

OnHold · 09/02/2017 08:16

My door is unlocked when I'm in during the day time.

SavageBeauty73 · 09/02/2017 08:18

This is so alien to me. But I do live in London.

UghUgh · 09/02/2017 08:20

I'm lost urgugh are you saying your hosiebold contend insurance states you must leave you door locked whilst you are inside? Because unless you have reason for a special clause to be added, it doesn't.

My insurance does not cover me if I am burgled and the burglars have not used forced entry and/or if I've not taken reasonable care.

Trainspotting1984 · 09/02/2017 08:24

Your policy will be more detailed than that. Most don't pay out for cash if no forced entry but there isn't a catch all clause that does as you describe.

NarkyMcDinkyChops · 09/02/2017 08:26

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?

The insurance is mainly for fire, flood etc. Theft is just included. It's not that I can't be arsed, its that I don't need to. And it would be inconvenient to as well.

Now I'm even more curious about NarkyMcDinkyChops home insurance and her 'unusual' set up. I genuinely would have liked to know which insurance companies would permit me to leave my doors unlocked during the day as a matter of course

I don't have an unusual set up. Just not the same as many on the thread, which apparently some just can't grasp.

Insurance companies don't need to permit you to leave your doors unlocked, most don't even mention locks and doors when you are IN the house. My insurance is perfectly valid, but i thank you for your concern Smile

Trainspotting1984 · 09/02/2017 08:30

My insurance company doesn't even know whether I need to lock my doors. They haven't asked (and my doors lock automatically behind me so irrelevant) I think people seem to think ins companies sit there putting clauses in against every possible scenario, but they are more general than that

Original poster
FutureMrsRanj · 09/02/2017 08:41

It doesn't make sense to me for insurance companies, for example if your front door is open whilst you go to and from your car with shopping and a burglar runs in would insurance not pay out? Or if you were in the garden mowing the lawn and the back door was unlocked and you didn't notice someone going in? I can't believe insurance companies would consider it a reason not to pay because even if you are a 'door locker' there are circumstances where a door wouldn't be locked for practicality reasons. I do realise that a burglar would have to be pretty brazen in those circumstances but I gather they tend to be

OP posts:
Trainspotting1984 · 09/02/2017 08:47

Someone stole my mums shopping whilst she was going back and forth once Shock desperate!

Tbh it's not a given you would claim on insurance anyway. Most "run in and grab" burglars will go for handbags, phone, I pad, cash and passports if they have time. That's the way burglaries are now, it's not common to have your TV etc taken. I don't know About you but my handbag wouldn't be worth claiming on The excess for and my phones and devices are insured separately from my household contents.

NavyandWhite · 09/02/2017 08:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DustyMaiden · 09/02/2017 08:57

There was a questionnaire with my insurance, do you lock the door? Do you have a 5 point lock? The premiums are less if you answer yes.

xStefx · 09/02/2017 08:59

I have to lock it where I live. Fun place to live :-) but not particularly safe

blueskyinmarch · 09/02/2017 08:59

My front door is always locked as I don't use it. Back door unlocked when we are in and not in bed. The dog is in and out a lot and I go in and out my garage a lot to get things. If anyone was to approach the door the dog would bark like crazy so I am not at all worried about it. We also live up a dark drive in the country. You would have to be determined to want to actually get to our house and then try to break in.

NarkyMcDinkyChops · 09/02/2017 09:02

There was a questionnaire with my insurance, do you lock the door? Do you have a 5 point lock? The premiums are less if you answer yes

Did it specify when you were in or out? And if you get a discount for saying yes then it won't pay out if you didn't, but if you ticked no and paid a higher premium, they will pay out.

Madness. There's been a lot of burglaries near me recently

and if we all lived where you live it might be madness. But you might want to try trusting people to know what security they need to take for their own homes?

UghUgh · 09/02/2017 09:05

Nanky
I think you are being deliberately vague now. I get that your circumstances aren't 'typical' but I can't know what they are unless you actually tell us 😂 I genuinely would like to know what insurance company you use as I'd love to switch to one where it says I only need to lock my doors if I go out.

I've looked up the details of John Lewis's Home Contents Insurance for typical wording and this is what it says

Taking care of your property
You and your family must take all reasonable precautions to avoid injury, loss or damage, and take all practicable steps to safeguard all the property insured

If you are home and your doors unlocked and you get robbed then the insurance company WILL question why your doors weren't locked and may well refuse to pay out.

Obviously, you are unlikely to get robbed if you are unloading the car and bringing the shopping into the house but even if you were then it would be 'unreasonable' to expect you lock and unlock the door each time you come in and out. (Depending on the circumstances)

NarkyMcDinkyChops · 09/02/2017 09:08

Of course I am, do you think I'm going to tell you all my exact security and house set up?
They aren't particularly untypical. It doesn't matter for my point though, which is that just because it might be crazy for YOU to not lock your door while you are in, doesn't mean it is for anyone or everyone else. Simple as that.

If you are home and your doors unlocked and you get robbed then the insurance company WILL question why your doors weren't locked and may well refuse to pay out

They MAY. They also may not. Wasn't a problem for my MIL, they never asked.

Spikeyball · 09/02/2017 09:11

I live rurally and most people leave their doors unlocked. We sometimes get notes through the door from the police telling people to lock their doors if they are upstairs or in the garden. I don't leave mine unlocked because I grew up in a city and because ds would be out the door if I didn't lock it.

UghUgh · 09/02/2017 09:19

Narky I'm sure there are lots of circumstances where it wouldn't be reasonable to have your doors locked But generally you have to take reasonable precautions and that would include locking your doors. It's unusual to have a policy that explicitly says you don't have to lock your doors when you are home. I'm not sure why you wouldn't tell me the name of your insurers - I was only interested because I would like to have a clause like that in my insurance. 🤔

NarkyMcDinkyChops · 09/02/2017 09:21

It's unlikely to be helpful to you.

It would be unusual to find a policy that specifically says you must lock your doors when you are in, actually. I think you are taking the term "reasonable precautions" to mean what you think it must without any proof that it does. It's a vague term. It means different things depending on set up.

steppemum · 09/02/2017 09:21

Our front door needs to be locked with a key. I would much prefer a yale lock so that it automatically locked.

As soon as I go upstairs, leaving front and /or back door unlocked, it would be easy for someone to walk in an grab a handbag.

We are often told by local police (through the residents association newsletter) that if you are upstairs, have the radio or tv on, or in the back garden, then you front door should be locked.

kel1234 · 09/02/2017 09:24

My front door automatically locks when you close it. However I only put the other locks on at night or when I'm out a long time

SpongebobRoundPants · 09/02/2017 09:30

Just lock it. It's free.

TondelayaDellaVentamiglia · 09/02/2017 09:31

I rarely lock doors....even at night. Delivery came the other day, and I am scrabbling to "unlock" the front door as I saw the key was in the lock and I presumed dh had locked it, but no....he had just left the key in there. (a surprise on both counts tbh)

He is very excited as now we have a back door that locks...after 16 years. I have put the keys away, so a) he cannot be locking it all the fucking time and b) he cannot lose them and c) he cannot accidentally lock me in

I once watched him go out from the house, lock the back door, cross the garden to the garage and shed, both of which needed unlocked and then relocked and he had to unlock the back door to let himself back in
That combined with his complete inability to return any key to where it should be meant many many rows!
He locked me in the house once....I believe I am still an office legend for that particular phone call Angry
To be fair, he was an inner city copper for the longest time, so that goes someway to explaining his security fetish, but I cannot be doing with it

Also I am fairly confident that having two 50kg barky GSDs is an adequate deterrent to any casual sneak thief.