Do you lock your door when you’re in the house?

[patienceandprudence]

Inspired by another thread (no prizes for guessing which).

I was surprised that people lock their doors sheen inside the house. Granted, we live in a small house, but it’s in a ‘bad’ area. We never lock our door when someone’s in, except at night if someone remembers. I’d say we leave it unlocked while out a good 30% of the time so if the kids come back or someone drops by to visit they don’t have to wait outside.

In my area this is the norm, and most of the time if you knock you’ll just be called in and told to walk right in next time. We tell anyone the same, even the regular delivery-people know that they can open the door and put the parcel in if it’s open.

Never lock anything - house or car (not actually sure where the house keys are!). Six dogs means that anyone within 100m gets an enthusiastic greeting day or night!!

DH never ever locks his car either. He doesn't even have a house key 😡😡

My dad lives in a quiet, 'safe' village and recently had someone try to come into his house through an open patio door while trying to hide from the police. My Dad squared up to him and he left (was caught by police). There is no such thing as a 100% safe area. Please don't take unnecessary risks.

Ours are locked these days, as I have no desire for toddler DD to be able to let herself out.

When I lived alone I always locked the doors when I was home, but when it was just me and DH we tended to leave the front door unlocked - so I guess overall we're a bit of both.

I have a porch with a chub lock that I lock if I'm out or at night, but otherwhys I leave unlocked if I'm at home or just nipping to the corner shop etc. The internal door is a yale that locks automatically.

The door locks itself but you can double lock it as well. We changed from one you could open from outside as I was sick to death of people just walking in, mainly my family! We don’t double lock it when in during the day but it’s always locked at night as are all the internal doors in the house. Just last week we had a security alert on our ring camera and two lads were trying the car doors and the front door.

Front door we lock, patio doors we'll often leave unlocked during the day once one of us has gone out to the back garden. We lock everything at night. Low crime area, but there are still reports of opportunist burglaries.

Ours locks when you close it, we always double lock at night, not during the day as someone is always in and out, unless all of us are going somewhere!

We only lock up at night if we're on the house. Tbh the dog would eat anyone that managed to get near the door without him barking

Of course not locking your door isn’t smart. Anyone could walk in. By not doing so you are taking a chance. Why risk it? I’ve always locked my front door and now my back doors too. A man walked into a house nearby recently on drugs. The women ran out and called police. They had to break down the door because he refused to come out!

At night yes obviously, in the daytime if I'm working from home yes as I'll be upstairs and if on a call or listening to music wouldn't necessarily hear an intruder. If we are all home during the day at e.g. a weekend then probably not. There have been issues in my area with people trying doors going house to house etc. so it's just to be careful really.

My front door locks automatically and I've never lived anywhere that wasn't the case other than uni halls of residence back in the day. Can't imagine not having it locked, plus it invalidates contents insurance if you have a burglary with no forced entry.

It is also double locked overnight, with the keys kept in a place they are easy to find in an emergency but not able to be reached through the letterbox.

I changed my door to one that automatically locks after I found a person posting pizza menus in my hallway. I notified the pizza company and went shopping for a new door that week. I also have a bolt on the inside now too.

There was an opportunistic burglary in our very safe village. Someone left the front door unlocked when they were in the garden and the thief/thieves just walked in.

I never leave the door unlocked.

Yes

@musicviking1

I changed my door to one that automatically locks after I found a person posting pizza menus in my hallway. I notified the pizza company and went shopping for a new door that week. I also have a bolt on the inside now too.

That's strange as I've just done the opposite. I'm always scared I'll lock myself out. I've only done it once in 12 years and that was the wind while I put the bin out but I didn't want to risk it.

Always locked unless I’m going in and out. Means I can’t forget overnight and we have door knockers here pretending to sell things but actually casing the joint.

Always, always locked (front door)
Back door open for Ddog to go in and out - opens to v. secure garden with large always locked and bolted gate.
Live on my own with big barky German Shepherd dog… but I’m still nervy!!

Apparently the majority of burglars walk in the door I was told by a policeman.

I live in a lovely area that has had its share of periodic burglaries.

I lock the door even though we have high boundary walls and a high gate.

If I was in and out to the garden I wouldn't but I would if going upstairs.

Burglary is not the issue. Nothing would please a sex offender or violent robber more than to trap you in your own home in a contained safe where no one can see you or come your aid. It is the height of taking stupid and unnecessary risks.

Anyway, doesn't leaving your doors unlocked negate your home insurance?

it scares me the thought of our house being unlocked at all. I walk in and instantly lock the door. i don't know anyone who wouldn't let me know their coming round so if I get a msg off my closest friends, mum, sister, father in law or brother in law, then I'd go and unlock it and they'll knock then walk in. I honestly don't know anyone who would just turn up without announcing it first. even my neighbour msgs me first. weve recently invested in a RING doorbell, and I was genuinely shocked at the amount of dodgy looking people that hang about on our street, and we live in a quite little town with a low crime rate.
when I got my latest home/contents insurance I'm sure they said something about not paying out if doors or windows are unlocked while we arent in the property, but without checking our policy I cant be sure on that. xxxxx

Yes, I saw a man try several of my neighbours front doors one dark night, whilst I was watching TV.

Always lock the door as soon as I'm in. We live in a quiet area but you can never be too careful.

We always have our door locked, mainly so my 6 year old doesnt let himself out. We have alarms on the doors leading outside that make a chime when they are opened so id know if anyone came in or out but i still feel happier locked in

If anybody is wondering and didn't see my thread.. this one is inspired by one I posted a couple of hours ago.

I live in Catford, a rough area of S.E London with a very high crime rate. My front door is on a main road. I'm 9 months pregnant and on medication that makes me quite unwell. I've been burgled here in the past during the day time. As a result, I always lock the door behind me when I get home and it's never, ever, unlocked.

My partner, who moved in with me, has form for not taking his keys. Today he went to meet his 12 and 14yo kids from school, an hour round walk including shop trip, to bring them here for tea.

He left the door unlocked when he left and didn't take his keys. I locked it.

It just so happened that I was on the toilet with explosive diarrhoea when he arrived back an hour later. I wasn't able to get to the front door to let him in so he had to wait until I was finished.

I've been told that I'm very unreasonable for not leaving my door unlocked (which can be opened by simply pulling down the handle when not locked)