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.

*age, not she

I don't physically lock the front door with a key when I'm home, apart from at night, but it's a Yale lock so no one would be able to enter without forcing the door. At night I turn the key in the second lock and put the security chain on.
The back door is often open if I'm downstairs but I wouldn't leave it unlocked while I was engaged upstairs, in the shower etc. I live in a lowish crime area of London if that's relevant.

not always, but it's an apartment in a block of 24, with reasonable security, so the street door is always locked. unless some twat decides to block it open with a fire extinguisher

Yes we do, always have done.

Always. Never used to until a friend was upstairs with her children and someone came in and took her handbag off the hall table and drove their car off their drive. That was bad enough, but the thoughts of what could have happened haunt her.

Yes, the front door, always. Toddler DS would be gone otherwise! Back door is locked when we go out or to bed.

it's a Yale lock so no one would be able to enter without forcing the door.

surprisingly little force is needed to open a door with a yale lock that's been simply pulled closed. or a credit card.
takes a second.

I keep the door locked because if I was in the kitchen (at the back of the house) with the wachine machine/dishwasher/tumble dryer on, or using a food mixer/processor I wouldn't be able to hear anyone coming in.

It affects your insurance claim if you leave your door unlocked.
While we live in a low crime area, it isn't crime free, and the most common crime is car key theft.

I live in a small village and the front door and side door are always locked. The back door is locked if we are out, upstairs and after dark.

I'm currently sitting in the kitchen/dining room/living room that is our entire ground floor. From here I can see the street outside and the 6ft wall/gate around our garden that anyone would have to jump over to get to our back door. I can also see our back door, which is big and made of glass so very see-through. I can also see my husband, 3 kids and large dog.

We live in a very small village with no thru-traffic.

People/the dog have been in and out of the back door two or three times this morning and that will continue all day long. So no, it's not locked and I don't feel in the slightest bit worried of anyone trying to walk in. They'd have to jump the wall without us or the dog noticing then appear at the glass doors without us or the dog noticing then open said door into a room full of people and the dog.

We’re not living in the 70’s anymore. We always lock the door when we’re in. We’ve had sneak in burglaries in our town. A lone householder walked into their kitchen to find someone in there rooting through their bag. I'd rather be secure than have my house screwed.

wafering I suspect your safe then with 6 foot walk and DH and you sat able to see unlocked back door , in and out of said door and large dog that'd bark who you're watching

I think people are more talking about leaving front doors unlocked accessible by passers by to the road or unseen intruders while can access it, not back doors to very secure enclosed garden whilst you're using it and sat right by it.

Used to have ours unlocked until MIL started turning up unannounced and just walking in, now make sure it’s locked .

@WhereIsMumHiding3

wafering I suspect your safe then with 6 foot walk and DH and you sat able to see unlocked back door , in and out of said door and large dog that'd bark who you're watching

I think people are more talking about leaving front doors unlocked accessible by passers by to the road or unseen intruders while can access it, not back doors to very secure enclosed garden whilst you're using it and sat right by it.

Yeah I'm just saying, people saying they're baffled or just can't understand why people wouldn't lock it - everyone has different circumstances and everyone judges their own risk.

Always locked. I don't think home insurance will pay out if I left the doors unlocked? (They specifically ask what kind of lock you have on doors leading out the house )

Never but we live in a block of 6 flats the main door locks automatically..very safe area. All our neighbors are retired and nothing happens here without them noticing

"(Quoted by person I'm quoting)it's a Yale lock so no one would be able to enter without forcing the door*.

surprisingly little force is needed to open a door with a yale lock that's been simply pulled closed or a credit card.
takes a second

I agree, my insurance company also required a second lock to be used for the front door with Yale lock as it doesn't meet the standard they quoted , if a claim was made to be paid out. Which is why we double lock the front door when in or out

We had to open take kocjed door once when I accidentally shut door without keys, my neighbour did it (or I'd have called locksmith out as my parents with spare key were away ) Surprisingly easy to do , dropped on card through and ruined second card to do it mind. But I guess if you're MrBurglar and you steal credit cards anyway, you'll carry spare ones , wear gloves and maybe have a hook device to swiftly deal with Yale locks

It's more opportunistic burglars that ppl should worry about though, when they leave doors unlocked out of their sight

Always have locked my doors and always will.

When I was a teen a man off the street walked into my friends house. Two of us were in the hall. We turned our backs and shouted into the lounge to tell her someone was there, since he looked so confident we assumed he was a friend. When we turned back not even a minute later he was gone, along with the wallets in coats hung by the door.

I think it's even easier these days to pull this off as so many deliveries are made you could easily check doors and if questioned have something you could be delivering. Also if you saw someone confidently walk into a house you wouldn't think burglary at all. Often they grab small things as well like car keys, phones, a laptop. Stuff you wouldn't think twice if you saw someone with them in their hand.

Oh and if it does happen good luck getting insurance to pay out. I was in but my door was unlocked and I didn't hear them? That's likely to get your claim invalidated as locked the door is considered basic security.

Doors are always locked when we are not home plus we have an alarm. When I'm in I keep the front door locked generally especially if I am upstairs and having a shower or doing work. All our external doors are alarmed so when opened an alarm goes off alerting us to them being opened.

In a different house years ago I remember coming home from work and finding the front door open. Got a neighbour to come in with me but all was ok. Also happened once with the back door. Again ok.

Yeah I'm just saying, people saying they're baffled or just can't understand why people wouldn't lock it - everyone has different circumstances and everyone judges their own risk.

Yeah, I think people are more baffled by those leaving accessible doors unlocked for long periods when they wouldn't hear an intruder if they let themselves in whilst family was elsewhere in the house.

Each is different circumstances how easy a house is to access , but this thread came out of comments in another thread where minority of PPs were outraged an OP dates to lock her front door directly onto street in high crime area having been burgled before. As her DP was angry as he'd not taken keys and she'd not answered the door immediately as was mid poop on toilet .

Whilst that was a different scenario OP here has asked a great (but different) question, how many people would generally leave their front doors unlocked for long periods of time. It's really interesting to read other people's perceptions of risk and how they work it out.

Always locked at front. Open at back only if I'm in the garden or kitchen. Had too many strangers in my garden to do anything else, as I live by a cafe and their customers don't seem to understand where the cafe ends and private property begins.

I am totally mystified by the current trend of front doors with door handles where anyone can walk in if it is not locked with a key. What on earth is that all about?

I'm confused by you thinking that it's a current trend. Plenty of houses don't have a door like that and never have. It's far from new.

If any security measures are installed to protect the buildings (for example, window locks), you must use these whenever the buildings are left unattended, as well as when everyone in the home has gone to bed for the night.

^ Policy wording from last year’s insurance policy - this year’s doesn’t mention it at all. I think requiring you to have your doors locked at all times would be an unenforceable term for obvious reasons so it’s very unlikely an insurance policy would stipulate you do anything more than the above. Therefore not locking your door during the day when you’re at home is unlikely to invalidate your insurance.

Lock the front door when we get in. Patio door is usually left unlocked for the most part. We’ve got an open plan kitchen/living room so there’s someone about 99% of the time.

If I'm home alone, which I am two days a week whilst wfh and DH in the office it is always locked. The rule in our house is if anyone is going out, the door is only left unlocked on departure when someone else is downstairs. Got into this habit when I was on Mat leave and even though we're in an incredibly safe area, I just feel more comfortable.