To lock the front door even when we are in?

[fitofthegiggles]

Not always but often enough that OH comments that I'm a bit obsessive about it and tbh I feel I'm a bit overly cautious.

Context is we live in a pleasant suburb in a peaceful neighbourhood where there is a very low crime rate. However occasionally over the years people have had someone walk in through their unlocked front door in broad daylight - even when they were in - pinch stuff and scarper. It was quite a scary experience especially for one old person who was living alone. As I say this has happened maybe twice in the 12 years we've lived here. My thinking is "better safe than sorry".

So I lock the front door (it's one of those ones where you have to use the key on the inside rather than a "snick lock" but I leave the key in the door for emergencies) if ever we are in the back garden or upstairs or I'm leaving the (now adult) kids at home and they are upstairs.

They and OH sometimes raise their eyes and think I'm being OTT and to be honest I feel that in terms of crime rate statistics in our area it's not really necessary and I don't want to be that person who thinks there's danger lurking everywhere (I don't believe there is) or give that impression of fear to the kids.
But I still do it.

Same here but the OP has said they live in the kind of area where these types of crimes have already happened more than once so I think it's sensible to do so in their case.

There are more house fires than balaclava storming gangs.

We're not talking about balaclava storming gangs vs house fires though are we. We're talking about opportunistic theifs and there's a heck of a lot more of them than house fires in this country.

I cannot fathom why you wouldn't lock your door. Aside from the obvious reasons, if you were to be burgled then you would invalidate any home insurance claim for not taking simple and obvious precautions to protect your property.

I don't know ANYbody who has yale locks/doors that lock automatically these days! We have not had a 'yale lock' since the 1980s. Houses with doors that have yale locks are very easy to break into. Hence why very few homes have them now.

Surely you’re aware that self lock doors are not all Yale, and that even Yale have upgraded they since the 80s?

I think you don’t understand what a Yale lock is or when it’s used. Yale do more than one type of lock now - but the ones that automatically lock behind you are callee Night latches. Most people only have them as part of a 5 lever mortice lock solution now. Not by itself. Having will give you a huge discount with insurance.

In terms of insurers - most standard policies require a 5 lever mortice lock door or a multi-operated lock to cover you for theft when you aren’t in as the onus is on you ( as the policy holder) to ensure the door is locked behind you.

If you are in - insurer policies differ but most don’t require the door to be locked because home invasions tend to be violent and most insurers don’t want the negative media attention of not paying in.

Budget insurers they do require doors to be locked when you’re in make it really clear in the policy documents.

You can never be too sure. I always lock my doors, even when I'm home, you never know what could happen!

I don't know ANYbody who has yale locks/doors that lock automatically these days! We have not had a 'yale lock' since the 1980s. Houses with doors that have yale locks are very easy to break into. Hence why very few homes have them now.

I don't know anyone who only has yale locks? Growing up in the 80s parents, family, neighbours had yale, chubb & bolts. We have similar. And alarms.

@MrsPerfect12 As a former employee of a household insurance company, I would urge you to check your household insurance policy, which probably didn’t cover your car’s theft - that is what your car insurance is for.
The information about the kind of locks you should have on your doors and windows can be found on the insurer’s website, usually known as a “Statement of Fact”
I don’t make a habit of spouting rubbish about a subject with which I am very familiar, and you shouldn’t assume that everyone posting on MN is - just because you misinterpreted the advice.

DH and I both WFH, but DH is often out and about on site. When at home together the door is unlocked, but on the chain, and we both have our keys on our respective desks (upstairs) for emergencies.

When at home alone the front door is locked, not on the chain, for two reasons. Being deaf and working upstairs, I could quite feasibly not hear someone just trying the door, especially as you can walk into our house from the street (no front garden). I’m not willing to take that risk. DH doesn’t have that problem, but he locks the door too if I’m out.

The risk with the door on the chain with one at home is that neither of us could get in if the other collapsed alone (DH has had medical emergencies in the past). Better to lock the door, then the other one can get in easily with their key.

We’re both absolutely disciplined at knowing where our keys are!

I was home once with baby DC. I live in a very quiet area. I was on the couch with baby DC in my arms and I heard someone post something through the letter box and then a moment later, the door handled was jiggled quite ferociously. I saw the chap then walk off. I will ALWAYS lock my door, even when I'm in. There are too many chancers about.

This.

I have a Banham night latch and two Banham deadlocks on my front door.
As well as an interior bolt and chain.

If you live in an area where there's been people walking into people's houses to nick stuff, even if its only happened a couple of times (that you know of) then can understand why you would want to keep the door locked even though you're home.

We don't bother to lock our door when we're home, in fact in summer we don't even shut it but leave it hooked open to allow air flow but our house is back to front, so the front of the house, where the door is, faces away from the road so no one passing by can see our door is open. Though plenty of people on my road (on the other side where the fronts face the road) do the same even though their doors are visible.

FadeAwayAndRadiate no, 1973
We do often leave our back door open, not just unlocked, but it's a terrace with a huge brick wall at the back

I mostly lock my front door (which is the sort of front door that some people seem confused exists!) but I'm not particularly militant about it. Mostly I lock it so I know where my keys are. But I wouldn't think anything of not locking it.

People can sniff at 'I live in a rural low crime area' but that is the reality and I don't mind the postman sticking his head in to drop things off, saves me a job.

Agreed. I’m astounded that people do not lock their doors. Surely your insurance wouldn’t cover you if you were burgled . My grandparents were burgled this way in the 80s - my gran was out and my grandad was very deaf. Burglar walked in, walked straight upstairs and stole cash and jewellery. Years later a neighbour who did a cash paying window cleaning round had someone walk in and rob him. You are putting your kids and yourself at risk if you don’t lock your doors.

We have always locked doors - but learned to also lock the porch door after someone helped themselves to DH’s north face coat. Police told us to lock that too.

If you live in an urban or suburban or semi-rural area maybe it would be foolish but some of us live in remote areas where it really isn't necessary. We never lock our doors during the day unless we go out. And in all honesty we could leave them unlocked then and nothing would happen. I've heard people round here say they don't even know where their house keys are. One person I know went on holiday for a fortnight and didn't lock his doors.

Generally, if your doors are not locked and you have a break in you’re not insured.

I don't BUT I have a split spindle/split barrel lock so you need a key to get in, lift the handle to deadlock but it is always open from the inside. I don't double lock when inside because of the fire risk. I don't double lock when leaving because I never think about it!

https://www.homesecureshop.co.uk/blogs/news/upvc-door-lock-operations-single-or-split-spindle

Our door locks automatically. I didnt realise that most didn't?

I've also got the type that you can open easily without unlocking from inside. I'm a bit Fire phobic so wanted to make sure we could exit easily.

My letterbox is as low as it can go, and is a security one.
It would require someone to lie down on the top step to insert a device and would slam down on anything that went in (including the postie's fingers unfortunately). It is as difficult as it could be for anyone to get through letterbox or door with anything.
Getting the keys out of the lock would be extremely difficult. Nothing is left near the door which has no window.
We did have someone trying with the old letterbox which was higher up. Last straw with the door, the door and letterbox were replaced.

A few years ago, on a Saturday eve I was cooking and DH was watching TV. We lived in a small terrace house at time in an interesting neighbourhood! There was a knock at the door, and it was the police. She said to us what we wrote doing and that we had a laptop in the table in the front room! She had opened the door and seen everything! Since then I lock the door and even though we have moved to a much nicer area, I always lock the door!

@FormerlyPathologicallyHappy

ignore the door locking!!

you put your car in your garage???

blimey, you're a rareity!!

Are there?

What’s your source?

The op said 2 incidents in over a decade. I can assure you there have been more house fires in her direct neighbourhood than that.

One of the other posts mentioned a balaclava gang and many of the replies on this thread have gone far beyond opportunistic scenarios - too many to cite them all.

I live in a high crime borough of inner London and the police don’t bother showing up in most scenarios 😂. I feel safe in my home. The risk is negligible and locking yourself in contravenes basic safety practices.

Why don't you get a yale type lock fitted (or one with an internal turnlock). Having to use a key to escape in a fire makes me anxious.

I grew up in a similar suburb and my sister's laptop and posh sunglasses got nicked off the kitchen table one day while we were all at home. Freaked everyone out and we did start locking the back door after that!

Regarding house fires I assume you would smell burning or the smoke alarms would trigger. And most would know to put a damp tea towel over a chip pan fire.