Is your house always locked?

[momtoboys]

A previous thread got me thinking. Our house doors are never locked during the day because of the steady stream of comings and goings and no one being able to keep a key. We do lock them at night when we are in bed but will frequently leave them unlocked until a child gets home after we have gone down.

Is this unreasonable? Are your doors always locked?

Yes, if someone was determined to smash their way into your home, they could put a sledgehammer through your window. But most burglars aren't crazed psychopaths, they are opportunist thieves. They don't want to be seen or heard. They do not want to get caught. So they would much rather open an unlocked door quietly and unobtrusively.

Why do you think outside doors have locks???

Our front door can’t be opened from the outside without a key even when it’s unlocked from the inside.

The back door can, and we’ve been known to leave it unlocked (and even slightly ajar) overnight without meaning to from time to time… luckily we live in a safe neighbourhood!

The front door is always locked as it's never used, but the back door is always unlocked and usually wide open too if someone is home.
The patio doors are only unlocked if they're actually open.

I live alone so my doors are always locked unless I have a scheduled visitor or delivery. I also have cctv and a ring type bell so I know whose outside when someone rings or knocks. Unless they are there by prior arrangement or delivering a parcel their chances of getting the door opened are pretty low.

Locked and we live in a pretty safe area but have gained a group of youths who think they are gangsters and are trying doors, so those of you who think you live in a safe low crime area, be warned it might not stay that way. Also those with dogs I would worry about them being stolen as that is very much on the increase.

Front door is always locked as soon as we come in, ds locks it behind him when he leaves for school even though I’m still at home.
Back door is often open when we’re home but back garden is inaccessible by anyone but next door neighbour.
I used to live with a family who left doors unlocked all the time and one of the dcs slept downstairs, one night a drunk man let himself in thinking he was somewhere else, luckily dad was still up, because both young kids were sleeping on sofas in the living room, and very diplomatically got rid of drunk man without much bother but it could have been a different story.
I’ve also heard of people being burgled while they’re in the back garden as front door leading straight onto stairs Is left open.

Always open during the day so people can come and go, we don't have a yale lock it's just a handle. I lock it at night but that's all. If there's an overlap when I'm out or one of the kids might come back and doesn't have a key, I just leave the house open.

My door locks automatically as does everyone I've ever known all around the world with Yale locks. So you always need a key to get in

I've always lived in cities so maybe that's a normal city urban thing

Back doors are different and they need locking and unlocking but they're locked at night and when no one's in the house. I have gone out leaving the back doors wide open on a hot day and I leave the upstairs windows open all day every day unless it's bloody freezing or pissing down

Always!

No ... don't have a Yale lock so you physically need a key but we open the door in the morning & lock it when the last person goes to bed .. which could be 3am if DS is going out! Frequently seem to leave our patio doors unlocked for days at a time too. Live rurally with a low crime rate it perhaps we are a little too complacent.

No, and I don't fret if I forget to lock the door overnight. I live in a very urban American suburb.

What do you mean by locked?
Our front door has a yale type lock so you need a key to open from outside but not inside.
If you could open it from outside without a key then I would definitely lock it most of the time

We live in the middle of a city centre.

The front door locks itself. One of our kids continually loses things so no longer has a key of their own, but we've put a key safe outside for them so they can get in.

The back door is always open in good weather. You can't get access to our back garden unless you jump over neighbours fences. We lock it when we go to bed.

I didn't realise Yale locks were still so common. I don't think I know anyone with one.

We have latches that mean we can secure the door to prevent walk in burglaries without the door being locked. Really useful as you can go out to the bin without having to find the key and no risk of being locked out.

Would never leave door unlocked, I know a few people who've been burgled and had their car stolen this way, mostly in MN approved areas of North Leeds.

main door (it’s a weird house) not locked in the day if I’m in. Always lock the door at night. Very rural.
Don’t tend to leave the door wide open as that’s how we got some little visitors last year and they took some getting rid of.

Yes, because my dogs can open them from the inside and escape!

yes.
it's a yale type lock though so is locked automatically when the door is pulled shut.
but in addition we lock it properly at night.

we live in a naice street and have had people trying the door.

first thing we did when moving in was changing the barrel of the lock.

Always had door locked in UK.
As a child we had outside gate locked (guard dogs so didn't want anyone coming in without us) and door at night. Locked door during the day only if someone was not at home. I carried keyes since age 6 (when I started walking to school ), lost them once, had new lock taken off my pocket money with lots of telling off, never lost my keys after in my life.
Now only when we leave the apartment building.

Front door always locked and garage as well when not being used. We live in a small village but get men driving around in vans slowly, looking to see what is in garages/gardens. One came yesterday offering to cut trees and do our gutters, we always say no thanks and tell them we have already booked our workers.

Not usually but we don’t live somewhere with passing traffic including foot traffic.

Don't feel like I need to lick out of safety as we love pretty rural and have good neighbours but I have a three year old and live next to water so keep them locked for that reason

@DisforDarkChocolate it sadly does if there is no forced entry your insurer can refuse to pay out.

Whether or not insurers pay out will depend on the circumstances and insurer.

Some will, some won't. Or it might depend if you were at home but were in the garden or popped upstairs, or had gone out.

Or where you live. They might consider someone who lives on a busy urban street or suburb to be irresponsible to leave their doors unlocked, but not if they live in a remote area with low crime rates.

Our front door can only be opened from the outside with a key, so that is always locked.

I can never understand people complaining about in-laws etc. just barging in - lock your door! And if necessary, to avoid giving offence, tell them there have been a lot of burglaries lately.

Back/patio doors are often unlocked if anyone’s at home, but unless someone climbs over the back garden fence, they can’t get at them.