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Phone, wallet, keys…keys?

11th March 2014 Print

Many people know that feeling: it’s cold, it’s been a long day and you just want to get home. But you’ve emptied your bag, dug around in your pockets and your keys are nowhere to be found.
 
It’s a common occurrence; one in five people say they’ve been locked out of their home.
 
As well as the inconvenience, the average cost of having locks replaced is a not insignificant £61.74. And one in seven respondents to a survey by AA Home Membership has spent more than £100 replacing the locks on their front door.
 
Helen Brooker, Head of AA Home Membership said: “Nobody wants to be stuck outside, unable to get into their home because their keys have gone missing. It’s not only really awkward; it can be quite expensive too if you need to change your locks because there’s nobody else with a spare key to let you in.
 
“It’s also a bit embarrassing if you have to lurk outside while you wait for a locksmith or someone to let you in.
 
“It raises security concerns too – for example if your keys had been stolen or found by someone, could they let themselves in to burgle your home?
 
“Having a policy in place to cover your locks and keys can prove invaluable if you’re locked out or your locks break and you can’t secure your home.”
 
But Mrs Brooker warns against hiding a spare key outside the home: “You might think you’ve found somewhere really clever to put your key but thieves are pretty good at guessing where these places are likely to be – under plant pots or doormats for instance.
 
“They could even catch sight of you hiding it. That’s an open invitation to an opportunistic burglar.”
 
One in eleven hides a spare key to their home somewhere on their property. Over 65s are four times more likely than those aged under 35 to do this.
 
Londoners are most likely to have been locked out of their home (35%) compared to those from Yorkshire and Humberside (13%).