Keys to a fortune

Home insurance brand esure is warning Brits to be more vigilant with their personal belongings after new research has found that the average bunch of keys unlocks an estimated fortune of over £28,000 and two fifths of Brits (43 per cent) have lost their keys in the past month alone.

According to the findings, almost one in five Brits (18 per cent) misplace their house or car keys at least once a day and despite recent figures showing that nearly 800,000 homes were broken into between 2011 and 2012, almost half of British homeowners surveyed (48 per cent) admit they have never bothered to change the locks after moving into a new home.  The research found that 51 per cent of homeowners are more concerned at the thought of losing their purse or wallet than they are their keys.

Even though the average Brits home contents comes to a value of over £16,000, a quarter of Brits (25 per cent) said they had never considered the value of the items their keys unlock, while 23 per cent of Brits don't know what all of the keys on their key-ring are for.  One in four Brits (25 per cent) carry as many as two ‘mystery keys' amongst their bunch, with a further one in five (19 per cent) having more than three unknowns.

63 per cent of Brits carry their car keys around with them during the day, with ten per cent also carrying keys for their desk too, and a further eight per cent carry keys for their bike locks.  13 per cent of Brits carry keys for another home with them, five per cent also having a set of keys for their partners home, and over a quarter of Brits (26  per cent) holding keys for their parents' home.

When car keys go missing, Brits stand to lose an average of £11,000, with 28 per cent of Brits spending over £12,000 on their wheels, and more than one in ten (12 per cent) having splashed out as much as £20,000.  37 per cent of those questioned also own two cars, with almost one in five of those people (19 per cent) carrying both car keys on them at all times.

According to the research, despite ten per cent of homeowners revealing that they keep a spare key hidden near their front door,  one in ten Brits (11 per cent) has locked themselves out of the house in the last six months, with one in five people (20 per cent) having locked themselves out of the house in the last year.

Some Brits seem to see it as a challenge however, with almost a quarter of Brits (24 per cent) having attempted to break into their own homes after getting locked out, but only 22 per cent of those ‘break-ins' actually proved successful, with over six per cent of those would-be cat burglars having injured themselves when attempting a break-in.

Overall, one in ten stubborn Brits who have found themselves locked out (ten per cent) have thrown in the towel and actually called a locksmith - whereas only six per cent of motorists have had to call a garage after locking themselves out of their car.

Nikki Sellers, Head of Home Insurance at esure, said:  "Changing locks when moving house or after losing keys can be a hassle, but it is important to bear in mind the value of the items that can be at risk if your keys were to fall into the wrong hands. 

"Whilst we always recommend keeping a close eye on your keys, accidents do happen, so if you find yourself losing your keys, then changing the locks is an investment that will lead to greater peace of mind and help avoid a potentially unpleasant experience."

Shed keys can unlock a greater fortune than one might expect, with almost a third  of Brits from the North-East (29 per cent), and 41 per cent of Brits in the South-West having over £200 worth of contents in their sheds, the average cost of the contents of Briton's sheds totaling almost £300.

Bike lock keys also proved to be very valuable, with 11 per cent of the British public's bikes costing over £300, and with the average Brit spending £140 each on their bikes.

Brits also carry a number of other keys with them, such as luggage keys - with one in two holiday-makers (50 per cent) carrying as much as £250 worth of contents in their cases, and the average value of holiday contents reaching as high as £405 per family.

Those in Northern Ireland are the most forgetful when it come to their keys, with 63 per cent having lost their keys in the last month, closely followed by those in London, of whom 50 per cent have done the same.

Unlocking keys to a fortune:

Most expensive bunch of keys by region:

1 South East - £33,242
2 East - £33,030
3 Northern Ireland - £33,002
4 Scotland - £31,313
5 North East - £30,254