Did you change the locks after you moved home?

Surprisingly many of us fail to change the locks after moving home and are subsequently unaware of the fact we are potentially leaving our new home vulnerable to a break-in by anyone who may have obtained a house key during the previous ownership.

In 2013 we carried out a survey and found that 74% of homeowners in Britain didn’t call a local locksmith to change the locks when they moved into a new property. All participants in the study were asked whether they had changed the locks to their new home within a fortnight of moving in. The study found that people located in the south of the UK were more security conscious than those living in the North and Scotland, 35% of Southerners said they did get their locks changed, compared to just 20% of people located in the North of England and Scotland.

The majority of insurance companies will encourage you to change the locks on your new home as a basic home security measure as many policies will not pay out if an intruder lets themselves in with a key, usually a policy will specify there must be clear signs that a break-in has occurred. Therefore by not getting your locks changed after moving home you could run the risk of invalidating your home insurance policy.

Changing your locks after you have moved house is easy!

Simply call a local locksmith on 0800 035 0451 and pre-book a locksmith to change the locks on your new home.

Moving home?

We all know that moving home can be a very stressful time for anyone.  Research has recently shown that the most stressful experience in modern life is buying or selling a property, this means that the majority of Britons are highly stressed from buying or selling a property before they have even moved.   

With so much to organise and remember after the initial stress of buying or selling it is easy for the important jobs such as changing your locks to get overlooked and forgotten.

Last year a survey conducted by Keytek™ revealed that 74% of Britons did not change their locks after moving home, potentially leaving them vulnerable to break-ins by someone who obtained a key during the previous ownership. 

Those who participated in the survey were asked whether they had changed the locks within a fortnight of moving in to their current home...

The survey revealed that people in the South were the most security-conscious; 35% of Southerners said they did get their locks changed, compared to just 20% of people in the North of England and Scotland.

The age group most likely to get their locks changed were those aged 35-54, while the over 55s were found to be least likely to do so.

Changing the locks on a new home is a basic security measure that has long been recommended by leading insurance companies. It is important to change your locks when you have moved house as the majority of home insurance policies state that they won’t pay out if an intruder lets themselves in with a key. For a claim to be valid there must be clear signs of breaking and entering. 

Tips for changing your locks after moving house

• Book a locksmith for the day you are moving by calling 0800 035 0451.

• Get the locks changed on all external doors. In 3 out of 10 burglaries access was gained by a burglar through an open door or window.

• Have British Standard locks fitted to your doors to meet your home insurance requirements. The majority of home insurance providers will require your locks to be British Standard. Failure to meet these requirements could risk invalidating any claims you make if the worse did happen.   

• Check the locks are working on all accessible ground floor windows and make sure that key-operated locks are fitted to meet home insurance requirements; this applies to skylights and roof lights also.