do you lock your house when you go out?

KristmasKatt said:
I don't just lock up when I go out, I lock up when I am in the house too!

Even if you live in a safe area it is better to be safe than sorry. In one of my student houses we once had a lost drunk just wander in which was pretty scary!
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Me too exactly the same, found a drunk wondering up my hallway when I was in. Was he drunk, or just clever? Who knows.

Last year, when the OH forgot to lock the door, someone came in while we were in, took our car keys off the rack, ignoring my handbag that had £100 cash in it, and stole our car.

If you don't lock your doors it's not because you don't need to, it's because so far you have got away with it. Please don't risk it, we haven't recovered mentally from the theft a year and a half later.
 
too bloody right i lock up:eek: although in truth the front door can't be opened from outside without a key so i don't have to remember to lock it and i rarely use the back door. i have forgotten to lock the door from the utility to the dog yard a few times but any burglar would have to get past the dogs first to come in that way:D
 
Murphs_Mum said:
To the poster who said that burglars would not go in an unlocked door you are very mistaken, I once dealt with three burglaries in one cul de sac overnight where they had simply walked into gardens and tried the back door, grabbed what they could quickly and left. Householders didn't know until I hammered on the door at five am with their discarded handbags. Others just thought they had mislaid things and had no idea they had in fact been burgled.
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This happened to me, except it was at 6.30pm on a week night and my dad and I were both in the house, the lights were on and so was the TV, I was literally one room away and had just left the kitchen that the back door opened onto. They walked in grabbed what they could see and left in a matter of seconds. The security light alerted us but we were too late to catch them. They got away with two mobile phones, cash, two complete walletts full of cards, a designer handbag, car keys, door keys, and all the usual handbag contents.

It was a nice suburban street in a safe town. The police said there had been a spate of this type of walk in burglary. They started trying to use the cards within an hour.

Anyone who doesn't lock their door is quite frankly nuts.

Locking a door is easy peasy, the hassle and cost of dealing with a theft simply isn't worth it. Nevermind the risk that the person who tries your door isn't just someone after quick cash but is violent.
 
When I go out, the door is locked. At night its all locked up but during the day rarely when I am in. My car is ALWAYS locked now I live in a slightly more urban area. Never used to mind, now its a firm habit.
 
Erm... seriously those of you that don't lock your houses, it's not that hard to trace people though the internet and therefore not too tricky to locate at least one person's address that leaves thier house open!

We always lock ours and with a mortice lock, we used to jus use a Yale but after being broken into with very little in the way of sign of forced entry we would never trust the Yale unless someone was inside the house at the time. Police advised us that they consider Yale locks next to useless!
 
We almost never locked the house up completely when we lived in our old house - didn't lock the cars, left the back door unlocked, left downstairs windows open, etc. We lived down a very private lane that you had to know was there (delivery vehicles almost always got lost) and knew all of our neighbours - plus we have two very vocal dogs - one of whom is pretty territorial. Our new house, though, is in a much more public place so I always lock my car and always lock the front door and keep front windows locked. You'd have to work really hard to get into our back garden so I'm not quite so picky about the back door, but I do keep it locked when we're out and the patio doors are locked and the alarm is switched on when we're gone.

P
 
Yes, not only do you have to get through two outer doors to reach the front door you have to run the gauntlet of three guard dogs who take their job description extremely seriously.

Of course, burglars here come armed, if anyone wants to break in then I'll be heading out of my bedroom window pdq and leaving them to it.
 
Our front door is sealed up, patio doors although locked are crittal frame so wouldnt keep anybody out, back door is locked if we arent here but left open whenever we are here. We have three dogs and cannot get insurance because we havent got enough locks on the doors .
 
No, I live in a tiny cul-de-sac with only 10 houses in the tiniest village with the whole world's supply of nosey old biddies as neighbours, I swear I am one of the youngest and I am 48! God help a burglar round here, they'd never get out of the village alive!

FDC
 
Have just finished reading our neighbourhood watch leaflet and it warns of walk in burglaries being on the increase. Our neighbour had all their coats stolen from their unlocked porch and another had her handbag and mobile taken just this month.

I work from home and started locking the front door when I was in after deliveries were left in my hall without the delivery driver even ringing the doorbell. That spooked me as without the dog barking I wouldn't have known anyone was there as they were so quiet.
 
I really can't reiterate how quickly a burglary can take place, it is just seconds to reach in and grab handbags, car keys, coats etc so please don't rely upon nosey neighbours etc as a deterrent. Please also think about the risk you are putting your neighbours at if they try to intervene in a burglary in progress.

Living on a quiet lane or secluded location doesn't make you safer, it makes it easier for the burglar to get in unnoticed!
 
Back door is always unlocked and front is only locked as it just does when you shut it. To be honest if anyone really wanted to come into my home with my 6 dogs they are more than welcome to try. ;) Neighbour has to shout that she's going into the garden shed otherwise they'd tell the village she was being robbed!!!

I rarely lock the van either as it's parked outside the house and in my village everyone knows everyone and sees everything so even if someone opened the door to the van within seconds a neighbour would ask what they were doing.

Had a friend house and dog sitting a while back and she couldn't believe how many people asked her who she was and what she was doing with my dogs!!! Lol!!!
 
Yes always, house and car and steering wheel lock on--once had attempted theft of LR--they broke steering wheel trying to break lock but at least did not get car.

Lock house early evening or if I am going for a shower during the day, no neighbours but lots of walkers and fishermen come past.
 
Nope, not a burgular but I was a victim of one two months ago.

Ours happened in broard daylight, we live in a converted town house, three flats. The top two (are professional couples at work all day (one of which is myself and OH). The ground floor flat is a married couple who work from home and have a dog.

The some how bumped the lock on the main door, walked past the door to the occupied flat and then bumped the doors to the top two flats. Not sure if it could have been premeditated as OH works random hours so somedays doesn't leave for work until 11.30am.

It was the blatentness of it all that shocked me, we live in a nice area and although our street is quiet it's not so secluded that no one ever walks down it. Most of the stuff that they took was small enough to carry out such as rings, watches, laptops, playstations, digital cameras. They also stole our brand new Dyson. I have no idea how they walked out with that!
 
I should have added I have two noisy dogs as well as the neighbours. I was told by a policeman that a dog is worth more as a deterrent than a burglar alarm, as the burglar will get in and out so quickly the police have almost no chance of getting there and catching them in the act.
FDC
 
We never used too we live in a single track countryside lane that goes on for 2miles ish but since people stealing items from the garden in broad day light! Not risking leaving the house open for anyone! :)
 
Always lock up, more because my front door has a habit of popping open when you think you've closed it and I ensure my cats are in when I'm out so if I lock it I know it'll stay closed! I am a total woose anyway, I always worry an intruder is in the house - I'll even lock my car at my mums (who lives in the middle of nowhere) at night even if I'm only there for 10 mins - just to stop a murderer / rapist jumping into the back of my car to await my return... honestly I'm that bad that my OH has banned me from watching horror films!
 
Yes the majority of the time, but if its nipping next door or out for 10 mins I sometimes don't.....lucky my address is not on my signature then! :0)
 
I do, out of habit, years ago there was a man who was a bit "slow" shall we say? He knew the previous owners of the house we were living in, and despite being told they'd moved, he'd drop in for a visit when he was passing (all hours!) so we'd to start locking the door, otherwise you'd find the man sitting in the living room, or dining room... Even though I don't live there any more I still keep the door locked! LOL
 
100%. I live in London so I even lock the car when unloading shopping from drive way into kitchen, just can't risk it. I used to have to lock my bedroom door when I lived in my last flat and didn't trust my flatmates. I have since moved in with boyfriend so don't have to do that anymore...unless he really annoys me!! :D

I accidentally left my car unlocked once, kids must have got into it as only things missing were the parcel shelf from the boot and my schooling whip. You can just imagine, one grabbing the whip and chasing the other down the road defending himself with the parcel shelf. I just think I was lucky they didn't nick the car or full tank of petrol. Still cost me £60 to replace it all.
 
May have been mentioned.. but is this not a burgulars ultimate fantasy post?? :confused:

If people can hack into businesses ie that site where you can legally download games, that have spent millions on protecting their customers details, im sure there is a way of tracking people down from user names on forums... I had someone facebook stalk me after a couple of posts on another forum... :mad:
 
When I leave the house for longer than walking the dog. I find it so strange when I'm at the OHs and the door is locked when you're in the house, there's an alarm and cctv! Seems a lot of effort really. Car is rarely locked but even I balk at getting in it as its that messy never mind anyone else!
 
We moved to this house 28 years ago. For the first 18 years or so we never locked our house when we were out, nor did anyone else in the village.

Sadly things have changed, and we now do. There have been so many burglaries, though ironically most of them have been of 'out of house' items like metal gates, lawn mowers, cars, quad bikes.

In those days too our children roamed the village in summer with few restrictions. I don't think any current Young Mums would let their children have that sort of freedom. It's a very sad state of affairs, and one that I don't see changing in the near future!
 
I always lock my door, mostly because my Jack Russell can open it if it's not locked

Keep meaning to get a cat flap for him, but slightly worried about kids getting in through a cat flap but then they would encounter said terrier...
 
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