For homeowners - do you lock your windows every night/before going out?
Posted by EmperorsChamberMaid_@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 142 comments
I gather insurers won't pay out if the windows weren't locked and you were subject to a break in (though whether that depends on the entry point being a window is unclear)
I really don't know which is best. If I lock them, It's a faff to unlock every day (they don't exactly feel robust) and I have to go find the key. If I kept the key next to the window, it kind of defeats the point of locking it.
I also wonder/worry, if I lock the windows overnight and put the key safely away from the windows, in the event of a fire I don't want to be fumbling around in a smoke filled room trying to open a fiddly window lock while my life is at risk.
It feels like you're damned whichever you choose to do. What do you do, or have you never really considered it?
miggleb@reddit
Mum's back door has been unlocked for about 20 years
SnooHabits8484@reddit
I did hear that rumour about her, as it happens.
Winston_Carbuncle@reddit
Smashed in. Locks knackered
SnooHabits8484@reddit
Like a windsock at this point.
ConfidentialX@reddit
Bit of WD-40?
PipBin@reddit
My friend was dealing with the probate for a distant aunt. The aunt had a house in a Scottish coastal town. The house stood right on the harbour and no one had been there for 15 years. They travelled there to get it ready for sale to find it had been unlocked for almost that time!
AbbreviationsAny7549@reddit
So she either lives in the countryside or a very secure bit of a city?
miggleb@reddit
Council estate
SpaceTimeCapsule89@reddit
I have never ever locked my windows. Does anyone actually do that? Isn't that a fire safety issue? You lock your windows and can't find the key in the event of a fire?
Your window being closed and the handle down is sufficient. The robber would need to smash the window to open the handle so if they've already smashed the window they can get in anyway?
mamafish21@reddit
I have to lock our windows. They open inward and we're on top floor of flats. My son loves windows. Safer to leave them locked when he's in the room. He's quick and has no sense of danger as such. We're working on it with him. He's getting there with it all.
Dependent_One6034@reddit
You can get lockable window restrictors. Might be worth looking into.
SpaceTimeCapsule89@reddit
You know what, you saying this has just made me realise I lied.
My son is autistic and when he was a bit younger he was obsessed with opening and closing the windows so we did lock them and put the key in our pocket then unlock them and open them when we went out to get fresh air in.
What I should have said is that I've never locked them for the purpose of security for break ins or anything like that.
Neither_Process_7847@reddit
You need exit routes, but not every window needs to be one.
Difficult_Egg_4350@reddit
When our windows were fitted, the company put little green buttons in some of the locks. This, apparently, was a fire safety measure so you couldn't lock them and therefore in a fire always had a means of escape. I shut all our windows (or shut them open slightly so they lock into place and cannot be pushed open/shut more), but I wouldn't bother going around with the key to lock them.
kipha01@reddit
No, I live on the 9th floor of a block of flats.
CanTraditional9378@reddit
The locks on upvc windows are purely designed to stop children opening windows. The lock itself does nothing to the mechanism of the window- it stops the handle moving.
The handle being closed is how the mechanism locks the shoot bolts and little cams into the latches and provides security.
OmegaPoint6@reddit
Not sure why locking would make a difference, at least for the UPVC window which have multiple latching points. To turn the handle the burglar would need to smash the glass and reach inside, at which point the now smashed window makes a much easier entrance point.
Boredpanda31@reddit
My mum always says 'you shouldn't leave your keys in the door (locked). Someone could break the glass and reach in to get them.'
Ah mama....if someone is breaking the glass, they don't need to reach up for the keys to get in....they've broken their way through the door...
OmegaPoint6@reddit
For the door the biggest risk is your probably letterbox, there are tools to reach though and turn a key or thumb turn. Leaving the key in can also stop someone with a key being able to get in case of an emergency.
Though many domestic locks can be bumped or snapped easily enough and the old brick though a window method would work if that failed.
not1or2@reddit
Never understood why anyone would have a thumb turn on the front door. Seems totally contradictory to decent security!
snelson101@reddit
A firefighter friend told me if he could change one piece of legislation, he’d make thumbturns mandatory on external doors. He said of all the able-bodied fatalities from house fires, most are found cowering by their front door, deceased from smoke inhalation.
not1or2@reddit
It’s that balance of safety and security isn’t it? Ideally we’d all be able to leave doors and windows unlocked and/or open.
Sigh_Bapanaada@reddit
Why should it matter? If it's on the inside of the house then to use it you need to already have access. Why is it any less secure than not having one at all?
not1or2@reddit
Because as others have said it’s easy to smash a small window and reach in. Or if you’re in via a window it’s a lot easier to carry stuff out the door, and if you have just a thumb turn you haven’t got to go looking for a key as well!
RealLongwayround@reddit
Because Hanoi burglaries are a thing: people reach in and turn the lock. If the glass on the front door is broken, you could get a slim ferret through, rather than a person.
Sigh_Bapanaada@reddit
That's not what a Hanoi burglary is. A Hanoi burglary is breaking in to steal car keys.
But regardless, if you're breaking glass to access a house I don't see the size of the window mattering all that much, the fact you're prepared to break a window is enough.
If someone is prepared to break a small window at the front of the house to get in then I bet there are other options they'd be just as happy to do that aren't solved by lack of an internal latch lock.
CMDoet@reddit
I leave mine in the lock but pulled out a bit. Then I can get out in case of fire, and other people can get in if they need to. And luckily my letterbox is on the outside door.
If someone really wants to get in they're getting in though.
JustAnotherFEDev@reddit
You can buy cylinders that still unlock with a key if there's a key in the other side. I can't remember what they're called, but they exist
UniquePotato@reddit
We always leave a key in the door so we can get out in an emergency
JustAnotherFEDev@reddit
This. My front door is a thumbturn, I specifically requested that when I bought my door, as I have a smart lock.
My back door, the key stays in, always.
None of my windows are locked, they have the keys in, but I never lock them.
I have an alarm and I have cameras. The front door lock is anti snap, anti bump and all of that jazz.
When I renew my insurance, I answer no to these questions:
There are nights where I fall to sleep watching telly, when I wake up, sometimes I forget to put the alarm on before going up to bed. If I answer "yes" to an alarm and forget, they won't pay out.
If I answer "yes" to all windows locked, they'll fuck me over for leaving the skinny bathroom window open 24/7, even if the burglar gained entry through a ground floor door
There is no universe where I'm locking windows and hiding keys, similarly, I'm not hiding the key to the back door, either. When I replaced all my front windows, the fella explained to me about minimum opening size to comply with building regs, as an escape route. What would be the point in having an escape route if it's locked and the keys are hidden elsewhere? I can't imagine the panic in a fire, I'm sure it would be easy to just forget where you hid them and that room to quickly become inaccessible due to smoke or fire. I'd like to think I'd be OK, but I have a teen, what if I can't get to an exit, but she can, does she perish too because her dad hid the keys? Fuck that. I'd rather pay the £1 extra per year and have easy egress in all situations.
I asked a similar question, before, a firefighter chimed in and told of a family found dead next to a locked front door, they'd left the keys upstairs. Obviously it's Reddit, I have no idea if they were actually a firefighter, but that's absolutely something that could happen.
Just say "no" to locked windows questions. When I get the rear ones replaced, I'm getting the keyless ones, it's just a button, I'll probably get the fella to swap out the front ones, too, as window keys are shite and pointless and I swear they only exist so insurance companies can fuck us over.
bwahthebard@reddit
Would insurance care about an alarm not being set when you're/in/ the house though? My alarm has a "at home" mode, but I would wager some don't.
Food for thought.
JustAnotherFEDev@reddit
Insurance companies will typically try to weasel out of paying for anything you declared and didn't use. That's basically their business model.
If your alarm can be set to "home" and you never set it on a night and got burgled, they'd probably say "Nope, this wouldn't have happened had you set it". I've read in some situations, they've sent an adjuster out who's asked to see the logs for the alarm, to check it was actually set.
On here, an alarm installer said that his company always advises customers to check the "no I don't have an alarm" box, as if like me, they forgot one night, the insurance would decline a pay out.
Sometimes they don't even bother visiting, so it's all a bit hit and miss, I guess. I just like to have them think I'm an easy target, when in reality it'd be way more faff than most of my neighbours' houses. That way, I'm less likely to get robbed, but if I did, I haven't forgotten to lock or set anything I've told them about.
My last renewal asked if I had a professionally installed and maintained alarm. It's a Ring alarm, I installed it myself. So whilst I have an alarm, I answered the question they asked truthfully.
The question about all windows having locks and keys being out of sight is also not a lie, as I have no idea if I even have a key for the bathroom window and when I get it replaced, it'll be a keyless one.
It just seems luck of the draw, I guess. If they just agree to shit without visiting, then you'll be fine, if they send an adjuster, it's literally their job to weasel out of paying or pay less than the full claim made. It's best to be cautious of their weasling, because I know from reading stuff that if they can get out if paying out, they absolutely will.
not1or2@reddit
You can open a door easily without smashing the glass if the key is in the door….
Vequihellin@reddit
And they'd be able to turn the key or just use a default key to unlock it anyway.
RealLongwayround@reddit
“A default key”? Very few modern locks can be turned by anything other than the correct key.
Vequihellin@reddit
Well considering that all the window locks on our upvc windows have keys that look like luggage locks, you could probably open them with a basic rake tool... Don't look particularly secure or 'unique' do they?
Fred776@reddit
In any case it's trivial to open a typical uPVC handle with a small flat screwdriver. The locks are absolute rubbish. Anybody who can break the window to access the handle is not going to be defeated by the lock.
danddersson@reddit
I would imagine trying to climb through a window frame lined with broken glass would be a good deal more difficult than through an open window.
As a counterpoint, double glazing is not easy to break in the fittest place, and low window glass should be toughened, so not as sharp if it WAS broken.
mittenkrusty@reddit
One time at my old property I know someone had just moved in across the road and could tell they were dodgy, (social housing) about a week or two later I noticed the back windows smashed in, and then went around the front of the flat and the verandah door had somehow been split in half.
Almost 10 years later and the door still is held together with clips.
Boredpanda31@reddit
Social housing makes someone dodgy?
brprk@reddit
Statistically more dodgy than non-social housing
mittenkrusty@reddit
No, as I grew up in social housing and currently live in some now.
Badly worded, but I meant it like he was a dodgy person who fit a stereotype, he was on drugs, in and out of jail etc.
not1or2@reddit
If the doors been split down the middle it was probably by the filth. Easiest and quickest way of opening a upvc door is a cutter straight down the middle. Probably raided for drugs, windows were probably done as a distraction. If it was social housing though it would have been repaired fairly quickly.
RoleMysterious8756@reddit
Life must be incredibly difficult for them.
ratatouille400@reddit
Not or forget most doors are half glass. If they're smashing the glass, the main door is the bigger one. Doesn't bother me because we don't have such crime here like in most of the country, despite what that billionaire owned news wants people to believe.
Lordaucklandx@reddit
Probably because it’s loud and generally would alert non criminals to criminal activity.
miggleb@reddit
Their point is that's the case whether it's locked or not
Kudosnotkang@reddit
I keep the ones I never open locked and will lock the others after I’ve been subject to a break in but before the assessor comes round . Hth
dwair@reddit
Windows no. Doors sometimes. I live in the middle of absolutely nowhere up on the Cornish moors.
My biggest worry though is that anyone breaking in will get eaten by my dogs. Legally I'm not sure where I stand with this. Morally I'm less ambiguous.
oscarx-ray@reddit
I only lock my door when I'm going to work. I have never locked my windows (or my door, usually) in ten years. I sleep with my door unlocked.
intothedepthsofhell@reddit
Why? What advantage is there to not locking your door when there are massive and glaring disadvantages?
oscarx-ray@reddit
Fun_Hunter_4899@reddit
When my windows were fitted, I collected the keys into a little pot that I shall leave for the people that eventually buy the house from me.
If someone’s breaking in, a little pissy lock isn’t stopping them. It’s more useful to stop children falling out of upper storey windows
markandspark@reddit
Just make sure you have a family fire escape plan. Lots of children have died from not being able to get out locked windows in a fire.
IHaveForgottenMyName@reddit
I think the point is that without locking your windows, if a break in happens through them then your home insurance can decide not to cover you.
lostandfawnd@reddit
Why?
They don't have handles on the outside.
Embarrassed-Ideal558@reddit
Home insurance companies will do anything to get out of a claim and almost nobody locks every single window every time they go out or at night
lostandfawnd@reddit
How do you open a window without handles, from the outside?
jamnut@reddit
Break open the front door, walk to the the window, open that, walk back outside after closing the front door, climb through the window... Duh
Immediate_Fly830@reddit
I used to be an underwriter and dealt with home insurance.
It's irrelevant whether the windows are locked or not, because theres no handles on the outside and for all intents and purposes, the window is 'locked' because it requires someone to force entry in order to gain entry.
It would be a different matter if there was a handle on the outside of the window.
scarby2@reddit
I think people are confused that locked would mean with the key vs closed with the handle in the locked position. I.e. if you just pulled the window to and walked away your insurance might have an issue
Fun_Hunter_4899@reddit
I know
Prestigious_Leg7821@reddit
Also the wording generally says “accessible windows” which is open to interpretation… it generally means downs stairs windows as upstairs are only accessible with a ladder
They will often ask “do all accessible windows have key operated window locks” but cd not deal with the response “ have no accessible windows”
I’ve had many any argument with insurers over this, but the regulator is clear only accessible windows are expected to comply with any restrictions
mynameisollie@reddit
Does it actually mean locked with the key or just the window is in the locked position? I’d argue that having the handle in the locked position would be locking the window. You lock a bathroom door without a key in a similar fashion.
48panda@reddit
Well, a bathroom lock isn't to stop intruders getting in, it's to stop accidental privacy violations
mynameisollie@reddit
But it is ‘locked’ when engaged right?
Once the window is smashed, they have a way in, they’re not worried about the handle being locked.
MrPogoUK@reddit
Indeed. When my in-laws were saying with us the kept just pulling the window closed and then going upstairs etc without pulling the handle down, and didn’t listen to me saying that left it incredibly easy to open. It took me scaring the crap out of them by opening it and climbing in behind they were sat facing away from the window before they got the message!
greggery@reddit
No, for the reason most people here have given, that if they've smashed the window in to gain access to the handle they can just get in through the window frame
LunarSymphonist@reddit
It depends where you live of course. We're on a very quiet rural drove, so we leave them unlocked by default unless we're going on holiday for a week or long weekend. If we lived on the ground floor in a dodgy area of a notorious borough or neighbourhood... yeah, locked 24/7.
Sad_Maximum3344@reddit
Firemen tell you not to lock windows incase you need to get out in a hurry..we only have one key for all our windows so I'm not gonna go round and lock/unlock everyday!!
DoctorOctagonapus@reddit
I live in a flat on an upper floor. No one's getting in through my windows without a ladder.
Scarred_fish@reddit
We never lock anything, but I know that sadly society has regressed to the point that this is probably considered rare.
"Insurers won't pay out" is silly. It is entirely down to the policy you purchase any the terms therin.
melanie110@reddit
I don’t and I leave one of my back ones open in the summer for the cats. Sometimes the patio doors.
How we are positioned, absolutely nobody can access our back garden unless you climb over 3 fences. We are a row of three terraced with a detached on the back which is then fenced off by some woods. Our back gate is blocked by a summer room and all fences are 6ft high. We are very well protected
JonJo42@reddit
I lock our ground floor windows at night, and when going out. All windows get locked when we go away.
dinobug77@reddit
Seems like people who lock their windows are in the minority! It’s no big deal and doesn’t take much time to do!
toady89@reddit
I'm a renter but my bedroom window only gets closed in winter or if I'm going away for more than a few days.
RegurgitatedOwlJuice@reddit
Don’t even lock the door. 😂 Not all places are created equal.
Chuck1984ish@reddit
Live in a place where the only key to the house was lost at least 30 years ago. The car keys generally sit in the car too. It's boring but its safe!
In_Praise_of_Shadow@reddit
No we don’t lock the window but we close all window in case it rains while we are out.
butwhatsmyname@reddit
I had an insurance company not wanting to pay out without evidence that the mortice lock on the front door - as well as the Yale lock - had been locked when we were burgled.
Fortunately we could send them a photo of the mortice lock - still locked securely in the doorframe - because the burglars kicked the whole door and door frame out of the brickwork. It was still lying conveniently in the hallway of our second floor flat.
I'm not sure how they felt that the door being more locked might have helped. My suspicion is that it's really just about finding any reason whatsoever not to pay out.
48panda@reddit
So if any burglars reading this want to really fuck people up, they should find the spare key and leave the front door unlocked. No insurance claim for you!
squeekymouse89@reddit
Yes and then, you can lock it again and then take a picture... This entire prove it was locked thing is pointless 🤣
CommonSpecialist4269@reddit
That is probably around 90% of work for insurance companies.
Alone_Improvement735@reddit
Our first floor ones don’t even have locks, apparently for building reg purposes (so I was told).
messedup73@reddit
My windows have a child lock which only means you can open the window just a little bit.The previous tenants eldest kid was an escape artist and could get around the smaller locks.I realised a burglar would struggle to get into my house because it was harder to pull the windows so kept them.I only use the keys and lock them properly if Im going on holiday my dog is a deterrent he has a loud bark but hes more likely to jump up and lick you to death first.
NeitherBag4722@reddit
I don't even shut windows, let alone lock them.
roja_85@reddit
No, I just close them. The lock with key is nonsense, if someone breaks your window to get in, then they might just figure a way to get out. Between my dog (she's the best girl) and my annoyance at being waken, we might do alright at warding off home intruders.
mooter23@reddit
We were burgled a couple of years ago through an open downstairs window late Summer. There were three adults and 4 kids all sleeping, no one heard a thing. We woke up the next day, realised the car was missing and checked the cameras.
Insurance paid out on the car, new locks for the house too (seeing as he took our keys). They didn't once mention the window being open as an issue, maybe because we were in the house and hadn't left it unattended and insecure?
And no. We do not leave downstairs windows open while out or sleeping now. Even during this heat! The burglar didn't care about our cameras (his gloved hand physically moved the internal one so we didn't get a closeup of his face...), and he certainly didn't care about the house being occupied.
Once bitten twice shy for me. Don't leave your downstairs windows open people. Unless perhaps you have a big dog or something, I guess.
Winston_Carbuncle@reddit
Sorry that happened to you but your last paragraph is surely common sense..?
mooter23@reddit
It was 34C. It was a small window (which he opened reached through to open a bigger one, this I will accept), it was around the back of the house - he went over the gate - and we were in the house. We just didn't think that we'd wake up to find we'd been robbed. We live in a reasonably nice part of town and for the years prior, we'd never been burgled.
But yeah. Looking back we wouldn't have been if we'd left the window shut, eh.
scarby2@reddit
When we were robbed years ago the police officer mentioned they were putting kids though small windows and getting them to unlock the door :(.
mynameisollie@reddit
Happened to us a 3 times when I was a kid. One they pried the window open, another they put a wire around the door to lift the latch and the last one they squeezed through a small open downstairs window.
gambiting@reddit
You don't tell your insurer you have locks in your windows, so then you're not expected to lock them.
Jimbobthon@reddit
Neighbour of mine thinks their security cameras are enough to warrant leaving windows open when they're not in. Didn't work, someone got in and insurance refused to pay out
Which is why everything is locked and shut at mine
Jimbobthon@reddit
Lock, no. They're shut before going out. If anyone broke in, why would they smash the window just to unlock it.
littlebutters1@reddit
After 13 years in my house Iv absolutely no idea where any key is for any of my windows
nigesoft@reddit
u/EmperorsChamberMaid_ nope - have outside and door cameras and automated lighting - looks likee someone is in - also when on holiday use those fake TV devices which are fantastic - looks like someone is watching TV in one of my rooms.
ashleypenny@reddit
in my old house we had the old fashioned style windows with the large pane underneath then a small rectangular pane at the top with the metal bar that you can leave on various widths of opening.
after a night out I was done for so fell asleep about 3am with the downstairs ones open, was mid summer and they were open.
some druggy woman fed a young kid through the small window somehow and he let her in, nicked thousands worth of camera gear while I was dead to the world, fenced it for £50 a police caught her but nothing came of it somehow. always figured was safe to leave those open but had not expected the old "push a child through the window" trick.
insurer did indeed pay out despite me being in, and the window being open
OddPerspective9833@reddit
That's mostly incorrect. Not all policies will have conditions relating to this. Most simply require theft to involve forcible and violent entry or exit. That means the thief needs to break in rather than just sneak in and out. Some don't even have that. But even when they do have specific conditions regarding the windows being locked, the condition can only be used as the basis of a claim being declined if it's relevant to the circumstances of the loss eg even if your windows were all open but the thief used the door it wouldn't be relevant.
lostandfawnd@reddit
Lock? No.. never locked.
The purpose of the lock inside is to stop people getting out.
They are sufficiently designed to prevent opening from the outside.
thecheesycheeselover@reddit
At the last flat I rented, each window sill had a very small hook underneath it for the window key. It was very unobtrusive as the keys tend to be small anyway.
Sounds like that could solve your issues.
Ok_Roll_1236@reddit
I have unlocked all my windows then put the keys away in a small Tupperware pot (yanno those ones that are too small for anything other than maybe 4 grapes 🤣) modern windows lock (in terms of no way you’ll get in from outside) if the handles are down
Icy-Meaning1801@reddit
If they don't seem very resistant, what's the problem then?
Broad-Raspberry1805@reddit
No because they always ask ‘Do your windows have locks’ and not ‘Do you lock your windows’.
Locking windows is insane so I never do it, why would I want to be trapped in my own home in an emergency?
Several_Show937@reddit
Nice try Mr Burglar
Bran04don@reddit
Closed and handle turned but no way am i fully locking with key every window. I have contact sensors on them all so if one is opened i get a notification.
TheHootOwlofDeath@reddit
Yes, I lock all of them. The upstairs ones, I will leave keys in the top windows but not downstairs.
SuperDinkle406@reddit
Yes, we do.
I put back any security bolts that I have opened or taken out. I don't believe we live in a high crime area, but it is just something I have always done. Why not do it.
mynameisollie@reddit
I’d be more worried about dying in a fire than worrying about a burglar breaking a window to try the handle and then giving up because it’s locked.
LordBoomDiddly@reddit
I live on the first floor, I think it's unlikely anyone would break in.
When I lived in a house, the downstairs windows would be closed at night
ResplendentBear@reddit
No, don't lock all the windows. Don't even usually shut the loft velux in summer.
Burglars who knows what they're doing will just pop a window pane out. Ones who don't will smash their way in.
And for them to refuse the payout, they'd have to enter via an unlocked window and prove it was unlocked.
Source - work in insurance.
Anubis1958@reddit
Over night, only downstairs. Going out all windows are closed. But overnight we have a perimeter alarm activated.
Beneficial-Pitch-430@reddit
I close them and make sure the handle is latched down.. but the little lock isn’t stopping anyone. Half of mine don’t work and I don’t even know where the keys are for the rest of them.
SilverAss_Gorilla@reddit
I lock mine so my kid won't fall out of them
RoutineCloud5993@reddit
Only when I go on holiday. And only downstairs.
I usually have a key in them anyway so I don't lose them.
Those locks arent secure anyway. You can open a lot of them with a pair of scissors or a small blade, and the keys are all standard anyway
TellMeItsN0tTrue@reddit
Always. One of my parents was burgled as a child and was then proved right for such precautions when my sibling's uni house was burgled with them inside because their housemate hadn't locked the door!
Having lived in areas with a higher than average burglary rate, I'm not taking the chance especially anywhere on ground level. I've seen how traumatising a burglary can be and the incredibly damaging effect it can have even decades on.
TruthfulRepugnance@reddit
No, but it would be a fool to break in when there's three dogs in the house (appearances are deceptive - it's the little one that will eat you!)
luckynumberstefan@reddit
I have a very friendly black lab who has a very intimidating deep bark. He likely wouldn’t actually harm anyone but he has scared many people over the years
Winston_Carbuncle@reddit
Grew up with a black lab that I described as very similar until some arsehole turned up at the door one day. My friendly black lab was more than game for a square go with this lad and that was purely off the vibes he was getting.
TruthfulRepugnance@reddit
Yes, our spaniel has a big boy woof, if it was just him in the house, a burglar would only need to bring a bag of dog treats and they could take whatever they wanted!
Winston_Carbuncle@reddit
Renters need not answer
Fine-Home-2341@reddit
Yes, obviously.
AtebYngNghymraeg@reddit
Why "obviously"? If it were obvious, he wouldn't be asking.
And for the record, I don't go around locking our windows before leaving the house. Who has time for that?!
EmperorsChamberMaid_@reddit (OP)
I will say. I lock mine if I'm going away for a holiday, but not for a day when I'm at home
tom-mart@reddit
I'm curious why. What does it add to the security? I always thought is child protection so they won't open the window from the inside. What difference would it make from the outside?
EmperorsChamberMaid_@reddit (OP)
Honestly. I don't know. I figured maybe it's harder to brute force if the lock is engaged, same as a front door. But now I think about it, I really don't know it does anything different for a door either.
SnooDonuts6494@reddit
I opened mine around March, and they'll stay open until about November.
WetDogDeodourant@reddit
I think you’ve misunderstood the clause. You would just want the to not be access points from the outside, latching them down would count, the little key is irrelevant.
EmperorsChamberMaid_@reddit (OP)
I see! I am a fool. Thank you.
WetDogDeodourant@reddit
You’re not a fool, we all live busy lives and can’t assume we’d understand every aspect of it all straight away.
In every aspect of life, in every room of my house, I probably have a question I’d be embarrassed to ask, that you’d know the answer to.
The world’s a venn diagram of knowledge and ignorance. Sharing freely and asking questions it was rises humans from the apes.
Salty_Nothing5466@reddit
We always lock ours due to insurance. Unfortunately been stung by insurer trying to use the small print to not pay out when my father in laws house flooded after he died. It caused a whole extra level of stress (as the small print had actually been followed) so always cautious of that type of thing now. Keep a key in my bedside table but often sleep with the window open, all the rooms in our house had the same lock so just had various keys dotted around (ie hiding behind our biscuit tin in the kitchen!)
TheGeordieGal@reddit
I see what you’re doing there mr/mrs burglar!
EmperorsChamberMaid_@reddit (OP)
Heh honestly no, just an overly paranoid, anxious person who hadn't thought about it until this evening when I sit with all my windows open.
AndrewHinds67@reddit
I don't lock my windows. My double glazed UPVC frames are very robust and it would take a lot of effort to break in.
anxiousthroway85@reddit
Yes! My husband checks all the doors and I check the children’s bedroom and bathroom windows.
We really don’t live in a high crime area, but we used to - old habits die hard I suppose.
Friendly_Brain7352@reddit
I would close any windows big enough for someone to get it but not lock them. I don't even think we have keys for them. But if they are closed you can't open them from outside anyway, so someone would have to break in to be able to open them anyway.
Lishmi@reddit
Thanks for this, reading other comments has worried me, as I'm currently away and I left some of the small windows open 😬. I always think if they were all shut in this heat, then it's more obvious the place is empty. (I am also on the first floor, so that helps)
Existential_Stardust@reddit
I don’t and I’d be surprised if anyone does. Like you say it’s a faff and in the event of an emergency could put your life at risk. I remember when I was a kid my parents locked the windows only when we went on holiday. As an adult with my own home I’ve never done it
surfermark99@reddit
Double check the fine print as this isn't always the case.
Generally no, people don't lock their windows at night. And if they are burgled I can assure you they'd claim that their windows were in fact all locked to the insurer. Thankfully the insurance company isn't telepathic, nor are they omniscient.
Xivii@reddit
Not something I think about.
Bathroom one stays open almost all of the time. Bedroom ones are open if I’m in the house at this time of year. I close them if I go out (not lock). Living room ones will get opened if I’m in there, and will then tend to leave it open until bed or out even if I go into a different room.
Spottyjamie@reddit
Ground floor ones yes, upstairs ones no
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