How house keys affect your home insurance

Find out how home insurance can help if you lose your house keys, get tips for keeping your keys safe and understand the potential insurance pitfalls of losing your keys.

David Edbrooke

Sub editor

minute read

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Posted 26 FEBRUARY 2020

Make sure your keys are covered

Losing your house keys can be stressful and very expensive. Home insurance can help. Your policy may include cover for replacement locks and keys, and if it doesn’t, you may be able to add it.

Home emergency cover, which you can also add to your policy, may include locksmith services if you’re locked out or your home is unsecure.

If you do lose your keys or they get stolen, it’s important to get the locks changed as soon as possible - not just for security, but to make sure your home insurance remains valid.

If your home is burgled, your insurance provider will usually look for signs of forced or violent entry, like a broken window or a smashed door.

If an intruder gets into your home using a key, and there’s no sign of forced or violent entry, it’s possible that your claim will be rejected.

Keep your keys somewhere safe

Leaving a spare set of keys in an obvious place around your property is an easy invitation for burglars to take advantage. And yet, so many of us do it.

Under a plant pot, the doormat or a brick are often the first places an opportunistic burglar will check.

Hiding your spare keys in your garden not only increases your chances of being burgled, it could also invalidate your home insurance policy.

Be wary of giving out spare keys

Always be careful about giving out your house keys. If a friend, neighbour or your child has an extra set, there’s always a possibility those spare keys could fall into the wrong hands.

Lodgers or Airbnb guests will likely have spare keys, but if you’re renting out rooms you must tell your insurance provider. Otherwise you could find that your policy is invalid if you need to make a claim.

Keep your keys out of sight

Always remove your keys from inside locks and keep them stored out of sight. This is especially important if you have a dog or cat flap, as intruders might be able to reach in and grab your keys.

Going keyless

Installing a smart door lock could be an option if you’re worried about your keys getting lost or stolen. Smart door locks work using a code rather than a key, so you won’t need to worry about losing your house keys or someone stealing them.

Some smart locks use your phone to trigger a signal to open the door. Although that means you don’t need to worry about losing keys, if your phone is stolen, your home could still be at risk.

However, if you have lodgers or Airbnb guests, you can change the code once they’ve gone.

Make sure you tell your insurance provider if you get a smart door lock, in case it affects your policy. Not all insurance providers’ policies will cover homes with smart locks, so check the terms and conditions of your policy.

Think about your car keys too

Some insurance providers offer lost car key cover as an optional extra on car insurance. It can also cover your house keys, as long as they are attached to the same fob as your car keys. Car keys could be covered by your car insurance and your home insurance. But always check your policy documents to be sure.

Compare home insurance with key cover

If you’re looking for home insurance with the added protection of key cover, use our comparison tool to find the right deal for you.

Get a quote today and see if you can save.