Tenant burgled. Police say they used a key!!

simpywimpy

Am at a bit of a loss...

Agency phoned today to tell me the tenant has been burgled over the weekend but that the Police are saying that they got in through the back door using a key.

I have owned this house for 2yrs now and the locks are the same as when I bought it and there are no keys missing. Tenant and myself all have a set.

Is there anything I should do? Should I expect a call from the Police or do I pay to change the locks?

Doozergirl

Could it be that they just left the back door open?

People do say other stuff when they know it's unlikely the insurance wouldn't pay for the door being left open.

simpywimpy

I must admit I did think that myself. Am I responsible to change the locks for this?

I know before I bought the house it was previously a rental but my son lived there for over a year without any problems. I worry now that an ex tenant still has a set of keys

mandi

simpywimpy wrote: »

I worry now that an ex tenant still has a set of keys

or had an extra set cut ??..I think its in your best interest to change ALL the locks front & back ( expensive I know , soree )

simpywimpy

It will be because both doors are UPVC. Is the tenant in anyway responsible for this? I have no way of knowing if she lost a key, left the door open etc..

eamon

Err on the side of caution and get the locks changed. If they are uPVC doors then probably they are fitted with Euro profile cylinders. These are very easy to change. Go to a good hardware store and ask for "anti-snap, anti-bump" types. You could even get the front & back door "keyed alike", that way only one key type required. For both cylinders your max outlay is around £60. Don't forget to remove one of the old cylinders so as you can measure it, will probably be 35/35mm

poppysarah

New locks all round as others have said.

Their contents insurance one won't pay out if there's no break in.

Sonofa

eamon wrote: »

Go to a good hardware store and ask for "anti-snap, anti-bump" types.

That's another option of how the thief gain entry. If they used a bump key. Go on youtube and look up bump key. It looks very easy to bypass a lock wthout damaging it.

Horace

Whenever tenants move out of the flats that I am in, the landlord makes a point of change the locks for their front doors.

I think that new locks are the landlords responsibility.

foi1983

As a tenant, I would expect the landlord to change the locks every time a new tenant moves in or else anyone could enter the property.

How would you feel if someone else had keys to your house? It doesnt matter if previous tenants handed the keys back. How easy is it to cut extra keys?

Why are the current tenants automatically to blame? I would blame the landlord as they havent changed the locks at all whilst renting the property out to various people.

romanempire

As I'll probably become a tenant in the near future I've every intention of changing the locks as soon as I move in to whatever I rent (reinstating the originals at the end of the tenancy of course). Call me paranoid but I'm not trusting the previous tenants (or the landlord for that matter).