Estate agent lost my keys and won't change locks help!

usman122

Hi,

I recently have put my property on the market with an estate agent. And they have lost my keys and have no idea of it whereabouts they say it's in the office however they still have not found it.

I have spoken to them on several occasions about replacement of my locks and today they said they will only replace the front door lock and not the rear door lock because they said they never had the key to the back door which is a lie.

I need advice on what I can do to make them change both front and back door locks as this is unacceptable.

Your help is appreciated

Thanks

BitterAndTwisted

In a situation like this you have to assess all of the risks and decide what's sensible. At the moment, if what the agent says is true there is no risk.

You might think that it's fair to stand up for a principle here but you are the one carrying the risk and the agent none. Barrels of locks can be changed for less than a tenner each depending on the type of lock. It all depends on whether you want to take the risk of someone letting themselves in and helping themselves to all of your valuables.

On the other hand your keys could be sitting on someone's desk and there is no real risk.

MissMotivation

I can understand them not wanting to pay for the rear door lock if they never had one in the first place. However, the MUST replace the front door lock. I would go into the branch and explain that you want the key found or the lock replaced within 24 hours.

Who have you been speaking to? A negotiator, branch manager? Is it an independant company or part of a large chain?

MX5huggy

My approach would depend on how the keys are identified.

Large tag with address and times when the property empty, I would not be waiting for them to aggree to change them.

Random reference number I would not worry.

G_M

Look, your property is at risk and your nsurance will be invalid if someone walks in.

So change the locks. yourself. Today. It takes 10 minutes with a screwdriver and costs £5-10. See here.

If you also want to pursue the EA for the cost, do it in writing. Explain what happened, enclose a copy of the bill for the new lock barrel, and add on something for time/inconvenience. Send it to Head Office if there is one, or the Senior Partner or similar. Include an invoice for any extra keys you also have to get cut.

usman122

Thanks for the reply guys,

I was generally taking a stand based on principle. They lost the key and I would expect some level of customer service.

I think I will replace my lock on my own n send them the bill ( little hope they will pay)

They are registered agent with RICS is there any formal complaint body I can raise this issue to?

Thanks again.

DVardysShadow

usman122 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply guys,

I was generally taking a stand based on principle. They lost the key and I would expect some level of customer service.

I think I will replace my lock on my own n send them the bill ( little hope they will pay)

They are registered agent with RICS is there any formal complaint body I can raise this issue to?

Thanks again.

The key? Freudian slip?

They must replace the locks for the keys they lost. So if they lost one key, is that the key to the front, the back or both?

MissMotivation

DVardysShadow wrote: »

The key? Freudian slip?

They must replace the locks for the keys they lost. So if they lost one key, is that the key to the front, the back or both?

Good spot!

vax2002

G_M wrote: »

Look, your property is at risk and your nsurance will be invalid if someone walks in.

So change the locks. yourself. Today. It takes 10 minutes with a screwdriver and costs £5-10. See here.

.

If you have the keys !

vax2002

The Legal position is they had a duty of care not to cause loss or harm during the period of service.
As they have lost your keys this has caused loss, for it is generally accepted that you will need a lock change.
Many insurance policies have very deep well hidden clauses about locks, what standard they meet and who can install them.
They can ask for receipts of locksmiths as proof of correctly fitted locks "in accordance with manufacturers instructions" and for production of lock certificates proving the lock to be BS standard and all the keys that came with the lock to be produced.
In short, this is not going to be cheap, you will need a locksmith, new locks, and to bill the estate agent and consider a court case to recover the loss caused by the failure of duty of care by the agent.
I would call them up, telling them you shall be instructing a locksmith to change the locks and sending them the bill, if they think they may be able to find them somewhere if they can find time to look, tell them this time expires as soon as you have booked the locksmith.
If they wish to instruct their own locksmith, tell them this must be forthwith and within a normal emergency time-scale.

G_M

vax2002 wrote: »

If you have the keys !

There's no indication the OP has lost their own key - it's just the one(s) the EA had.

So yes, the OP should have no difficulty opening the door, removing the lock barrel, and inserting a replacement one.

and then handing out duplicate new keys to trusted friends, relatives and professionals!