Landlord charges me to collect spare house key

Clhoulton

My partner and I have a good relationship with our LL, however, if we ever manage to forget our keys (this has happened twice in six months) the LL charges us £30 to get the spare. She does not deliver the key to us. We have to collect it from her when she's home. If she brought the key to us then I would have no issue paying her for the time. However, it irks me that we're paying her to go and collect them ourselves for a key she already has cut.
What are my rights? Is this just unethical or can I decline to pay the fee? Is it even worth it for £30? I am on minimum wage and my partner is a student,so we don't have a whole lot of money but I don't want to ruin my relationship with LL.
Thanks in advance!

walwyn1978

Is this in the contract? If so you signed for that clause with the rest and you have no recourse, ethical it isn’t but you did sign.

If not, then I’d be interested to see what some of the in the know LL regulars on here think...

SmashedAvacado

Its still inconvenient.
Sounds like a cheap security blanket to me.

elsien

Can you not just get a spare cut and leave it with a friend or neighbour?

Otherwise if you were locking yourself out of your own home you'd be paying more than that for a locksmith to get you back in.

AdrianC

Have you considered not forgetting your keys?

bobbymotors

Best thing is to remember your keys.

Next best thing is to get a spare cut yourself and hide it somewhere.

As for rights I don't think you have any, it's not the landlord's fault you can't remember to pick up your keys,

PasturesNew

Clhoulton wrote: »

.... happened twice in six months...

Speaking as somebody who has NEVER (yet, touch wood) locked themselves out, nor ever lost a door key, nor ever even had to clamber in through an open window after a door slammed shut .... nothing whatsoever like that .... in over 40 years of being in charge of a key ... this is actually WELL above "the norm".

You need to start taking more care.

elsien

AdrianC wrote: »

Have you considered not forgetting your keys?

Much easier said than done. Which is why I now have a keysafe plus keys with two sets of family. And still managed to lock myself out when the keysafe jammed and I couldn't contact family as I'd also left my phone inside. And my purse. And my car keys.
Set number 4 is about to land with a neighbour.

AdrianC

I think I last did it in about, oooh, 1995. I'd taken my Co.Car to the dealer for some work, came back in a taxi, and realised the house key was still on the keyring. Fortunately, I was living in a semi with a shared attic, and the neighbours were home and were kind enough to let me climb up through their loft hatch.

Stubod

Not sure about the legalities but that apart I would consider this a fair sum.

I assume they then have to go out and get more keys cut?...although if they are "properly lost" wouldn't that mean they need to change the locks as well? (...in which case it is way to cheap)

Rosemary7391

She's charging you for a service that typically a friend or nice neighbour would provide free of charge. However at the current rate of 4 times a year you'd likely overrun their goodwill too! Might be worth looking at why you find yourself locked out so often and what you can do to change it - for instance, do you only have one set between you and would it help to get another set cut? I hang my keys on a hook by the door so I can easily see if I've left them inside as I'm leaving.