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It can be frustrating when you are in a rush to get out the door and can’t find your keys. If you’re lucky, you can find it; otherwise, it’s lost. Unfortunately, millions of people lose their car and house keys every year.
If you ever lose your house keys, you must act fast to find a solution. It’s frustrating, time consuming and sometimes expensive to lose keys because you’re putting your house and the people living in it at high risk if they get into the wrong hands. To avoid such situations, always get a home emergency cover to get assistance from expert technicians whenever required.
Let’s look into the steps on what to do if you ever lose your house or car keys:
Contact your respective Insurance Company
Contact your insurance company if you’ve lost your car keys or had them stolen. Many will cover the cost of a locksmith or towing service if you can’t get back into your car on-site after a locksmith attempts to fix your key.
If the same thing happens with your house keys, your Homeowner’s insurance policy may help you by sending specialists to open your house lock with a little amount to be paid or sometimes of no cost. It is all about what type of coverage you choose.
Call Police for Help
Suppose you think your keys have been stolen rather than lost, then it’s always better to complain about it to the police and file a report. Most insurance companies will ask you for the police to file a report to be submitted if you claim for theft. If your purse or wallet is stolen along with the keys, then it can be a risk as they can use it against identity theft. So paperwork has to be there for your safety.
Change Locks
Do you need to change your locks entirely depends upon the type of locks you use:
Keyless Locks
A keyless lock is good because you can easily change the code on your keypad and keep your house locked, allowing no one to get in. Most of the keyless locks have physical keys too. What if they are lost? Not to worry, but you create a new one.
Automatic Locks for Cars
Older cars that require a physical key to start them will still work with the new system, but newer vehicles with key fobs that automatically unlock the doors may need to be reprogrammed. If your car has a transponder key, you’ll need to have it towed to a dealer who can order and program you a new key. It can end up costing hundreds of dollars.
Still, changing your locks gives peace of mind even though you must put in a lot of money.
Look Out for Locksmith Scams
When locked out of your home or car, it is sensible to call a locksmith. But unfortunately, many such businesses are scams and take advantage of people desperate to get back in their homes or on the road.
Most of the online ads that you see for locksmiths are scams. It would help if you were sure to avoid such situations with these tips:
- You need to understand the common scams that include low-price ads and charging up to 500% more; look out for companies that only accept cash. Sometimes they claim that you need a new handle for your lock, which requires purchasing an overcharged piece from them on the spot.
- Look out for their BBB ratings or online reviews. Avoiding any company with low ratings or many complaints is recommended.
- Go with licensed companies. Most reputable companies will get state licensing to prove legitimacy.
- See that you do not allow any locksmith to drill or replace your lock, as professionals are trained at their work on how to unlock.
Smart locks are better than regular keys as they have a code locking system, and passwords can be changed using keypads.
Some benefits of using Smart locks are:
- You can control locks from anywhere
- Easily assign code to all members of the family
- Can change codes as often as you want
More than all these, having a home emergency cover is a good option.
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