Of all the things you can have stolen from your bag or person, your house keys are arguably some of the worst items to lose. On top of inconvenience, stolen house keys also pose a safety risk that needs to be addressed ASAP. If you’ve lost your house keys, take a deep breath and follow these steps:
First: Notify the Authorities & Your Insurance Company
If you’re positive that your keys have been stolen and are not just lost, the first thing to do is call the police and file a report. After you’ve given them all of the details over the phone, ask for a case number and make sure you jot it down.
Next, you’ll need to place a call to your home insurance company and let them know about your stolen house keys. Be sure to give them that case number you asked for, both to verify the crime and should there be any follow-up!
Call a Locksmith & Change Your Locks
Your next call, after informing anyone else that you share house keys with, is to call a locksmith. This is an essential step for a few different reasons. For one, you’ll need someone to let you into your house now that your house keys are missing. This step also ensures you have new locks that will protect you against whoever is now in possession of your house keys.
Trusted locksmiths have thankfully repeated this process hundreds of times before you make that phone call. When you meet up with your locksmith at your home, you’ll need to show them which locks correspond to the house keys that were stolen. Your locksmith will also be able to tell you whether or not your locks can simply be re-keyed instead of replaced. However, some locking mechanisms do not have this ability and may need a complete replacement.
Once these details are hammered out, your locksmith will remove the current locks and replace them (or re-key them) with new locks that correspond to new house keys. Locksmiths will also be able to adjust your locks so that some or all of them correspond to the same key(s).
Make Copies of Your New House Keys
Securing your house is the first priority on your list when your house keys are stolen. Then comes the process of ensuring everyone who lives in your house has a set of working house keys.
Most standard locks come with at least one house key that opens the given lock. If your locksmith isn’t able to make new keys or you didn’t think of this ahead of time, don’t worry! Just about every hardware store is able to cut house keys within a few minutes time. Consider how many people need entry to your house on a regular basis, and add in a couple extra for spare keys just in case. While hardware stores will always be the quickest option, opting for a custom key that’s unique to you is preferable if you have the time!