Locked out: what to do in the first ten minutes

Check everything before you phone

Walk the property properly. Every external door including the one you never use, sliding doors, the door from the garage, any window left on a latch. A real proportion of lockouts end here.

Then be honest about who else has a key and how far away they actually are. A partner thirty minutes out often beats any callout, and costs nothing.

The things that will cost you money

The credit card trick does not open a modern lock. It never worked against a deadbolt, and on the spring latches where it once had a chance the tolerances are now far tighter. What it does reliably is mark the door edge and scratch the frame.

Screwdrivers, coat hangers and anything used as a lever are worse, because the frame is softer than the lock. Force goes into timber. A scratched cylinder is a small replacement; a frame levered out of square is joinery.

If a key has broken off in the lock, stop completely. Do not push the fragment deeper and do not spray anything into the keyway — both turn a routine extraction into a difficult one.

Sort out the gate at the same time

If you are inside an estate or a boomed complex, phone the guardhouse while you are waiting rather than after the vehicle is parked outside it. Getting authorisation moving early is the single biggest thing you control.

It is worth knowing your development's after-hours rule before you need it, because the person who can authorise entry is not always available at midnight.

Where to wait

Somewhere lit and visible where you can see your own door — a neighbour's, your car, the street. Not a dark side passage.

If a child or a pet is inside, say so the moment you call, because it changes prioritisation. If anyone inside is genuinely at risk, emergency services first, locksmith second.

What should happen on arrival

A price before dispatch, not after the door opens. A request for proof you belong there — treat the absence of that check as a warning rather than a convenience. A marked vehicle and a technician who can identify themselves.

Non-destructive methods attempted before drilling, with an explanation if drilling proves necessary. And a door that locks properly before the vehicle leaves.