Halifax press release

Are your keys in safe hands?

Wednesday 7th April 2004

Did you know that if you lose your keys you probably only have a 50:50 chance of getting them back?

And, as a recent survey showed that more than a third of us have lost our house or car keys at least once, this hugely inconvenient and costly experience is extremely common.

The survey, carried out by NOP World on behalf of Halifax General Insurance1, showed that of the 35% of people that had lost their keys, 45% never regained them.

And from a security point of view the survey revealed a few worrying statistics - including the fact that of the people who had lost their keys, 23% had to break back into their own homes - while 29% climbed back into their house through an open window!

Despite crime prevention advice about not ‘hiding’ keys outside your home and leaving them in an obvious place such as near doors and windows, when asked what measures they take to prevent themselves from becoming locked out, one in ten of us (11%) still claimed to keep a key in places such as under a mat or in the garage! 

Thankfully, three quarters of us (74%) are more security conscious and leave a spare set of keys with friends, relatives or neighbours.  Surprisingly 13% of those questioned do not have a spare set of keys.

In response to the survey, Halifax General Insurance has now re-designed the key fob that it issues free of charge to its customers as part of its exclusive key recovery service.

All Halifax Home Insurance customers are issued with a special key fob, which includes a unique code relating to the customers’ insurance policy.

If someone finds a bunch of keys with a Halifax Home Insurance key fob attached they are able to either ring the telephone number printed on it (0845 600 6001) or hand them in at any Halifax or Bank of Scotland branch, in return for a £10 reward.

The unique code on the key fob is then used to trace the customer or key owner and that person can then be contacted.  The keys can either be posted back or can be collected from the local Halifax branch.  The new style key fob is small, slim and has a brushed metal appearance.

Howard Posner, Chief Executive Officer, of Halifax General Insurance, said:

“It is a fact of our busy lives that keys do get lost and misplaced.  However, with 78% of respondents to the survey claiming that if they found some keys they would hand them into the police and 80% saying they would return lost keys if a security key fob was attached, we are confident that our key recovery service will save our customers a lot of time and inconvenience.

Halifax general insurance also offers the following advice to homeowners:

• Never have anything containing your name and address attached to your keys.
• Never leave keys under doormats, on string through the letterbox, under a stone, on the top of a door/window frame etc.  An opportunist thief may be watching!
• Never leave doors or windows open when you go out. If you can get in, so can a burglar.
• Always leave a spare set of keys with a trusted friend, neighbour or family member. Try to choose someone who lives close and spends a lot of time at home.
• Try not to keep all your keys on one key ring – separate the front door and back door keys.

Editors' notes:

• Halifax Home Insurance and Halifax Travel insurance are rated 5 star for product features and benefits by Defaqto, an independent market research company.
  
  
• All Halifax home insurance customers benefit from an "unlimited sum insured" policy, which means that in the event of loss or damage to their property, they will receive full rebuilding or repair costs, and can never be underinsured.  Single Article and High Risk Item limits apply to contents insurance.
  
  
• Further details of Halifax Home Insurance products can be found online at www.halifax.co.uk/insurance or by calling 0800 028 2498.
  
  
• 1 Research was carried out by NOP World over the weekend of 19th-21st September 2003 and involved a representative sample of 969 people aged 18+ in Great Britain.
  
  
• Customers, who are covered by either Halifax homeowners’ buildings or contents insurance, or both, are covered by the scheme and should already have received a key fob to attach to their keys.
  
  
• All new customers will receive the key recovery service free when they take out a policy.