Does Home Insurance Cover a Locksmith?

Short answer: usually yes. If you have Dutch home insurance, contents cover
(inboedelverzekering), buildings cover (opstalverzekering), or the two bundled together, the cost of a locksmith is normally reimbursed, provided the damage is covered and you meet the conditions in your
policy. Those conditions are usually about the quality of your locks (an SKG★★★ cylinder is the
common benchmark) and about being able to produce a proper, itemised invoice for the work.

The catch is in the word normally. Every insurer words its policy slightly differently, and the reason
your lock needs attention matters more than most people expect. Below you will find what is typically covered, what
almost never is, and exactly what to hand your insurer. Start with the quick check.

Which Insurance Covers the Locksmith?

It is your home insurance that pays, not your car or travel policy. In the Netherlands that means contents
insurance, buildings insurance, or a combination of the two. Which one applies depends on what was damaged: buildings
cover deals with the structure of the property, including the front door and its frame, while contents cover deals
with your belongings. Plenty of policies bundle both, which is why most people simply refer to it as their
woonverzekering.

In practice we see the cost of replacing a lock reimbursed under almost every contents or buildings policy. What
differs is how much. Some insurers reimburse the full job, others cap the amount or apply an excess
(eigen risico) first. Your policy schedule will say which. It is a five-minute read and worth doing before
you need it.

Does Insurance Cover Break-In Damage Too?

Yes. Damage caused by a burglary or an attempted break-in falls under a home policy: the lock itself, the door,
the frame, window frames, and the door furniture that got wrecked along the way. It is a thoroughly unpleasant thing
to come home to, but the payout is generally more than enough to put it right.

There is one condition that trips people up. Read almost any Dutch policy and you will find a requirement for at
least a three-star SKG★★★ cylinder, with additional burglary-resistant measures such as security
door furniture either required or strongly encouraged. If your lock did not meet that standard, your insurer may
reduce or refuse the claim.

That is one of the reasons we fit M&C SKG★★★ cylinders as standard. The certification is
named on your digital invoice, together with the warranty, so the box is ticked without you having to chase anything.
More on that in security and
burglary prevention.

What Decides Whether You Get Your Money Back?

The cause of the damage is what settles it. Insurers group it roughly like this:

• Wear and age. A cylinder that has simply worn out after fifteen years is maintenance, and
  maintenance is yours to pay for.
• Your own doing. Pulling the door shut with your keys on the kitchen table, or snapping a key in
  the lock, is what an insurer calls eigen schuld. Usually not reimbursed.
• Theft or forced entry. A stolen bag with your keys in it, or a burglar who has forced your door,
  gives you a far stronger case.

If you are dealing with break-in damage, do two things before anything else. Photograph the door, the lock and the
frame from a few angles, then report it to the police, you can do that online, in English, at
politie.nl. With the report reference and those
photos attached, a claim goes through far more smoothly.

We repair break-in damage the same day. Opening a door builds up from the €75 start rate plus €75 for the opening itself, so €150 in total during the day; in the evening or at night one further €75 applies, bringing it to €225 in total. There is no weekend surcharge and no charge for the method we use. The full list is on our
prices page, and the invoice is the one you forward to your insurer.

Are Lost Keys Covered?

Sometimes. This is the grey area. Some contents policies reimburse a lock replacement after keys go missing, others
class it as your own responsibility. Whatever your policy says, file a police report, every insurer will ask
for one, and it costs you nothing.

The more important question is what you do about the lock itself, and here our advice is not ambiguous:
have the cylinder replaced immediately. There are two reasons.

• The obvious one. Somebody out there has a working key to your front door.
• The one that catches people out. If a burglary later happens with no signs of forced entry and
  you cannot hand over every key, your insurer can decline the claim because the policy conditions were not met.

So change it, and change it for an SKG★★★ cylinder, which is what insurers want to see. Keep the
digital invoice from Locksmith.nl and you have your proof ready. Read more about how we handle
lock replacement.

One thing we should be straight about: we do not cut or copy keys. That is not a service we offer. If your existing
cylinder came with an M&C security certificate, original keys can be reordered through the manufacturer, call or message us with the certificate to hand and we will place that order for you and deliver or post the keys once
they arrive. Because the manufacturer sets the terms, we cannot promise a price or a delivery time in advance. And
after a theft, a new cylinder is the safer answer anyway.

Can I Use Locksmith.nl for Insured Damage?

Yes, for insured and uninsured work alike. The only difference is what happens afterwards: with insured damage you
submit our locksmith’s work as a claim to your insurer.

Your insurer will want evidence that the repair was carried out properly and that the parts fitted meet the
standard. That is exactly what our invoice is for. You will find it in the Locksmith app or in your inbox, itemised,
with the SKG certification and warranty of the cylinder listed. That document is your proof that the break-in repair
was done by a professional, and it is what your insurer settles the claim against.

Worth knowing: our locksmiths come to you. Our locations are dispatch bases for engineers on the road rather than
shops, so there is nothing to visit, you call, we travel to your address, usually within thirty minutes. If it
is urgent right now, use the emergency request.

What Your Insurer Will Ask For

Whatever happened, these four things cover almost every claim. Gather them and the rest is paperwork.

• Photographs of the damage, taken before the repair.
• A police report reference, for a burglary, a theft, or missing keys.
• An itemised invoice for the locksmith’s work, naming the parts fitted.
• Proof of the certification of the new cylinder, which sits on that same invoice.

One more thing worth saying out loud: check who you let through the door. Rogue locksmiths quote one figure by
phone and hand over an invoice with another, and an inflated invoice is exactly the sort of thing an insurer queries.
We have written about how to spot them in
scammed by a locksmith?

In Short

• Burglary damage: usually reimbursed with home insurance and a police report. Photograph
  it first.
• Keys lost or stolen: sometimes reimbursed. File a report and replace the cylinder
  immediately, whatever your insurer decides.
• Locked out: usually not reimbursed, because insurers treat it as your own doing. Our
  price is fixed and stated up front.
• Wear and age: not reimbursed. That is maintenance.
• Always: fit an SKG★★★ cylinder, keep the itemised digital invoice, and
  read your policy schedule. Coverage depends on your policy, so check with your insurer.

Standing in front of a damaged door right now, or holding a keyring that is one key short? Call
085 4000 911 and we will send the nearest available locksmith. You can also reach us
through our contact page.