Ask an Expert Locksmith

Yes, and the daft version above agrees. Getting people who are stuck out of the house back in is the main job. I cover it 24/7, including the small hours and bank holidays, and on roughly nine out of ten home lockouts I get in by non-destructive entry (picking, decoding or bypassing) so your existing lock stays in the door and the bill stays small. Non-destructive lockout entry starts from £90 in the daytime, with no call-out fee on top and the all-in price quoted on the phone before I set off. The full walk-through is on the locked out guide.

Yes. A key that has sheared off in the cylinder is one of the most common calls I get, and in most cases the broken piece comes out with extraction tools without harming the lock, so you do not need a new cylinder at all. Snapped-key extraction starts from £90 where no cylinder change is needed. There is a full honest breakdown, including the times it genuinely does need a new lock, on the broken key extraction guide.

Yes. When a uPVC or composite door stops locking, the usual culprit is a failed multi-point gearbox or a dropped door that has fallen out of alignment, not the whole door. A like-for-like gearbox swap (Fullex, GU, Mila, Lockmaster, Yale and the rest) starts from £145 fitted, and I keep the common specs in the van so I can usually identify and replace yours the same day. The door won't lock diagnostic tells you which of the four common faults you are probably looking at, and the uPVC door lock replacement guide covers the parts in detail.

Yes to both. After a break-in I can change the affected locks the same day, supply an itemised receipt for your insurer, and upgrade you to a TS007 3-star anti-snap cylinder while I am there if the old one was vulnerable. The full process is on the lock change after a burglary page. If you have just moved house, changing the locks is the sensible first job because you have no idea how many keys are out there; the honest version (often you only need one cylinder changed, not every lock in the house) is on the changing locks when moving house guide.

Yes. The phone rings on me directly, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, bank holidays included. There is no separate call-out fee at any hour, and the out-of-hours emergency rate (evenings, weekends and bank holidays) starts from £170, which I tell you on the phone before I leave, so there is no surprise surcharge sprung on the doorstep. If you are stuck out at 2am, the single most useful thing on this whole site is the phone number at the top of the page.

Yes, I can almost certainly reach you, and no, this is not a call centre. I am one locksmith, Sean Hamilton, working from Brewood in south Staffordshire. I cover Wolverhampton, Cannock and Stafford same-day, plus Walsall, Lichfield, Birmingham and the South Staffordshire villages. You can see every town on the areas page. If you want to know how to tell a real local locksmith from a national dispatch desk dressed up as one, the locksmith near me guide walks through the six checks you can run on the phone.

Yes, and there is no charge for the phone call. Tell me your postcode and the figure you have been quoted, and I will tell you honestly whether it sounds fair for the job described, whether I can do it for less, and whether you should ring someone closer if I am too far away. UK locksmithing is unregulated, so overcharging is a real problem; the locksmith scams page covers the seven patterns to watch for, and the honest cost guide gives you the going rates so you have a number to check against.

Yes. Most home insurers ask for British Standard locks on final exit doors, and the relevant marks are BS 3621 for mortice and rim locks and TS007 3-star (or 1-star cylinder plus 2-star handle) for euro cylinders on uPVC and composite doors, with Sold Secure SS312 Diamond as the higher tier. I can assess what you have, tell you straight whether it already meets the standard, and fit the right upgrade if it does not. I will also talk you out of an upgrade you do not need, which is covered honestly on the anti-snap locks page. The wider glossary of lock types is on the types of door locks guide.