Homeowners Insurance Providers Are Screaming For Public Awareness On Bump Keys

Breaking and entering makes up more than 20% of all violent crimes in the United States, and the increasing availability of bump keys has made breaking and entering easier than ever. Homeowners insurance providers are working hand in hand with many of today's most popular home security providers to increase awareness about bump keys and help homeowners protect themselves from this simple menace.

What Are Bump Keys?

For many, many years locksmiths have used a simple method known as lock bumping to give them rapid access to basic pin tumbler locks. A pin tumbler lock is made up of a series of spring loaded stacks called pin stacks, which align with the edge of the key when you slip it into the lock and allow the cylinder to turn. All pin tumbler locks use the same basic key profile, making it easy for locksmiths to create a single bump key that would open all of them.

A bump key is a basic key profile that has been filed down to fit into any pin tumbler lock. The key is placed in the lock just shy of the last pin, then "bumped" from the back. The impact causes the pins to jump, creating a small window of opportunity in which the cylinder can be turned without damaging the lock. Criminals can easily use this simple method to enter your home without leaving any evidence of breaking and entering behind.

These bump keys are available on the Internet for most types of pin tumbler locks, and courtesy of YouTube even less experienced criminals can easily learn how to use them.

This is a major problem for homeowners when it comes to filing a claim with their homeowners insurance provider. Not only have they been robbed, but the absence of evidence of breaking and entering (no scratched locks, broken windows, etc) leads may homeowners insurance providers to dismiss the claim, assuming the homeowners had simply left their doors unlocked and a savvy criminal had taken advantage of a golden opportunity.

How Can Homeowners Protect Themselves?

The good news for homeowners is that security companies have been working for years to solve the problem of lock bumping and the dangers of bump keys. Electronic locks, magnetic locks and locks that use rotating discs aren't vulnerable at all, and restricted or registered key profiles (where the basic "blank" can't be purchased from your neighborhood WalMart) are much safer.

By purchasing their door locks through companies that have put time and effort into ensuring that their locks are invulnerable to lock bumping, and being willing to spend a little extra for a high quality lock that's impervious to bump keys, homeowners can rest assured that their homes are as protected and inaccessible as possible