Locksmith in Maidstone

Do Locksmiths Need A License?

If you’re in the UK, the simple answer to this question is no. The locksmithing industry in the country is an unregulated one by the United Kingdom’s government. Ultimately, this implies that anybody can be a locksmith with their competence, background or motive being irrelevant. Areas in the security industry that are licensed by the government include door staff as well as keyholding businesses, with the government overlooking the locksmith industry as they do not want to heighten the legislative burden on small businesses.

There are a number of implications for an unregulated industry such as the locksmithing industry. This includes:

• Anyone can wake up in the morning, pick up a set of tools and call themselves a locksmith without being termed as illegal.

• The fact that the industry is not regulated means that there’s no price structure to follow. There’s no price guide for locksmithing services, so they are free to charge whatever price they wish to. As a result, the price of a locksmith can greatly vary from the other for the same or similar tasks.

• Irrespective of your background, competence or motive, you can decide to trade as a locksmith.

Although there are about 6,500 locksmiths in the UK that are not licensed, we do have about 350 plus MLA approved locksmiths. Being MLA approved means they’ve been fully vetted, inspected and fully qualified to operate as a professional locksmith.

The Master Locksmith Association ( MLA) possesses its very own licensing scheme for MLA approved companies. This means that the locksmithing businesses that are listed on the Master Locksmith Association’s find a locksmith page and incorporate their official logo are being inspected on a regular basis, have been vetted by using the standard level DBS checks and have passed the exam based proof of competence test.

How Long Does A Locksmith Take?

It’s usually a surprising experience when a security issue that you might have thought is not resolvable or nearly impossible to overcome, took an expert locksmith just a couple of minutes to fix. This is not magic or some voodoo, it’s just a learnt skill being perfectly applied by an experienced and well versed locksmith. In this article, you’ll get to know what to expect when you call on a locksmithing professional for help with a security issue.

To determine the period of time a locksmith will take to complete his services, two factors are to be considered - the estimated arrival time as well as the service providing time.

Generally, if you call on a local locksmithing company, you should expect the locksmith to arrive within 15 to 30 minutes to your location. However, this might be shorter or longer if you put into account some influences such as the distance involved and traffic. Some companies can show up faster but charge an extra fee to it, while others will need more time to show up but offers a cheaper service. Usually, locksmithing companies will publish information about the estimated time of the arrival of their technicians on their websites. If you don’t find any, you might want to consider another company with one as this is a red flag.

The second factor which is the service providing time which depends on many influences including the type of lock and key in question. Therefore, it’s impossible to give a precise answer. However in general, a professional locksmith would not usually take more than an hour and half to create a new key for a car or house, or more than 10 minutes to unlock a house or car. Whereas replacement of a lock can take within the range 10 minutes to 40 minutes depending on the complexity of the lock.

How To Find A Good Locksmith?

Finding a good and reliable locksmith can be a very tricky challenge especially when you don’t planned ahead. For example in emergency situations whereby you get locked out of your home or car, you simply wouldn’t have the time to look for the best locksmith rather you’d be eager to get just about any locksmith available. So how do you go about this and ensure you hire the best possible locksmithing professional? Here are a few tips you can apply to find a good locksmith.

• Plan Ahead

The best time to start searching for a locksmith is right after the purchase of your home or car and not when an emergency occurs. When you purchase a house some of the first thing you do is to research other contractors for your home management team, so why not add a locksmith to this list?

• Verify The Business

Always research the business online once you’ve found a locksmith. Confirm that address is a local one and check their online reviews for red flags. You can also reach out to them during off work hours to ensure they can be responsive during emergencies.

• Ask For Identification

Once the technicians arrive at your house, you can ask them for a means of identification. Every licensed locksmith possesses a Master Security License Number which should be written on their vehicle as well as their photo identity card. If they claim to be licensed but can’t provide this number, you might want to hire another locksmithing company.

• Obtain A Written Estimate

After review of the situation by the locksmith, he should be able to provide you with a written estimate. If he can’t come up with one, then you may want to send him away.

Can A Locksmith Make A House Key Without The Original?

If you’ve misplaced or lost the last set of your house keys, you’d probably be wondering if a locksmith can help replace the key without the original. If true, then you should know that a locksmith can cut a new key for you with the help of their expertise and tools without having to give them the original one. A professional locksmith can achieve this in three separate ways. Let’s have a look!

• Cut The Key By Code

What makes physical keys unique is basically the spacing and depth of their cuts. During the manufacturing process, manufacturers often stamp some characters also called key codes on the lock or include them in the lock’s manual. With these characters, a locksmith has all that’s needed to create a new key without having to see the original one. Using HPC Blitz key generator or any other code cutter and the right key blank, a locksmith can give you a new key. However, in cases whereby the key does not come with any code, the locksmith can obtain the needed information via the manufacturer or the retailer who possess such information.

• Impression The Lock

To complete this key cutting process, the locksmith will need a key blank, a file as well as a vice grip. This procedure entails inserting the right key blank into the lock, followed by turning it to bind pins within the locks cylinder. This process will enable the locksmith determine the sections that requires to be filed on the key blank. It also involves inserting and removing the key from the lock several times in order to get all the needed cuts. However, it must be noted that various key blanks like brass, steel and aluminium blanks require a special attention to ensure they do not break during the process

• Disassemble The Lock

To disassemble a lock, the locksmith will first pick the lock. However, in the event whereby a broken key is stuck in the keyhole, then you may want to consider an entire lock replacement. The disassembling process is a very delicate one that involves the internal mechanisms of the lock and should not be done unless by a true professional.