Coming home to a forced door scrambles anybody’s thinking. The order in which you do things matters, for your safety and for any insurance claim. Here it is.
1. Do not go in if you are not sure it is empty
If the door is open, the frame split, or you hear anything inside, stay outside and ring 112. It is the single emergency number across Spain and the European Union, and it answers in English.
2. Report it to the police
Even if nothing seems to be missing. Ask whether they want to see the scene before anything is touched or repaired. You will need the report (denuncia) for the insurer, so keep its reference.
3. Photograph before anything moves
- The door from outside, from a step back.
- The lock, the cylinder and the frame close up.
- Any window, gate or slider that was used.
- The inside: drawers, cupboards, where valuables were.
Photos taken now are worth more than a description later.
4. Make the house lockable
Once the police have seen it, or have said they will not come, get the door closing and locking again. That is the locksmith’s first visit:
- the damage is looked at and recorded;
- the price for what is needed tonight is agreed before work starts;
- a new cylinder, a repaired lock and a reinforced strike side make the door secure;
- a written note of what was found and what was done is left for the insurer.
Do not throw away the damaged cylinder or lock. Insurers sometimes ask for them.
5. Call the insurer
With the police report reference, the photos and the locksmith’s note, the call is straightforward. Ask what they cover: some policies pay for the emergency repair and for upgrading the lock.
6. Then, calmly, think about what failed
Most forced doors give way at the cylinder or at the frame. The cylinder in many of Sant Joan’s houses is the one fitted when the house was built, often decades ago: a house from the 2000s, still on its first cylinder explains why that matters. A high-security cylinder, a guard plate and a reinforced keep are the usual answer, and none of it has to be decided on the night.
If a safe was attacked
A safe that held but was damaged is often jammed. Do not keep trying the code. If it is in a rented flat, whose job it is to open it is covered in a separate guide.