A locksmith's price covers travel, tools, training, insurance and parts, not just the minutes on site, and night work and London costs push it higher. There is also no licence or set price for locksmiths in the UK, so some firms quote low and charge far more once the work is done.
The Master Locksmiths Association (MLA) makes the point that you are not paying for the few minutes a lock takes to open. You are paying for years of training, specialist tools, the vehicle that gets to you and insurance. Its example is a £90 entry done in a couple of minutes: if that price was agreed beforehand, a quick job is no reason to question it.
Time and place matter. One London firm publishes £70 for entry between 8am and 8pm and £120 after midnight. The MLA puts London emergency labour from £122 an hour, rising to £153 after midnight, and says London prices typically run 20 to 25% above its national averages. It names parking and congestion charges among the extra costs of working in London.
Parts add to the bill. The MLA lists a budget euro cylinder from £27 without labour, against £64 for an anti snap one, and a full uPVC multipoint lock strip at £76 to £263 or more. A drilled lock has to be replaced, so damage turns an entry job into a lock change. That is one reason non destructive entry should come first.
Some of the stories of huge bills are not normal pricing at all. There is no government licence, so anyone can trade as a locksmith and charge what they like. BBC News analysed 129 responses from people who said a rogue locksmith had affected them: the average first quote was £91 and the average final bill £773. That is a self selected group, not a random sample.
A fair price is one you agree before anyone sets off. Ask for the total, including VAT and parts, and ask what changes if the lock has to be drilled. If the answer is that it depends what they find, you have not been given a price. We fix our price before we set off, and it includes travel and up to one hour on site.
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