Surflock break-in

Some dodgy dudes operating in the car parks again, so watch out for your cabbies. Millers local paddleskier Kenny Batemann had a good surf go bad on Friday, when he came back to his car to discover it'd been broken in to.

Ken was using a surf lock, and found it bent and buckled. The ou's had got his keys outta it, unlocked his door and ransacked his car. Pretty darn lucky they didn't steal his car, seeing as they had the keys, and at least chucked the keys under the car so he didn't have to schlep with changing locks etc.

Besides the hassle factor of having to replace the stolen stuff, Ken thought he was cool. Until he called his insurance company. Then things got complicated. it turns out they ain't so keen to pay up cos there was no forced entry into the vehicle, as the vehicles own keys were used to gain access. Despite these being locked away securely (OK, so it turns out not so securely!) in a surf lock.

Ken's now trying to convince them to cough up, and is still waiting to hear if they will.

So the moral of the story is don't think surf locks are unbreakable (apparently all it takes is 2 screwdrivers and 30 seconds), and if you use them, it might be worth getting hold of your insurance company to find out if they'll cover you if your keys get taken out of it and used to gain entry to your car to nick stuff (or worse, your car!)

Might be a better option to pop over to Houdini and get yourself one of those plastic keys made (approx R250), and just put it on a string round your neck or in your wettie key pocket. Just be sensible about where you stash your actual car keys when you're using one of the plastic keys for locking up. Cos you don't want a thief just to have instant access to your car keys if he smashes a window and looks in your glove compartment or under your seat, so be a lil inventive as to where you hide them in the car.

If you're keen to still use your surf lock rather, try put it somewhere pretty inaccessible on your cabbie. On the spring inside the front wheel arch is a good option.

Keep those eye's peeled cos the dodgies are operating in the car parks again. They'd probably benefit from a short lesson in manners should you catch one.