What to charge as a locksmith in the UK

A locksmith's day is uneven. One job takes ten minutes on site and forty in the van; another takes two hours. So build your prices in layers:

1. 1Work out a daytime hourly rate from your costs, the pay you want and the hours you can bill.
2. 2Turn that into a minimum charge that covers the drive and the first part of any job.
3. 3Set fixed prices for the jobs you do every week, such as lockouts, cylinder changes and lock replacements.
4. 4Add evening, night and weekend rates on top.

Then compare the result with what the market charges. You're not trying to match anyone, but if you're well below the published rates, you're probably undercharging.

Use your own bank statements for the last 12 months. The usual costs are:

• Van: finance, insurance, road tax, servicing and fuel. Emergency work means more miles at odd hours.
• Tools: picks, decoders, drills, a key cutting machine and the replacement parts you wear out.
• Stock: cylinders, locks, mechanisms and key blanks. You get this back when you sell it, but it ties up cash.
• Insurance: public liability at the least, plus tools and goods in transit.
• Training, accreditation and checks such as a DBS check.
• Phone, website, directory listings and advertising, which for emergency locksmith work can be a large line.
• Your accountant and software for quotes and invoices.

Key cutting kit is a good example of how costs vary. MyJobQuote lists a starter key cutting package from £795 plus VAT and automatic machines from £8,900 plus VAT. Spread big purchases over the years you'll use them.

If you claim your van through simplified expenses, HMRC's flat rate is 55p a mile for the first 10,000 business miles in 2026 to 2027, which is also a fair check on what each mile really costs.

Fewer than most people think. Travel, waiting for a customer to arrive with ID, buying stock, cutting keys for the van, quoting and chasing payment all eat into the day. Emergency work makes it worse, because you can't plan a route around a lockout.

Check two normal weeks in your diary. Count the hours you spent on jobs you could charge for, and compare them with the hours you were working. That share is the most important number in your rate.

Your pay target is before tax. For 2026 to 2027 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland:

• Income Tax: 0% on the first £12,570, 20% up to £50,270, then 40%. Scotland has its own bands.
• Class 4 National Insurance: 6% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2%.
• VAT: you must register once taxable turnover goes over £90,000 in the last 12 months. Lock sales count towards turnover as well as labour, which can push a busy locksmith over the line sooner than expected.
• Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: required from April 2026 for qualifying income over £50,000, from April 2027 over £30,000 and from April 2028 over £20,000.

If you register for VAT, decide whether your advertised prices include it. Homeowners compare the number they're told on the phone, so a price that suddenly gains 20% at the door causes arguments.

These figures are examples to show the sum. They aren't averages for locksmiths and they aren't Ringzel customer data.

1. 1Working time: 48 weeks × 5 days × 8 hours = 1,920 hours.
2. 2Billable time: 60% of that, so 1,152 hours.
3. 3Break-even rate: £57,300 ÷ 1,152 = £49.74 an hour.
4. 4Add a 10% margin: about £55 an hour in the daytime, before any stock you sell.

On £40,000 of profit, 2026 to 2027 rates give Income Tax of £5,486 and Class 4 National Insurance of £1,645.80.

This example comes out below the published daytime rates in the next section, which is common for a new business that prices from its costs alone. It suggests room to charge more, especially for skilled or urgent work.

Homeowner cost guides show what customers expect to pay. They make a useful check on your own numbers:

Sources: Checkatrade's locksmith prices guide and the Master Locksmiths Association's locksmith price list, which it says is based on average prices from its approved locksmiths, including VAT. The association says London prices run around 20 to 25% higher, and from £122 an hour for London emergencies, rising to £153 after midnight.

The sources don't always agree. Checkatrade's own uPVC door lock guide (October 2026) gives out-of-hours rates of £75 to £120 an hour, average £85, lower than its main locksmith guide. Treat every figure as a range to sense check against, not a price list.

There are two common approaches, and the sources show both. The Master Locksmiths Association says most emergency locksmiths do not charge a separate call-out fee, and gives an example fee of £85 that includes the first hour's labour. MyJobQuote describes a minimum call-out charge of around £50.

A minimum charge that includes the first hour is easier to explain on the phone than a fee plus an hourly rate. Whichever you use, say the full price before you set off and put it in writing by text or email. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, what you tell a customer about the price can become part of the contract.

That matters more for locksmiths than most trades. Checkatrade points out that there's no government licensing for locksmiths, and the Master Locksmiths Association says the industry isn't regulated by the government in the UK. Customers who've heard about rogue locksmiths ask for a price first. A clear one wins the job.

Out-of-hours rates aren't only about the hour on site. They pay for being available, the lost evening and a slower next day. Work out what you'd need to make a 2am lockout worth getting up for, then set your rates by time band:

• Daytime: your base rate or minimum charge.
• Early morning and evening: a step up.
• Late evening: a bigger step.
• After midnight, weekends and bank holidays: your top rate.

Published rate cards follow the same shape. Checkatrade's runs from £65 in the daytime to £120 after midnight. Decide which calls you'll go out for, and our guide to out-of-hours call answering covers what to do with the rest.

Fixed prices suit locksmiths because a skilled non-destructive entry can take minutes. If you charge by the minute, getting better at your job earns you less. Price the result and the skill, then add parts.

If a job turns into more work, such as a lockout that needs a new cylinder, give the new price before you fit anything. If no price is agreed, the customer only has to pay a reasonable price, which is harder to argue about after the event.

1. 1Rerun your costs each year. Fuel, insurance and advertising rarely go down.
2. 2Change your fixed prices and out-of-hours bands, not only the daytime rate.
3. 3Update your website and the prices you quote on the phone on the same day.
4. 4Track how many phone quotes turn into jobs. If nearly all of them do, you have room to charge more.

A locked-out caller doesn't leave a voicemail and wait. They ring the next number. The cost of one missed call is the job's value multiplied by the chance that caller would have booked you.

At Checkatrade's £110 average for gaining entry, a missed lockout call that books half the time costs about £55, before any new lock you'd have sold. Miss five of those a week and it's around £14,300 a year. Put your own numbers into our missed call calculator, and see why customers ring the next trade for what callers do when nobody answers.