A padlock is a detachable lock with a U-shaped bar (the shackle) that passes through a hasp or latch on a door and locks into the padlock's body. It opens with a key or a combination. Where a storage unit takes a padlock, the customer fits their own and holds the key or code. Disc and closed-shackle padlocks are shaped so the body covers most of the shackle, leaving less for bolt cutters to grip.
At Wigwam
Whether you need one depends on the site, and our pages describe it differently, so ask when you book.
- At Chipping Norton you do: "Bring your own padlock for the unit, and you will be the only one with access to your items" (subject to our entry rights under clause 17, below). You can also buy a keyed or combination one from reception there.
- Our Bath and Warminster pages describe units that open by smart entry on your phone, with no padlock. Bath's page says: "There are no padlocks or physical keys."
- Our pricing guide says most of our facilities use a smart entry system that doesn't need a padlock, and "Only one location still uses padlocks, so it's best to check when booking."
If your unit opens by smart entry and you'd like to add a padlock of your own as well, ask us first whether your unit door takes one and where it can go.
Our Box Shop sells three: a 40mm brass padlock (£12.00), a 50mm brass combination padlock with a resettable 4-digit code (£18.00), and an 82mm heavy-duty container shutter padlock with an enclosed shackle (£36.00).
What the terms say
Clause 21 makes you "solely responsible for securing the Unit and ensuring it is locked so as to be secure from unauthorised entry at all times when You are not in the Unit." It also says you must not put a padlock "in Our overlocking position", or we may have it cut off at your expense (see overlocking). Clause 17 lets us break a lock where reasonably necessary to get in, for example in an emergency or with 7 days' notice for repairs. If you lose the key to your own padlock, call us before you do anything to the lock.
Related terms: Smart entry · Overlocking · Access PIN · Individually alarmed unit
Related questions: Do I need my own padlock, and what if I lose the key? · How do I move into my unit?