David :
Recently had one of those Careline things installed for an elderly
relative so she can get help if she has a fall by pressing a button on
a pendant. One of the options given was to install a key safe outside
the house so that staff can gain access in an emergency.

This seems eminently sensible.

They fit it at the rear of the house and I presume it is fitted in an
inconspicuous place. They are fitted by Age Concern for GBP50 and as
the retail price of the safes they fit
http://www.keysafe.co.uk/
is around GBP40, this seems very good.

Before I go ahead, are there any pitfalls of fitting one? Anything to
watch out for? Are the GE ones OK?

I had a bad experience with one of those. We'd rented a holiday cottage
and the owners told us the code so that we could get the key when we
arrived. The safe just wouldn't open. My mother used to have one on her
bungalow so I knew how they worked but I couldn't get this one to open
at all. Eventually the owner agreed to make a 200-miles-each-way journey
to get a key to us. Feeling for her, I picked up a first-sized rock from
the garden and hit the box, *hard*. Somewhat to my surprise it opened.
Nothing obviously wrong, but it occurred to me that the mechanism
behind the door was exposed and the keys could have jammed it.
Alternatively the door could have been put on crooked by the previous
tenants I suppose.

So if the mechanism turns out to be exposed, I'd cover it, just in case.

--
Mike Barnes