What to Do if You Have Lost Your Car Keys?

If you've lost your car key, bad luck can be followed by a lot of trouble. It's good if you at least have a spare key and can still start your car with relatively little effort. But that's not the end of it. We at CARIFY will tell you what else you need to do to prevent the loss from costing you dearly.

All immediate measures in the event of car key loss in detail

The car key is not in your pocket as usual! After the initial shock, you start looking for it. You walk back the way you came or search the apartment, depending on when you last had the key safely in your possession. If it still doesn't turn up, you need to take a few steps. Did you know that you have to inform your insurance company about the loss? Otherwise, it could cost you your insurance coverage if your car is stolen. With our checklist, you won't forget anything else you need to do if you've lost your car key.

Report the loss

If you find a car key, it is sometimes not difficult to locate the right vehicle. Modern remote control keys flash the vehicle lights at the touch of a button, making them recognizable even to unauthorized persons. The embossed brand logo can also be used to locate the car belonging to the key if it was lost near where it was left. The finders are not always honest and inform the vehicle owner or hand the key into the lost and found office. There is a high risk of theft, namely of the entire car, valuable equipment, and personal items in the vehicle. For this reason alone, you must report the loss to your comprehensive insurance company as soon as you notice the loss. Often, the loss report must also be submitted in writing. Despite insurance: You will almost always have to bear the costs for new keys as a result of the loss of keys yourself.

If you are sure that someone has stolen your car keys, you must also file a report with the police. They will then investigate and interview any witnesses. The insurance company will only pay out in the event of car theft as a result of key theft if you have filed a police report. It can reduce your claim for payment if you were grossly negligent and thus facilitated the theft. This would be the case if you parked your car in the restaurant parking lot and left the key open on the table in the restaurant.

Obtain a replacement key

The key is gone, what now? If you're lucky, the spare key is only a few meters away in your apartment. However, if you lose it on the road, good advice is expensive - literally. You can get help from garages or roadside assistance, but this costs money (unless you are a member of an automobile club, which includes the cost of opening the vehicle, the towing service, and your journey home).

As soon as you are back home, you will need to organize a spare key and the corresponding duplicate key for the car to prevent the risk of theft. During the interim period until you have new keys, park the car as far away as possible from where you are likely to lose it.

Simply continuing to use the spare key and hoping that nothing happens and that you don't lose this key one day is not an option due to the risk of theft. But where can you get new keys? We'll tell you where you can get replacement keys for your car.

Ask the car manufacturer/car dealer

Your first port of call should be the car dealer where you bought the car. Alternatively, the car manufacturer can also help. In both cases, you will need to have your ID and vehicle documents ready to prove that you are the rightful owner of the car and to have the vehicle identification number required to make the key. Now it depends on what type of key your car has:

• Radio key: Your new key set needs a different coding to the lost key, otherwise there would still be a risk of theft. Incidentally, the existing second key can be reprogrammed for this purpose. The coding opens and closes the central locking system and deactivates the alarm system, a transponder activates and deactivates the immobilizer. The old key is deleted from the immobilizer.

• Key with memory for car data: In addition to coding, the new key, which is identified by the vehicle identification number, has to "learn" to store the vehicle data through programming. This takes several days.

• Mechanical keys, transponder keys: The car locks often have to be replaced.

In the first two cases, it may take a few days before you have your new keys in your hands. In the meantime, you will have to secure your car in another way - with an additional steering wheel lock or by storing it in a locked garage. During this time, you will only be able to use the car to a limited extent, if at all.

With a bit of luck, the manufacturer of your car will offer an assistance service. This will help you via a free phone number if you lose your keys. All you have to do is provide the key number or the chassis number on the vehicle registration document (alternatively on the bottom right of the windshield). You can often get a replacement key within a day.

Good to know: The old key will still open the doors of your vehicle, but cannot start it. To secure valuable items inside the car, you must replace the door locks.

Contact a locksmith

Alternatively, you can get new keys from a locksmith, but only for older vehicle keys. To replace modern keyless systems, you must contact the manufacturer.

Online offers

The cheap offers for replacement car keys that you find online seem tempting. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, there are black sheep out there. In the end, the new key doesn't fit properly or the supplier has failed to program the remote control. Saving at the wrong end: you often never see your money for the supposed bargain again.

Cost of a new car key

Given the cost of recoding radio keys (around CHF 300), losing a key in this way is far more than just annoying. Even more expensive is the replacement of intelligent smart keys or even the replacement of all locks (over CHF 1,000) including new mechanical keys (around CHF 50). Then there's the time you have to spend running around, dealing with the authorities, and making extra trips. If the comprehensive insurance pays out because the car is also gone, you will have to expect higher insurance premiums in the future. Fortunately, you can often prevent this from happening in the first place. We at CARIFY can give you some helpful tips along the way.

Take precautions to prevent loss

You rummage in your jacket pocket for a handkerchief and don't even notice that your car keys fall out when you pull them out - it doesn't have to be like that! Or the classic: you want to leave the house, reach into the bowl on the hall console - but nothing. Where did you put the car key? Even a frantic search through all your pockets doesn't turn up the key. Have you possibly lost it?

Our tip: keep your car key in a place where it can't fall out (e.g. in a separate zippered bag) and always in the same place. If you are going on vacation, you should take the second key with you, but keep it separate from the first key.

With a key finder, you can track down the key even if you lose it and find it again quickly. It shows you the location of the key via a signal.

Conclusion

A lost car key costs you a lot of money and time. Often you can't even find the spare key. When you subscribe to a car with CARIFY, we only give you one key. The second key remains with the garage owner who gave you the car. This means you always know where it is and you can get a new key much more quickly. What's more, we cover the costs and ensure that you are quickly mobile again. As the car is insured with us on a flat-rate basis, you don't even have to worry about higher insurance premiums in the event of theft.

FAQs

What can you do if you have lost your car keys?

First look for it. If he cannot be found

• Inform the insurance company

• Call the police if necessary

• Secure the car

• Order a replacement key

How much does it cost to lose car keys?

Between CHF 50 for mechanical keys and CHF 300 per coded key. In addition, there may be four-figure costs for replacing the locks. Depending on the case, towing and rental car costs as well as higher insurance premiums may also be incurred.

How long does it take to have a car key duplicated?

It depends on the type of key:

• The locksmith will duplicate mechanical keys in a short time. However, if a lock replacement is necessary, it may take some time.

• Replacement keys with a transponder chip are issued by the vehicle manufacturer on order by the car dealer, which takes a few days.

• Obtaining a replacement for a modern radio key with a transponder for the electronic immobilizer and memory takes the longest. The chip must first be programmed into the vehicle.

Who pays for lost car keys?

In most cases, you will have to bear the cost of replacement keys for the car yourself. Exceptions apply in the event of theft:

• If the vehicle was also stolen using the stolen key, comprehensive insurance will cover the damage.

• If the theft occurred within your own four walls, your household contents insurance will pay for the replacement key, even if the car was not stolen.

Are car keys household effects?

If you lose your car key on the road, it does not count as household contents. The situation is different if your home or hotel room is broken into and the car key is stolen. Even if it was damaged by fire or water at home, your household contents insurance will cover the replacement keys.