A surprising number of calls are placed via our emergency operators each year due to lost car keys. To be more precise, around a call a week is received from those locked out of their own cars. Looking closer at our statistics, we can see that the vast majority of those who lose keys are car owners with only a small number of Motor Cyclists and Van Drivers falling foul of this personal annoyance.
Losing car keys though can be expensive. The good news is that Auto National can rescue you and recover your car back home or to a garage as part of your policy with us. Good news if you have spare keys at home, but if not, or if you rely on a garage to gain access and/or replace keys, the costs will soon start to add up.
For example, research has shown us that the cost of replacing a transponder car key (the ‘clever’ more modern car keys) at a main dealer in the U.K can easily cost in excess of £250. If, worse cast scenerio here, you need to have all locks on your car changed, the work can cost in excess of £1000 for some manufacturer cars (at a main dealer). Of course, main dealers aren’t your only option here but you get the point, that a lost key will at best lead to a lot of hassle, and at worst, cost a far old lump of your hard earned…
If your car is purchased with 2 keys and you share the car with a partner or drive it solely on your own, it would be a good idea to lock away a 2nd key somewhere safe in the event that you lose the 2nd key. The reason for this, is because garages can often take a copy of your key, even transponder keys, when they have the ‘master’ key. So whilst it will still be an inconvenience, and a costly one, you do at least have some level of protection.
If you purchase a 2nd hand car and it doesn’t come with a 2nd set of keys, it would be prudent to have a 2nd set cut whilst you can. My doing so, you can visit a garage at your leisure instead of being reliant on a recovery, you can better negotiate the cost and can ‘shop around’, and you can sleep better at night knowing that a 2nd set exists should you be unfortunate with the first.
Whilst most calls of this nature appear to happen either at home of a clients place of work, a number occur many, many miles from home. As Auto National can recover you to a U.K destination of your choice, dependent on level of cover, it’s worth noting that we recovered one vehicle 330 miles home in 2017 as a result of lost keys. There were no additional costs from Auto National (over and above membership cost) for this recovery, so we at least helped save that client a potentially expensive cost of recovery in addition to a new key…