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What to Do If You Lose Your Car Keys and Have No Spare
Check where the keys were last handled, then gather the registration, the vehicle identification number from the base of the windscreen, the V5C and photographic identification before you ring anyone. A mobile auto locksmith reads the car and cuts a key at the kerb. This page is about the first hour, and the order of it changes what the job costs. Three of the steps are free, one of them closes off an insurance claim if it is taken late, one decides whether the car has to be moved at all, and one decides whether the key you lost can still start your car tomorrow. The job itself, the reading, cutting, authorising and deleting, begins once these facts are in front of whoever attends.
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The first hour, in order
Work down the list. Nothing here costs money until step seven, and the earlier steps change what step seven costs.
- Search the places the keys were handled, and look through the glass of the car. A key visible on the seat is a lockout rather than a loss, and that is the cheaper job by a wide margin.
- If the keys were taken rather than mislaid, report it on 101 and ask for the crime reference number. 999 is for an emergency. That reference is a condition of a key cover claim and it is also wanted for reclaiming vehicle tax later.
- Read the vehicle identification number off the base of the windscreen. It reads from outside, so a locked car is no obstacle, and write the registration down beside it.
- Find the V5C. Where it has gone, order the replacement now at £25, because it arrives within 5 to 7 working days and it becomes the thing everyone else waits for.
- Check your own cover before paying anybody. Key cover sits on a motor policy as an add on, on a home policy, on a packaged bank account or on breakdown cover, and the conditions are in your schedule rather than on any page like this one.
- Count the keys that have ever existed for the car and establish where each one is. A security reset wipes the stored key list on the vehicle, so every key you intend to keep has to be handed over for that job.
- Ring a mobile auto locksmith and take a quote against the registration. Say how many keys are missing and whether they were lost or stolen, because both of those change the work.
- Ask for the missing key to be deleted, so that it no longer starts the car.
What it costs, in pounds
Published figures put the all keys lost job in these bands. They are indicative ranges rather than a quote, and the figure for your own car turns on the key type and on whether a security code has to be released before a new key is accepted.
| Situation | Indicative band |
|---|---|
| Transponder key on an older car, nothing left | £90 to £250 |
| Smart or proximity key, mainstream car | £150 to £400 |
| Premium and electric models | £400 to £800 or more |
| Replacement V5C, where yours has gone too | £25 |
Published averages for a replacement car key range from about £240 to about £340, and one of those figures is the average value of a settled insurance claim rather than a retail price. No single average is worth planning around, which is why the quote is taken against the registration.
Why key cover pays less than people expect
This is the part that catches people on the day they need it. One published United Kingdom key cover policy document sets out terms that are typical in shape even where the figures differ between products, and the exclusions decide more than the limit does.
The scale of it is worth knowing before you count on it. Regulated insurance value measures data for 2022 shows 1.32 per cent of motor add on key cover policies were claimed on in that year, with an average settled claim of £315 and around 86.8 per cent of claims accepted. Claiming can also affect a no claims bonus, which is a cost that turns up at renewal rather than today.
- Keys lost or stolen for less than three days are not covered. A key lost this morning is not a claim this afternoon, and that is the costliest assumption on this whole topic.
- Claims inside 48 hours of the cover starting are not covered, unless comparable cover ran before it with no break in between.
- Stolen keys have to be reported to the police immediately and a crime reference obtained. That is a policy condition rather than police guidance, which is why step two sits where it does in the list above.
- The claim has to be reported within 30 days. Miss that and the cover you paid for pays nothing.
- Keys that were not safeguarded are excluded, and so is a replacement of a higher specification than the one that was lost.
- Limits are set by the policy, running from the hundreds into the low thousands, and covering locksmith charges, new locks where a security risk has arisen and replacement keys.
Who to tell, and who not to
Two pieces of received wisdom on this are wrong and both of them cost time. There is no requirement to tell the DVLA that you have lost your keys. Notification on a vehicle is triggered only where an insurer pays out on a stolen vehicle, and the published stolen vehicle guidance does not mention keys at all.
The police side is narrower than people assume as well. Published guidance addresses a stolen vehicle rather than stolen keys, an officer is not necessarily sent, the report is taken by phone and a crime reference is issued. The duty to report stolen keys comes from the insurance policy, so report it because the policy requires it, on 101, and keep the reference where you can find it.
If an insurer does pay out on the vehicle and you are not keeping the car, expect to hand over the remaining sections of the V5C, the MOT certificate where one applies, and any spare keys. A private registration can be kept only where the theft was reported and the other conditions are met, so deal with the plate before ownership transfers.
The security step people skip
A key that is gone is a key somebody else can be holding. An auto locksmith deletes old transponder keys so they no longer work, and the procedure behind that is the security reset that wipes the stored list on the vehicle. That is why the key count in step six matters, because every key not present when the list is wiped stops working afterwards.
Where the keys were stolen rather than mislaid, this is the step that closes the exposure, and a key cover policy can pay for new locks where a security risk has arisen. Having a new key cut and the lost one deleted in one visit costs less than treating them as two jobs, and it is the difference between a car that starts for you and a car that starts for whoever found your keys.
Whether the car has to move
Not necessarily, and this is where the choice of operator decides the bill. Recovery is the fallback for work that cannot be authorised where the car stands, which turns on the make, the key type and whether the attending operator holds certified access to security information for that make. A mobile operator who finishes at the kerb saves the recovery cost, and one who cannot adds it.
Two manufacturer limits are worth knowing because they are published rather than claimed. Ford states that a vehicle can require towing to the dealer, since its keys are programmed to each vehicle, and that key codes for vehicles more than 10 model years old are unavailable, with the customer pointed towards a local locksmith where its dealer cannot duplicate the key. A car with no keys is still recoverable, so nobody ends up with an immovable vehicle.
If the car is not worth re keying, the disposal routes differ sharply. Trade buying services buy a car with one set of keys at a reduced valuation and decline a car with no keys at all, while a scrapyard or an authorised treatment facility takes a car without keys on proof that you are the registered keeper.
Who Wrote This
Darius is the owner of Herts Car Keys and the locksmith on every job. He has six years in the trade and has completed over 7,000 car key and lockout jobs.
He is approved under the SERMI scheme, DBS checked and fully insured, and every key he supplies carries a 12 month warranty.
Car Keys Made at Your Vehicle
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Frequently Asked Questions
Call 07308 888825What should I do first if I lose my car keys and have no spare?
Search where the keys were last handled and look through the glass of the car, because keys visible inside are a lockout rather than a loss. Then gather the registration, the vehicle identification number, the V5C and photographic identification, and check your own cover before you pay anyone anything.
Can a locksmith replace my lost car key if I do not have a spare?
Yes. With nothing left the immobiliser data held by the vehicle is read instead of a key, and a new key is cut and authorised against the car. Proof of ownership matters more in that job rather than less, so the V5C, the vehicle identification number and photographic identification come first. The badges this is carried out on are listed under car makes covered.
Is going to a dealership the only option for replacing lost keys?
No. The locksmith trade body ranks the mobile auto locksmith cheapest and quickest and the franchised dealer dearest and slowest, and notes that dealerships use auto locksmiths themselves. The dealer route is the answer where the manufacturer holds the authorisation, as on a Mercedes from around 2015 onward.
How much does it cost to replace car keys without a spare?
From £90 to £250 for a transponder key on an older car, £150 to £400 for a smart or proximity key on a mainstream car, and £400 to £800 or more on premium and electric models. Add £25 where the V5C went with the keys. Those are indicative bands and a quote against your registration is the real figure.
Can I drive my car without the original key if I lose it?
No. An electronic immobiliser became a requirement for all new passenger cars under a European type approval directive, applying to new vehicles from 1 October 1998, so a car registered new since then does not start without an authorised key. The car can still be recovered and moved.
Does insurance cover lost car keys?
Only where the policy carries key cover, as standard or as a paid add on. One published policy pays nothing on keys lost for less than three days, nothing inside 48 hours of the cover starting and nothing where the keys were not safeguarded, with the claim reported inside 30 days. Regulated data for 2022 puts the average settled key cover claim at £315.
What if my car keys were stolen instead of lost?
Report it on 101 and get the crime reference number, which a key cover policy requires before it pays anything. Then have the missing key deleted from the car, because whoever holds it can otherwise still use it, and ask whether the policy covers new locks where a security risk has arisen. Keys taken overnight go to the emergency auto locksmith line, because the missing key has to be deleted from the car as well as replaced.
How long does it take to get a replacement key?
A mobile visit cuts and authorises the key at the car in one appointment on the makes that operator is set up for. The dealer route runs across days, because the key is ordered against the vehicle and then activated with access to the car. The V5C is the other clock, at 5 to 7 working days for a replacement.
Does the DVLA have to be told that I lost my car keys?
No. Notification is triggered only where an insurer pays out on a stolen vehicle, and the published stolen vehicle guidance does not mention keys. The police report is the one that matters, because the insurance policy requires it and the crime reference is wanted for a claim and for reclaiming vehicle tax.