What to Do When Rental Car Keys Are Lost
When rental car keys are lost, call the hire company on the number in the rental agreement before anyone else, because the car belongs to the hire company and the agreement decides who replaces the key.
Inta-Lock Car Key Guides. Updated October 2026.
The hire company then chooses the route. It sends a spare key, recovers the car to a branch, supplies a different vehicle, or authorises a new key made at the car. A locksmith, a breakdown service and an insurer each come after that first call, not before it.
The charge for a lost hire car key follows the rental agreement, and cover follows the wording of the policy. Stolen keys add a report to the police. Keys locked inside the car, a lease car and a courtesy car each take the same first step, a call to the company that owns the vehicle.
What Comes First When Hire Car Keys Are Lost?
A call to the hire company on the number in the rental agreement comes first when hire car keys are lost, and six steps put that call in order.
- Search once and properly. Check pockets, bags and the ground beside the car, and ask the last place visited whether a key was handed in.
- Find the rental agreement or the booking confirmation. It carries the agreement number, the registration of the car and the phone number of the hire company for a problem during the hire.
- Call the hire company and say that the key is lost. Give the agreement number, the registration, the place the car stands, and whether the car is locked.
- Ask four questions on that call. Does the branch hold a spare key, who attends the car, what does the agreement charge for, and what happens to the return time.
- Ask for the answers by email or text, and write down the time of the call and the name of the person who took it.
- Leave the doors and the windows alone. A forced door or a broken window on a hire car is damage to a vehicle the hirer does not own, on top of the lost key.
Who Deals With Each Hire Car Key Problem?
The hire company deals with each hire car key problem first, and the police join the first calls only where the keys are stolen.
| Key problem | First call | What the hire company decides | Where an auto locksmith fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| The keys are lost and the car is locked | The hire company, on the number in the rental agreement | A spare key, recovery to a branch, a different vehicle or a new key made at the car | On the authority of the hire company, the car is opened and a new key is cut and programmed at the car on supported vehicles |
| The keys are locked inside the car | The hire company or the breakdown line named in the agreement | Who opens the car | On the authority of the hire company, the car is opened by non destructive entry |
| The keys are stolen | The police, then the hire company | Whether the car is moved and whether the missing keys are taken off the car | On the authority of the hire company, missing electronic keys are removed from the immobiliser memory where the vehicle supports it |
| The key is in the hand and does not work | The hire company | A repair, a spare key or a different vehicle | On the authority of the hire company, the fault is identified at the car |
The table shows who decides, not what the hire costs. Where Matt carries out key work on a hire car, a quote is agreed before work begins.
Has the hire company agreed that a locksmith attends the hire car in Leicester or Leicestershire? Call Inta-Lock, and what applies to the hire car and its key is confirmed on the call.
Call Matt on 0116 442 2084Why Does the Hire Company Come Before a Locksmith?
The hire company comes before a locksmith because the hire company owns the car, and the rental agreement decides who replaces a key and who pays for it.
A hirer holds a rental agreement and nothing else for the car. The vehicle log book stays with the company, and the V5C vehicle registration certificate names a registered keeper, which on a hire car is not the person driving it.
That matters at the moment a new key is requested. Identity and authority to request the work are checked before a key is cut or programmed. The V5C vehicle registration certificate and photo identification are common examples, and what applies is confirmed on the call.
A hirer has identity and no authority over the keys of the car. The authority for key work on a hire car comes from the hire company, so a call to a locksmith before that authority exists does not produce a key.
What Changes When Hire Car Keys Are Stolen?
Stolen hire car keys change the first calls, because a theft is a crime that is reported to the police as well as to the hire company.
The police list a crime that is happening right now, such as a theft, as a reason to call 999, and 101 is the number for non emergency enquiries. A theft that has already happened is also reported online, as set out on the Police.uk contact page.
Tell the hire company straight away that the key is stolen and not lost, and pass on any reference the police give for the report.
The hire company then decides what happens to the car. Where it authorises the work, missing electronic keys are removed from the immobiliser memory where the vehicle supports it. A mechanical blade still turns a physical lock unless that lock is changed or rekeyed.
How Is a Lost Hire Car Key Replaced?
A lost hire car key is replaced by the route the hire company chooses, which is a spare key, recovery of the car to a branch, a different vehicle, or a new key made at the car.
- A spare key from the hire company. Some branches hold a second key for the car and send it to the hirer. Other branches hold none, and the answer comes on the first call.
- Recovery of the car to a branch. The car is collected and taken to a branch or a workshop, where the hire company deals with the key away from the hirer.
- A different vehicle. The hire company ends the hire of the first car and continues the rental in another one, where a vehicle is free.
- A new key made at the car. The hire company authorises a locksmith to attend the car, where the car is opened, a blade is cut and a key is programmed on supported vehicles.
Where a hire company authorises that fourth route in Leicester or Leicestershire, the work matches a replacement car key on a privately owned car, with one difference, the authority comes from the company and not from the driver. Whether Inta-Lock takes on key work for a hire car is confirmed on the call.
What Does a Lost Hire Car Key Cost the Hirer?
A lost hire car key costs the hirer what the rental agreement sets out, and four factors move that charge up or down.
- The key type. A remote key or a keyless key carries electronics that are programmed to the car, so it raises the charge above that of a plain blade key.
- The route the hire company chooses. A spare key sent from a branch keeps the charge down. Recovery of the car adds a recovery charge where the agreement lists one.
- The time the car is off hire. Each day the car stands without a key raises the charge where the agreement bills the hirer for a car that is out of use.
- The excess and any waiver. An excess caps or sets the sum the hirer pays for loss or damage, and a waiver changes that sum only where its wording includes keys.
Read the clause on keys in the rental agreement before the call ends, and ask for the charges as an itemised statement in writing.
The Competition and Markets Authority took action in 2016 so that car hire comparison websites show excesses, the cost of reducing them and deposits before a booking is made, as set out in the Competition and Markets Authority announcement on car hire websites.
Does Insurance Cover Lost Hire Car Keys?
Insurance covers lost hire car keys only where the policy wording includes keys, and the answer differs between the waiver in the rental agreement, a separate excess policy and a travel policy.
Look for the word keys in the policy document, in the list of what is covered and in the list of what is excluded. The hire company statement of charges is the evidence a claim rests on.
Care of the key counts as well. The Financial Ombudsman Service notes that most motor insurance policies carry an exclusion on reasonable care to protect the vehicle, and that some exclude a theft where the keys were left in or around the vehicle, as described in its guidance on vehicle theft complaints. A hire car key left on a seat, in the ignition or on a tyre falls inside that kind of clause.
Which Cases Differ From a Lost Hire Car Key?
A lost hire car key has four close neighbours, and each one changes either the owner of the car, the state of the key or the job that follows.
How Does a Hire Car Key Differ From Your Own?
A lost hire car key is a matter for the company that owns the car, while a lost key on your own car is a matter for you alone. The owner of a car calls a locksmith directly, because the owner holds the authority that a hirer lacks.
With every key of an owned car gone, the car is opened and a new key is cut and programmed at the vehicle. That work is the lost car keys service, where identity and authority to request the work are checked before key work starts.
What If the Keys Are Locked Inside?
Keys locked inside a hire car are not lost, and no new key is made. The call still goes to the hire company or to the breakdown line named in the agreement, which decides who opens the car.
A child or an animal locked inside is different. An immediate danger to life is an emergency, and that call goes to 999 before the hire company. For an owned vehicle, the work for a driver locked out of a car is non destructive entry.
What About a Lease, Courtesy or Company Car?
A lease car, a courtesy car and a company car share one fact with a hire car, the driver is not the owner. The first call goes to the leasing company, the garage or the employer that supplied the vehicle.
The check behind that rule is the same on each vehicle, and it is explained step by step in the guide to how an auto locksmith verifies who a car belongs to.
What If the Hire Car Key Turns Up?
A hire car key that turns up again is reported to the hire company at once, before a spare key is sent or the car is recovered. The company then stops the route it started or confirms that it continues.
With the authority of the hire company in place, call Inta-Lock about the hire car key in Leicester or Leicestershire, where the phone is answered 24 hours a day and what applies to the car is confirmed on the call.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who pays for a lost rental car key?
The rental agreement decides who pays for a lost rental car key, and the clause on keys in that agreement states it.
Read that clause and ask the hire company for an itemised statement of the charges. A policy that includes keys pays only within its own limits.
Do hire companies keep a spare key?
Some hire companies keep a spare key for a car and some do not, and the branch answers that question on the first call.
Where no spare key exists, the hire company chooses between recovery of the car, a different vehicle and a new key made at the car.
Is a locksmith able to make a key for a hire car?
Yes, a locksmith makes a key for a hire car where the hire company authorises the work and the vehicle is supported.
Identity and authority to request the work are checked before a key is cut or programmed, and on a hire car that authority comes from the hire company.
How much does a replacement hire car key cost?
The cost of a replacement hire car key is set by the rental agreement and by the route the hire company chooses, so no single figure applies.
The key type, recovery of the car, the days the car is off hire and the excess all move the charge. Where Matt does the work, a quote is agreed before work begins.
What happens when hire car keys are lost abroad?
Hire car keys lost abroad are reported to the hire company on the number in the rental agreement, exactly as in the UK.
The branch abroad arranges the route under the agreement signed at the desk. Inta-Lock attends vehicles in Leicester and Leicestershire only.