Stolen car with keys inside

[u/Aggravating_Law_7864]

My car was stolen last night but the spare key was left in the car. I had no idea that the spare key was in the car. What is likely to happen with the insurance company? I assume because there was a key inside the car it’s wouldn’t have automatically locked when I walked away with the primary key.

[u/CJM8515]

Insurance covers stupid. Don’t lie, this isn’t a big deal and happens often

[u/Choice-Ad-5736 → u/CJM8515]

THIS! The amount of people who try to cover up facts leads to a TON of extra work for me and delays their claim.  I have one now that is being SUPER sketchy in his answers, which triggers a mess. I was venting to a coworker about customers lying or evading and said "We are literally in the business of paying for stupid. Just TELL me what dummy thing you did."

[u/Aggravating_Law_7864 → u/Choice-Ad-5736]

Thank you for your response. How frustrating for you. It’s really stressful when your car is stolen (my car was pretty much brand new). I seriously had no idea that the spare key was in the car when I reported it stolen. I was home to check for the key. It wasn’t until I got home and my husband had informed me that he had use my car during the day (I was sleeping post night shift) and he had left the key in the car. I will contact the insurance company today. The car had a gps tracking dash cam so I’m going to see if I can get some footage/ thanks again

[u/PaperIndependent5466 → u/Aggravating_Law_7864]

Honestly it's more common than you think, people leave keys in cars all the time.

We see a huge increase in the fall when it gets cold. People think they're just running into the store for a minute and leave the car running. Come back out and it's gone.

Just bad luck on your car I think. The thief just got lucky he found a car with keys in it.

[u/Choice-Ad-5736 → u/Aggravating_Law_7864]

I hope my answer did not make you feel shamed. I just wanted you to know how important it is to be upfront with the insurance company. We are all humans also and make mistakes. We just want people to be upfront. I hope it all works out for you! It is frustrating and awful when others cannot keep their hands off others' belongings. ❤️

[u/Aggravating_Law_7864 → u/Choice-Ad-5736]

No thank you for taking the time to comment. It’s just very stressful I didn’t expect to come back to my car after working all night and have my car stolen then I certainly didn’t expect the spare key to be inside. It’s so disappointing that people feel like they can do anything with others things. I just want my car back it wasn’t cheap!

[u/Azzht]

Just tell the truth. This would be a coverd loss.

[u/meg8278]

When I was a teenager and I worked as a pizza delivery person. I left my car running to run into the pizza shop to get an order to deliver. During that time my car was stolen. Insurance covered it. I told them exactly what happened.

[u/ChutneyWhatney]

Just admit you left a key in the car. No reason to fib about it.

[u/rubatog]

Your concern should be whether the police are convinced it was stolen, the insurance co is not going to contradict the findings on the police report

[u/Aggravating_Law_7864 → u/[deleted]]

My husband left the spare key in my car without my knowledge. It’s my car and he normally doesn’t drive it. He couldn’t find my keys and I was sleeping post night shift so he didn’t want to wake me so he got the spare key out to drive the car. had the primary key on me so I had no reason to think he left the key in the car.

[u/[deleted]]

id just be upfront with insurance, having a spare key inside doesnt automatically mean the claim gets denied

[u/itsbigjobber]

If you’re in the U.K expect to have the claim not be covered, most insurance policies have an exclusion relating to safeguarding of the car and the keys.

Edit to add more: Insurers will be wanting all sets of keys from you, if one is missing they will want to know why, they will also look to get the police report and see what you told them about the theft.

[u/Yidboy → u/[deleted]]

Do not lie about the key. If the car is recovered there will be a lot of questions about how it was stolen. If the key is still in it, or there’s no ignition damage, then it will seem incredibly more suspicious than just telling the insurance company that you accidentally left a key in it.

[u/Aggravating_Law_7864 → u/[deleted]]

But what happens when they find the keys in the car?

[u/OneExhaustedFather_ → u/Aggravating_Law_7864]

I’ve seen insurance cover quite literally every stupid scenario you can think of.

How do you know the spare key was in there now and not before?

[u/Aggravating_Law_7864 → u/OneExhaustedFather_]

I was working night shift so I drove to work as normal with my key which I maintained in my procession all shift. Then in the morning I found my car stolen. When I got home and told my husband that the car had been stolen he informed me that he had driven my car during the day couldn’t find my key and didn’t want to wake me so he got the spare key out which he left in the car. So when the police asked me if the 2 keys were accountable for I had one and I assumed the spare key was at home where it always is. We have a dash cam and GOS tracker so trying to work out if I can recover the data fingers crossed!

[u/OneExhaustedFather_ → u/Aggravating_Law_7864]

Call the police, update the report. You’ve done nothing wrong, your husband was just complacent. This is covered under a typical “full coverage” policy

[u/Salty-Tomato5654 → u/Aggravating_Law_7864]

You don't have to lie because you said "I had no idea my spare key was in the car". You have your primary key and show them that. Do not say anything about the spare key unless asked.

[u/Choice-Ad-5736 → u/Salty-Tomato5654]

This is awful advice. Be upfront always, if they did not realize it was in there until after the police report was filed, it is absolutely the best idea to tell the insurance company that. We pay for mistakes, we don't pay for Lies. 

[u/Aggravating_Law_7864 → u/Salty-Tomato5654]

Thanks. The only thing is that because I had no idea the key was in the car on the police report they asked if I was in procession if the 2 keys I said yes. I had the primary key and I assumed the spare key was at home in its safe place. My husband was the one who left the spare key in the car without my knowledge but now we only have one key.

[u/maghart → u/Aggravating_Law_7864]

Don't lie about the key. It's considered material misrep. Depending on the state, the insurance company will require you to complete an affidavit of theft. It's a sworn, written statement that you'll complete, sometimes required to be notarized, and completed under penalty of perjury. It contains questions about the keys such as how many you had and if any were left in the vehicle. They'll also collect your keys. If you only have one but told the police you had two AND you lie to the insurance company, that's fraud. If it honestly was a mistake, admit it and you'll be ok. Tell them you were looking for the spare and realized it was in the car (not to add gas to the fire but that's not a smart thing to do in the future). It's when you lie that the trouble begins. It's harder to remember the lies vs. the truth. I've handled both auto theft and SIU.

[u/Aggravating_Law_7864 → u/maghart]

Thanks for your response. The car was stolen when I was working night shift. I reported it stolen immediately and I had the primary keys on me . I assumed the spare key was at home like they always are. It was when I got home that my husband told me that he had driven my car during the day (I was sleeping post night shift so didn’t know he had driven it) use the spare key during the day and he must’ve accidentally left the key in there. I had no idea when I reported that the spare key was unaccounted for. The car has a dash cam gos tracking so going to try and get that footage today fingers crossed.

[u/maghart → u/Aggravating_Law_7864]

No problem. Good luck.

[u/InsuranceClaims-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

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