Lost the keys to your rental car? What to do next

I can't find the keys: what should I do first?

Stop and search methodically before you call anyone. Most keys turn up within a few metres of where they were last used.

1. Check the car itself. Look through the windows at the seats, the footwells, the ignition area and the boot lid. Try every door handle: a car that didn't lock may still have the key inside.
2. Check yourself. Every pocket, bag, jacket and shopping bag, and the bottom of any bag you put down.
3. Check the ground around the car, under it and along the path you walked from it.
4. Retrace your steps. Call or go back to the shops, café, gym or office you visited. Ask at the counter and at the car park office.
5. Ask the people you were with to check their bags and pockets too.

If the car is parked somewhere safe and legal, leave it there while you search. If it is in a short time limit or a clearway, look for the time on the sign and tell us that when you call.

Who do I call: Rentzy, a locksmith or roadside assistance?

Call us. Rentzy cars don't include roadside assistance yet (RACQ cover is planned). If the car breaks down, get somewhere safe and call Rentzy on 0414 427 760: don't arrange repairs or a tow yourself without our OK. A locksmith or auto electrician cutting or coding a key is a repair to our car, and clause 8.2 says not to arrange repairs without our consent.

Losing the keys outside our opening hours is the hardest case, so plan for it: save our number in your phone, and know how you'd get home from where you usually park. If you're stuck somewhere unsafe at night, your safety comes first: get a taxi or rideshare home and leave the car locked where it is.

What if the keys are locked inside the car?

Don't break a window or force a door. Call us with the car's location and what you can see through the glass. Forcing your way in turns a call-out into damage, and damage is charged under the terms.

If a child or an animal is locked in the car, that's an emergency, especially in hot weather: call 000 straight away, then call us. Cars heat up fast in a Brisbane summer; see driving in Brisbane's summer heat.

What if I think the keys were stolen?

Then the car itself may be at risk, so act quickly. The Queensland Police Service's online lost property form is for property you've lost and that wasn't stolen. If property has been stolen, police ask you to use the stolen property form instead, and to call 000 if the incident is happening now or someone is in danger. The non-urgent number is 131 444.^[1]

• Check the car is still there, if you can do it safely.
• Call us as soon as you've reported it, with the police report number.
• Tell us if the car has gone. Clause 9.1 asks you to report a theft to us immediately, and to police within 24 hours where required.

For keys that are simply lost, a police report can still help if you need one for insurance; the lost property form sends a report number to your email.^[1] Ask us whether we need one.

I lost them on a bus or train

Queensland Rail handles lost property for its train services. Translink's timetables list its lost property line, 13 16 17, during business hours, and the lost property office at Central station, open Monday to Friday 7.30am to 5.00pm.^[2] Items can take a little while to reach the office, so call more than once.

For a bus, ferry or tram, call Translink on 13 12 30, which answers at any hour, and have the route, the direction and the time of travel ready.^[2]

Will I pay for lost car keys?

Modern keys often contain a chip or a remote that has to be coded to the car, so a replacement is rarely just a cut key. What the terms say, at the time of writing:

• Clause 7.1: you must keep the car locked and the keys secure.
• Clause 9.2: you're liable for loss of or damage to the car during the rental up to the renter's excess of A$2,500 per incident.
• Clause 9.3: the excess limit doesn't apply, and you're liable for the full loss, for key loss or damage caused by misuse, and where keys were left in or near an unattended car.

In practice: keys left on the tyre, in the ignition while you pop into a shop, or on the roof of the car fall into the clause 9.3 cases. A key that slipped out of a zipped bag on a train is a different situation, so tell us honestly what happened. Charges are itemised with evidence after the rental, and can be disputed within the window on fees and charges.

Simple habits that keep keys safe

• Keep the key in one zipped pocket or bag compartment, and nowhere else.
• Lock the car and check it's locked every time, even for a minute at a servo.
• Don't hide a key on the car, and don't hand it to a friend to move the car. Only the hirer named on the booking may drive the car: Rentzy doesn't add second or additional drivers.
• Keep the key away from water at the beach or the pool; a soaked remote can stop working.

Fuel stops are a common place for keys to go missing, along with filling up with the wrong fuel. See put the wrong fuel in a rental car, and for anything else that goes wrong mechanically, breakdown, flat tyre or warning light.