Get your car keys beach ready

Life’s a beach when your car keys are safe at the seaside, says leading provider Start Rescue.

“We’ve recently had claims for keys lost on beaches in the sand, keys falling out of pockets into the sea when boarding boats, and even keys dropping down a drain,” says Lee Puffett, Managing Director of Start Rescue.

It pays to keep keys safe when a replacement key costs an average of £372, rising to as much as £530 for some makes and models.

As soon as you’ve locked your car, you should put the keys in a waterproof bag or pocket in a backpack. Many bags have zipped pockets with a hook that attaches to your keys and keeps them safe.

You can hide keys inside clothing with an internal pocket. Lots of beach clothes now incorporate this feature, but beware of going into the water with your keys – always keep them dry.

If your car is parked close to where you are on the beach, a “Faraday” pouch will prevent keyless theft by blocking the fob’s signal being intercepted by criminals.

Fitting a security tracker tag will let you find your keys’ approximate location even if they become buried under sand, and these tags are cheap and easy to fit.

Lee Puffett adds: “We see lots of unpredictable lost key issues, so it saves customers a great deal of time and money to check their keys are secure immediately after they lock their cars.

“These five easy steps make a big difference to avoid you losing keys and to prevent crime. Even though our policies include cover for lost or broken keys, and keys locked inside the car (excluding costs for a replacement key), it’s much better to keep them safe in the first place.”

• Keep your keys dry
• Hide your keys
• Clip keys inside a backpack or pocket
• Add a security tracker tag
• Use a Faraday pouch

Start Rescue has a 4.5-star rating on Trustpilot, a five-star Defaqto* rating and has achieved Which? Recommended Provider status for five years running. Start Rescue has also been awarded best Breakdown Cover provider in the Finder Customer Satisfaction Awards 2024 (www.finder.com), scoring 4.9 out of 5 for overall satisfaction with a 94% recommendation rate.

In the What Car? Survey of Best Breakdown Cover, Start Rescue came top for best response time, reaching 77% of call-outs in 30 minutes to an hour and didn’t leave anyone waiting for more than two hours. Start Rescue also won best in the survey for performing temporary repairs that let people continue with their journeys.

Launched in 2009, Start Rescue is an integral part of the nation’s fourth largest breakdown and recovery service, Call Assist, which now has more than two million UK customers.

For further breakdown advice, please visit startrescue.co.uk.