If your car keys were stolen but the car is still there, act before anyone can use them: report it, keep the car out of reach, and have the stolen key erased while your keys are programmed, on cars that allow it. Here’s the checklist for Tampa Bay, from which police agency to call to what insurers say.
If someone stole your car keys but left the car, act before anyone can use them. Report the theft and get a case number, keep the car out of reach, and ask a locksmith about having the stolen key erased: on some cars, programming a new key makes the car forget any key you don’t bring along, so the stolen one won’t start it. If something with your address on it was taken too, protect your home as well.
Yes, if they find the car. A car key’s blade is cut to match your door locks and, on a car you start with a turn of the key, the ignition. On most modern cars, the key also carries a chip, or is a smart key, that the car has to recognize before the engine will run. Whoever has your key has all of that.
What a thief still needs is the car. If a bag or a wallet went with the keys, it may hold your registration or something with your address on it, and a remote’s lock or panic button can help someone pick the car out of a parking lot. The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) says it has reports from law enforcement partners that car thieves “have stolen the car, driven it to the residence and burglarized the home before the owner even knew the vehicle was missing.”
Report it to the police agency that covers the place where the keys were taken, and ask for a case or report number. If the theft is happening now or anyone is in danger, call 911. Otherwise:
Not sure which side of a city line you were on? HCSO’s reporting page links a boundaries map tool. Keep the case number with your insurance papers: if the car is stolen later, NICB says a theft claim typically requires a police report, and Allstate lists the police report number among the documents to send.
Some cars forget every key that’s missing when a new one is programmed: the stolen one quits starting the car, and the keys you bring keep working. Other cars don’t work that way, so ask when you call. To set up that visit:
We do all of it at the car, wherever it’s parked. For smart keys and remotes, see key fob replacement; if the thief got every key, start with lost car key replacement.
Clearing a key from the car doesn’t change its metal blade. A cut key the car no longer recognizes may still open the doors and even turn in the ignition — the engine just won’t run. So keep valuables, the garage remote and papers with your address out of the car, and ask on the call what your options are for the locks.
Then it’s an all-keys-lost job, and a new key can still be made without the original. For most cars, a mobile locksmith gets the key code from the VIN or by decoding a lock, cuts the blade, and programs the chip or smart key at the car, with no tow. Before anything is cut, you’ll show a photo ID and paperwork that puts the car in your name. Some models are dealer-only. Mercedes-Benz is one: a new key for a 2015-or-later Mercedes has to come from a Mercedes-Benz dealer, not from us or any other locksmith. Our guide for drivers who’ve lost every key walks through it step by step.
Yes, if the thief also got a house key, a garage remote or anything showing your address. Have your home locks rekeyed so the old keys stop working. NICB’s advice for drivers points the same way: don’t leave the garage door opener in the vehicle, and don’t leave the registration or other papers with personal information in it either.
Sometimes; it depends on your policy. Some policies, or a key-replacement add-on, pay toward a new key, often only when the keys were stolen, and your deductible may apply. Call your insurer before the work if you can, and ask for an itemized receipt that names the work and the vehicle.
If the car is stolen later, that’s a different claim. Allstate explains that auto theft is covered under comprehensive insurance, and that a policy with only liability coverage doesn’t include theft. Keys left inside the car don’t automatically disqualify a theft claim, Allstate says, but the insurer may consider it. And according to NICB, some insurers may deny claims if the theft is deemed to result from habitual negligence, such as leaving keys inside the unlocked vehicle numerous times.
Florida had 27,142 vehicles stolen in 2025, the fourth-most of any state, according to NICB. Its advice for drivers, plus a few habits for your keys:
Certain key-start Hyundai and Kia models came from the factory with no engine immobilizer, and thieves singled them out. NICB reports that thefts of Hyundai and Kia vehicles dropped for the third straight year in 2025, crediting software updates and other theft-prevention measures, though the Hyundai Elantra was still the most-stolen model. If thieves damaged your ignition, see Hyundai and Kia keys and theft-damaged ignitions; for other makes, see ignition repair.
And before another key goes missing, have a spare car key made from one that still works, and keep it somewhere safe outside the car.
On some cars, yes. On those cars, programming a new key locks out every key that’s not on hand, so the stolen fob won’t start the car again. Other cars don’t work that way. Bring every key you still have, say the fob was stolen when you call, and ask what applies to your car.
It’s worth acting even with a spare in hand, because the stolen key may still start the car. On some cars, programming a replacement clears the stolen key while the spare you bring keeps working, and you’re back to two keys instead of one.
Yes. Report it to the agency that covers where the theft happened — Tampa Police inside city limits, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in unincorporated areas like Brandon and Riverview, or the Temple Terrace or Plant City police — and keep the case number. If the car is stolen later, a theft claim typically requires a police report.
It depends on your policy. Some policies, or a key-replacement add-on, pay toward a new key, often only when the keys were stolen, and your deductible may apply. Call your insurer, and ask the locksmith for an itemized receipt that names the work and the vehicle.
Every key and fob you still have, working or not; a photo ID in the same name as the car’s registration or title, plus that paperwork; and the VIN. The VIN is printed on the registration and the insurance card, on a plate at the driver’s-side corner of the dashboard that you can read from outside through the glass, and on the sticker inside the driver’s door jamb.
Car keys stolen? Call Zoom Locksmith at (305) 528-1358, Monday through Saturday, 8am to 8pm. Give us the VIN, or the make, model and year; the quote is free. We’re a family-owned mobile locksmith, insured and bonded, serving Tampa Bay since 2018, and we program keys at the car, in English and Spanish, from Tampa to Brandon and Riverview.
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