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Car Rental Lost and Found - Most Common Items Left

If you have inadvertently left an item in a rental car while hurrying to catch your flight, rest assured that we will make every effort to facilitate the return of your lost belongings. Ideally, we recommend contacting the rental agent before departing the location (city or airport) to initiate the search for your misplaced item. However, if you discover the loss only after your flight has departed, kindly reach out to us upon your return home, and we will assist you accordingly.

The most common items left behind in hire cars include personal belongings such as smartphones, sunglasses, wallets, and keys. Travel essentials like chargers, umbrellas, and jackets are also frequently forgotten. Additionally, passengers often overlook items stored in the trunk or glove compartment, such as shopping bags, backpacks, and souvenirs. Despite efforts to ensure thorough checks before returning the vehicle, it's not uncommon for passengers to unintentionally leave behind valuable or sentimental items in the rush of departing the car.

car rental lost property

Another frequent member of the lost property cupboard is the humble child’s teddy bear to cuddly toy. A little harder to re-unite and whilst often of little monetary value, reuniting a cuddly toy with its rightful owner is one of the most rewarding of all, something those will little ones who’ve grown attached to a soft toy will understand! We’ve compiled a list of the most common items left in a rental car (that we’re made aware of!) and also some of the most unusual requests.
car rental lost found
Lost & Found in a Rental Car
Percentage (%)
Reading / Sun Glasses
39
Soft toy / teddy bear
25
Phone
16
Camera
8
Keys
6
Jewellery
4
Wallet / Purse
2
Passport
1
Something else…
12

Most unusual item left in a rental car?

Whilst we could have some real fun here, we’ve not had any really outlandish items left in a rental car, remember this is only what customers have reported to us, so whilst it’s highly likely that some very amusing or embarrassing items have been left in a rental car, nobody has come forward to admit it and we’re not in the habit of contacting customers who *might* have left something embarrassing in a rental car.

Unless you count leaving your child in a rental car! Yes, that’s right, we’ve had a customer report that they left their child in a rental car and asked if we could arrange for it to be returned. Bemused at first, after clarification with the customer of course they meant their child SEAT! Having decided to take their own child seat rather than rent one, they left the child seat (not the child!) in the car. An expensive mistake as the logistics and costs involved with reuniting a child seat from France to the UK were somewhat prohibitive!

Car Rental Lost Property

Many of our rental partners operate a ‘Lost and Found’ platform reuniting customers with their lost property. It’s particularly common in the USA and most items can be recovered and reunited to their rightful owners, however it’s no so straight forward if you’re renting a car in outside of the USA. If you’ve left something in a rental car, get in touch to see if we can arrange for it to be reunited.

What to do if you leave something in a rental car?

  • Get in touch with the rental agent asap and let them know your reservation ID and the car registration
  • Give them an item description of your lost property
  • Tell them where you left it in the car (if you know)
  • Leave contact details for them to contact you

car rental lost and found
Kellie Hodge
Posted: February 07, 2024 by Kellie Hodge
About the Author -

Travel writer, customer service guru, Kellie knows the ins and outs of car rental and always happy to share her knowledge on our blog. Favourite country to visit: Spain.

Last updated: Wednesday, February 7, 2024
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