Advice sought on what to do about stolen car keys

[seanj]

Both sets of keys for our (currently not working) Espace JE were stolen when our house was burgled on Friday. (It has been a bad week!) I need to get into the car to get some stuff out of it. I also need to over-ride the steering lock so that I can push the car to a more suitable location to leave it in the medium-term while I get things sorted out.

Can anyone give me any advice on how to get into the car with minimal damage?

Any ideas on how to over-ride the steering lock?

Given that the car was already giving me problems, the cost of key replacement may be enough to write the vehicle off. This is particularly annoying as I just paid for a new cat on it. Anyone in South Manchester (UK) interested in a vehicle for spares or repair?

I hope that I am not breaking forum rules in asking for such information. I guess that it would be a good idea for any responses to be messages direct to me rather than posting replies to the forum.

Thanks,

Sean

[BrianM]

I would have thought you would be claiming on the house insurance for the keys. I would call a locksmith who will jiggle the doorlock to gain access. If you take out the doorlock barrel  then a new key blade can be made for the steering lock.
PM me for other access info.
If you want to get the car on the road then check out the breakers yards for an identicle model. You will need the engine ecu, bcu, dashboard & keyfob all from the same car. if you are not fussed about central locking the you dont need the dash.
hope this helps.

[seanj]

I would have thought you would be claiming on the house insurance for the keys.

Thanks for the advice - I might have dealt with this entirely myself if I had a bit more time to spare but there is a lot of other stuff to sort out after the break-in.

The house insurance has a specific exclusion for car keys - they are considered as a "car accessory". This seems to be quite normal; our car insurance company didn't query it at all and are dealing with the issue. Of course, this means that I have had to pay two excesses!