NU Online News Service, Feb.16, 2:00 p.m. EST

Proving that auto insurers will leave no door unopened in their scrutiny of customer behavior, a United Kingdom carrier says it has found motorists over a lifetime will spend 16 days looking for their car keys.

That news was reported by the car insurer Swinton, after a survey of 2,000 customers found that motorists spend
on average one minute and 15 seconds each day searching for their car
keys.

The firm said women were worse offenders, spending on average an extra seven minutes and 21 seconds each week looking for their keys compared to
men.

When it comes to age, young people were found to be the most forgetful, with 18-25 year-olds spending on average two minutes and 15 seconds per day
finding keys, followed by 25-30 year-olds with two minutes and three
seconds. The 50-plus bracket lost their keys the least, and spent on
average just 41 seconds per day key-searching.

The carrier said the survey discovered that motorists from the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire appreared to have the best memories, spending on average just 49 seconds per day looking for keys compared to drivers from Birmingham who spent a whopping three minutes and four seconds
each day key finding.

The top five most common places to find keys were:

1. Down the back of the sofa.

2. In a coat pocket.

3. In a bag/handbag.

4. Kitchen drawer.

5. In the car.

Some of the strangest places car keys were found include down the
toilet, inside the freezer, left in the front door and in the dog's
basket.

Steve Chelton, insurer development manager, said: "Losing car keys can be frustrating and prove costly if they aren't found. New fobs for modern immobilizers can be very expensive to replace, in some
cases hundreds of pounds. We would advise all motorists to make sure that they have a spare key in the house, to avoid any costly
replacements."

The insurer said its estimate of 16 days spent looking for keys in a lifetime was based on 1 minute and 15 seconds searching for keys each day of the year for 52 years.