police broke door down and won't pay for it

nadnad

ERICS_MUM wrote: »

Blimey ! Just popped onto MSE to catch up and found that this thread is still going strong. Has the idea of claiming from mother's insurance company been completely discounted now ?

the insurance excess is £300 that couple with increased premiums in the future due to making a claim make it hardly worthwhile even trying to claim the £600.

Savvy_Sue

exel1966 wrote: »

A myth, the emergency services do no such thing, they'd be fired for acting so wrecklessly.
It's up to the emergency service driver to find a way around any blockage, they certainly cannot bump anyone out of the way. :rotfl:

Well, not deliberately or maliciously, but ...

We were at a summer fair on Saturday where there was a fire engine in the car park. The car park wasn't being used for car parking, and the streets around were a bit 'cramped'. Someone parked with the nose of their car slightly obstructing the entrance to the car park. DH heard one of the firemen say to the driver "We're actually on duty here, so if you leave your car right there and we get called out, excuse us if we just nudge your car out of the way."

Driver moved the car ...

vaio

Yep, the old legal defence of “necessity” is a defence to most things and has been specifically written in to lots of legislation like the “welfare” entry provisions of PACE which I seem to remember can be devolved to other emergency services as well.

Obviously it doesn’t give firemen (or anyone else) carte blanche to wreak havoc as any actions must be reasonable in the circumstances and any force used must minimal & proportionate, in cases where the parties can’t agree a judge will decide.

nobodyspecial

Just wondering, how did your mother return the guy's deposit? You say he went on holiday and decided not to come back. What address did she use to return the money?

meritaten

exel1966 wrote: »

A myth, the emergency services do no such thing, they'd be fired for acting so wrecklessly.
It's up to the emergency service driver to find a way around any blockage, they certainly cannot bump anyone out of the way. :rotfl:

If there had been a way around the git - I am sure the fire engine driver would have taken it! the git blocked his way deliberately and was laughing with the passenger when the fire engine slowly and deliberately pushed him out of the way - much to the shock of the driver of the car. tbh it was an old banger and i doubt if he could have claimed any damage was done - and there appeared to be none on the fire engine either. the whole manouver was done with such delicacy - us unlookers all cheered and applauded. and then jeered at the car driver! I quite enjoyed it really - but if the car driver had tried to claim his car was damaged I (and prob the rest of the witnesses) would have claimed three wise monkey syndrome!

Treadway1

I can understand OP's frustration as Id be prtty !!!!!! off if I came home and found a hairy arsed coppers size 11 imprinted on what was left of my front door, however..... The Police were legitamately called by the tenants employer who were clearly concerned for his welfare (Otherwise, why call the Police), they have given the Police the address they had on company records for him, the Police arraive at the door, get no answer and decide to force entry to save life or limb.

Again, I understand that it's annoying Ill grant you, but from the Police's point of view, what if the guy had been in there dying and they had arrived just in time to save him. Before anyone says anything, I realise that 3 days would be a long time for someone to be in the process of dying (potentially 5 if you count the weekend before he failed to turn up at work, but I digress) but stranger things have happened.

I think it's a little strong for the Police not to pay for it, personally and they can be criticised for that, but I dont think thay can be criticised for putting the door in.

Savvy_Sue

meritaten wrote: »

tbh it was an old banger and i doubt if he could have claimed any damage was done - and there appeared to be none on the fire engine either.

Oh no, there'd have been no damage to the fire engine.

I used to work for a local authority and one of my jobs was filing accidents for the bin lorries. It took a lot to damage a bin lorry, but they could leave a trail of destruction in their wake without (apparently) realising they'd hit anything! :rotfl:

When my boys learn to drive one of the lessons I teach them is Never Argue With A Bin Lorry. The Bin Lorry Will Win.

nadnad

nobodyspecial wrote: »

Just wondering, how did your mother return the guy's deposit? You say he went on holiday and decided not to come back. What address did she use to return the money?

i said he told my mother he was leaving the flat and was going on holiday shortly afterwards - she saw him the day he left the flat and he got his deposit then.

nobodyspecial

Oh sorry, I must have misread it. Just thought it might be a way of contacting him, since he really is the cause of the problem.

Kay_Peel

Do you know what the employers told the police to make them force an entry as a First Resort?

Is there any chance that you can speak to someone from your ex-tenant's workplace?

It will answer the question about whether the police had the information to make it necessary to force an entry immediately and without the need to make further enquiries with the landlord.