police broke door down and won't pay for it

RadoJo

nadnad wrote: »

i can't believe people think it ok for the police to take such unwarranted action to a property no longer rented by a man and then expect the owner to foot the bill. thats crazy.

I don't think that is what people are saying - it seems reasonable to pursue the tenant for the costs of replacing the door considering that it was his lack of foresight, consideration and responsible behaviour that caused the problem. I think that it is more reasonable to expect him to foot the bill than the police, who are after all performing a public service, so why are you so intent on pursuing the police rather than making any attempt to reclaim the money from the tenant?

ventureuk

vaio wrote: »

Yep, pace does give the power of entry & searching but only if it’s done reasonably.

I’d say the refusal to ring the landlady before knocking the door off coupled to the non locating of the former tenants phone took it outside the reasonable area and therefore the police should pay for the damage

It's an arguement, but it's wrong.

The Police are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

If they had delayed entry and a person who could have been saved by prompt entry had died then they could have been held responsible by the coroner, the press, the IPCC, the deceased family and ultimately a Crown Court.

Imagine if your elderly mother had been unconscious behind a door needing immediate medical treatment and officers sat outside in their car waiting for a relative/neighbour/carer to arrive with a key.

Just because you are not happy about the use of a power does not mean it was not used correctly in the circumstances.

The Police will not and should not pay, a small claim is pointless as all Forces will fight (they use your money from taxes to fight them remember) and a judge will rule the power was used lawfully.

Barrack room lawyers welcome.

I moved out of the barracks and into court 25yrs ago.

Kimitatsu

HAve to agree with venture here :T

You dont know what was said to the police when this chap was reported missing, it could have been put to them as a matter of life and death.

Similarly you dont know if your tennant had any underlying health conditions which may have made time of the essence, and whilst in an ideal world from YOUR point of view they should have made every effort to contact the world and his dog, their decision was to try to contact this chap asap.

Your mother is a landlord, unfortunately this is one of the expenses that comes with doing that. She either needs to claim from her insurance company (contact the FSA if you feel their decision is unfair) or claim from the tennant who didnt tell his job that he was leaving.

Greener_Grass

This situation is rediculous.

OP's mother had nothing to do with this and she is expecting to fork out a fortune for a new door?

The tenant had moved out 2 weeks before this happened so didn't actually live there anymore, how you're supposed to "persue" him for the costs is beyond me

I agree the Police should pay, Surely smashing someones door down should be a last resort?!!

What a crap situation, I am quite frankly shocked the police are not paying for the damage they caused unnecessarily

MinniMe_2

OP how do you KNOW that teh police hadn't tried other avenues first. The police don't have to tell you everything they did, what if they had other reasons for concern. Obviously his work would have tried to phone him too.

At the end of the day, they were worried he was injured in the house, what if that had been you or a family member. Would you not want the police to do anything to get in and help!

I agree that it is unfair that your mum is having to bear the costs but sometimes you have to pick your battles.

nadnad

MinniMe wrote: »

OP how do you KNOW that teh police hadn't tried other avenues first. The police don't have to tell you everything they did, what if they had other reasons for concern. Obviously his work would have tried to phone him too.

At the end of the day, they were worried he was injured in the house, what if that had been you or a family member. Would you not want the police to do anything to get in and help!

I agree that it is unfair that your mum is having to bear the costs but sometimes you have to pick your battles.

if it was a family member - of course we wouldnt mind paying for the door - but the situation is that the tenant had moved out - nothing to do with us!! sao i can't understand why we would have to pay.

also with regards pursuing the tenent as some people have said - he is a foreign national as I have repeatedly said and he as far as we know is back in Lithuania

Wow

Being a private landlord is more trouble than its worth.:)

If I was your mother I would cut my losses, mend the door and sell the flat.:)

[Deleted User]

I would assume that as a car they had to take the roof off or door off would be a write off anyway (pretty bad crush damage to the front or side of a car) so I doubt any additional damage they cause would mean a higher insurance pay out.., so its sort of irrelevant.

MinniMe_2

nadnad wrote: »

if it was a family member - of course we wouldnt mind paying for the door - but the situation is that the tenant had moved out - nothing to do with us!! sao i can't understand why we would have to pay.

Exactly so this of this faily and their circumstances.

At the end of the day the property belongs to your mum so she is responsible.

As I said choose your battles and move on!

Spendless

Why hadn't the tenant informed his work of his change of address? If he had then work wouldn't have given your mum's property as the address and the police wouldn't have been round there breaking in to see what was wrong.
Sorry just re-read your OP and I'm not clear whether he was or wasn't a tenant at the time the flat was broken into.

You say the police went straight round to flat and kicked down door but you also say the police spoke to neighbours first because they gave them your mum's phone number, so which was it that happened?

It'll mean trawling thru all the smallprint but have you ahd a look at the insurance documents to see if they mention they do not pay out for this sort of damage?