Involving police to get new wheelie bin

amcluesent

Over the course of the last summer, my 'brown' wheelie bin disappeared.

My council will only supply another if I give them a crime #.

I don't want to bother the coppers for what is obviously a waste of their time, plus what will be the implications for my household insurance - do I have to declare a recorded theft if I wanted to change insurers and will that affect the premiums?

mh1923

That's ridiculous! I don't have any advice, but when the big wheelie bin for our building vanished last year, the council sent a new one without any fuss. I guess they each have their own policies.

TAG

Hi ya amcluesent,

We had our wheelie bin nicked in December2005 just beore Christmas.

Our council wouldn't provide us with a new one until we had reported it to the police and provided the council with a crime ref no.

And then, when I gave them the information they wanted (I suspect to claim from their own insurance as these bins are £40 or £50 each) they couldn't tell me when a new one would be delivered. 'It would just turn up'.

So where's the sense in that? They were happy to just dump a new bin whenever they felt like it. But wouldn't tell me when. What if that one had been nicked too? Who's responsibility would it have been to have reported that one?

Luckily I was in at the time and I also got a second recycle bin from the 'nice council bin delivering man'.

But it's a case of if they want you to report it you either do it or fork out for a new bin yourself. As for insurance. I never even thought to tell our insurance company. I suppose if your not making a claim then does it matter?

tazzababe

Hiya, I had my new bin delivered on Monday, it is my 7th. You have to be really on the ball around here about bringing your bin back in after collection, if you leave it out for more than a couple of hours its gone, even mine with a great pink number 27 on all sides:rotfl: I have never had any trouble getting a replacement, usually phone up and then they ask me to phone back after 48 hours just to confirm, then they send a new one.

Totally different for my friend though: she only lives 10 min away, but when her bin went "missing" she had to report it to the police and get a crime number before she could get a new one. She was told it was because the council were aware of nuisance behavioiur by kids in the area, and that by making the police come out and "inspect" the area it not only would deter bin theft but also the kids form ar*ing around. She got her bin, (didn't mention anything about insurance), buit kids are still a pain around there

peter999

amcluesent wrote:

Over the course of the last summer, my 'brown' wheelie bin disappeared.

My council will only supply another if I give them a crime #.

Phone em' up & get shouting.

The wheelie bin I assume is not locked up, is council property & not unique in any way, so any wheelie bin on the street could be your one.

Some councils are getting too big for their boots with stupid petty rules.

peter999

impy78

Another example of the council trying to do as little as is humanly possible, whist you have to jump through hoops to get a bin.

When we moved into our new house, the recycling bin had been stolen. We asked for a new one, and they actually wanted money for a new one. Stupid stupid stupid.

moonrakerz

1. The bin belongs to the Council, not you.

2. They tell you to leave it in the street; ie:- it's not on your property.

3. Why do you have to report its theft ???

ohmsoft

Agree with all said so far and this is stupid red tape policy from the council.

That said - I'd just give the police a call on their incident number and explain - keep in mind you'll be speaking to a civillian member of staff so the time you are wasting isn't really the police (in fact on a economic scale it comes out the same purse as the council's time).

They will give you a number and then file the crime under "bin" where it quite rightly should be!

Reluctant_spender

The Police will only give you a crime number if a crime can be established.

Round our way a spate went missing and what was happening was that the dustbin carts were swallowing the occasional one up.

Report you bin lost and get a lost property number - give this number to the pen pushers instead. The fact it is lost is probably nearer the mark

marcellep

Tell the cocuncil to report the theft to the police as its there property. You can't report a theft of something that does not belong to you.

Meatballs

Why not? If I saw strange people walking out of my neighbours house with their stuff I'd report it!

Seriously though, reporting a crime on the phone is just a paperwork exercise, and if you dont report it and its happening regularly in an area then the police will be oblivious. If you do, and the police notice a pattern, although they probably cant help you they can do something in the long run.