Real life MMD: Should I pay for his day off?

Liz_2019

No, you shouldn't have to pay. Your flatmate or her boyfriend should have told you he was there before you went out. After all, it's important to keep the flat safe and your flatmate wouldn't like it if you inadvertently left the place unlocked.

happyinflorida

Your housemate is really thick - supposing there had been a fire?! It's her responsibility to inform you of any house guests for safety sake and so they don't get locked in - if she had a brain, she'd get a spare key for all her over night stayers wouldn't she? DO NOT PAY anything and find yourself a new flat mate!

Elliot9mm

Well I'm a locksmith, so I have been to many a lock-in.
Some are just like this scenario, and I can tell you the person locked in is always adamant that the person who locked them in should pay for my services. I have had the same debate with all of them.
"Did the person who locked you in know you were in there?" if yes then they should pay, if no then you pay (Either way I get the money off the person locked in and let them sort it out.)

Elliot.

his_missus

If you didn't know he was there, then no. Besides he's not not your responsibility. Maybe your flatmate should help him out with his lost wage, I bet his boss thought he was pulling his leg - "I'm locked in my girlfriend's flat and can't come to work"

melancholly

SandraDJ wrote: »

It is absolutely normal to have to use a key to get out, if a door is double locked. I always double lock my door when I leave the house, I think my insurance would be invalidated if I was burgled and the door wasn't double-locked. I also double lock it when I'm indoors, and leave the key in the door.

my flat is always double locked, but doesn't need a key - there's a deadbolt in the middle that you can turn and a second lock at the top that just has a catch from the inside. when i have lived somewhere where a second lock needed a key to unlock it, we always left the key in the door at night or had the key on the side to get at it quickly. if there is a fire, it seems madness to me to have to run to find a set of keys to get out. double locking does not mean a key is required!

Jon_C

1. He hasn't lost a day's wages. He's lost a day's leave.

2. Even if he had lost a day's wages, it would be his girlfriend's fault (bearing in mind that she knows that the last person out secures the door and she hadn't given him a key to do so) or his fault (if she told him you'd be locking up and that he would have to make sure he left before you did so).

3. You were doing the right thing by locking up. I'm sure this wasn't the first time anyone has locked the front door of your house upon leaving, so this could hardly have been an unexpected action on your part.

4. To the poster who said the OP should have done a security check before locking up: That is unreasonable. If the housemate had left a window open then either her room is on the ground floor and the boyfriend could have left through it or it's on an upper floor and it would have presented a much lower security risk. Again, it would not have been the OP's fault either way.

5. The OP should show her housemate and the boyfriend this thread and perhaps they'll wise up once they see how many people say they are wrong. They are directing their anger at the OP because they don't want to acknowledge their own stupid mistake - like those people who buy a hot apple pie (marked 'HOT APPLE PIE') from a fast-food outlet, burn their tongue and then sue the fast-food outlet for what is their own stupid mistake in trying to eat something that's too hot. People need to take responsibility for their own mistakes, not deflect on to others and chance their arm to try to profit from it.

6. The OP needs to get a new housemate if her existing one doesn't apologise for the childish and unreasonable behaviour she and her boyfriend have indulged in.

pjw123_2

I have shared flats for many years, and also been a landlady. The boyfriend was not a tenant, presumably does not contribute to bills or rent, and therefore had no right to be in the flat except as a guest of the girl who is the tenant. A guest should leave before or at the same time as their hostess.

You should not pay his wage - unless of course he spent his time in the house cleaning, putting up shelves, cooking meals, etc, and then you could pay him about £5 per hour for his time.

laurahughes

As with other posters, you didn't know he was there ergo not your fault and don't pay.

However, as a solution to this problem, and the concern that you can't open the door from the inside in an emergency if its locked... split the cost of getting another key cut.

Hang the key on a nail somewhere inside the house, nearish the door but far enough away that no one can reach it from outside through the letter box etc. Then if this situation arises again the boyfriend has a spare key to open the door, let himself out, and then lock the door and post the key back through the letter box.

You can also get out in an emergency as a key will always be close at hand.

Simples

Frugalboy

Such contract as exists is between you and your friend. Not with your friend's friend. Any legal claim the boyfriend might think he has is against your house mate, not you. The lesson is that even with friends and relatives who share your home, have a set of House Rules. This should include a provision that no visitor to the house mate should have any access to the property without the house mate being present. Of course, no outsider should be given a key.

planenut

Who pays towards rent or mortgage? why does it become your responsibility if someone else has a guest? If that guest becomes responsible for them locking up and something goes wrong, would they pay towards it? Shame.