Bike Stolen, Who Do I claim From?

mariauk

Hi

I live in an Edwardian House which has a joint front door and is converted into 2 seperate flats. A while ago the council had some contracters working on the flat downstairs and they left the front door open and my Daughters bike was stolen from the passageway. I contacted the council and their legal representitive informed me that it wasn`t their responsibility, it was down to the two individual firms who were working on the property at the time, even though they were asked to do the work for the council. Needless to say they are both denying leaving the door open and we are minus a bike plus a very unhappy 15 year old and no money to replace the stolen bike. I have for the last week tried to contact citizens advice finally got through yesterday to promptly have the phone put down on me as I think they needed an outside line and answered the phone by mistake. I am so frustrated at the loss of the bike and also at my Daughters moaning ( good old mum gets the brunt of it all) Can anyone advise if there is anything else I can Do? Thanks.

Maria

Debt_Free_Chick

Firstly, I'd check to see if this is covered by your own contents insurance.

On the issue of the door being left open, how can you be sure that the contractors did this? If you have proof or evidence, then maybe consider claiming from them, but I would expect them to ask why the bike was not secured. If the bike was not secured, then your insurance may not pay out either.

My gut feeling is that your daughter was careless and has learned a lesson the hard-way - as we all do, when growing up. I would not be hopeful about claiming from anyone, but maybe another MSEer has a different view.

mariauk

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

Firstly, I'd check to see if this is covered by your own contents insurance.

On the issue of the door being left open, how can you be sure that the contractors did this? If you have proof or evidence, then maybe consider claiming from them, but I would expect them to ask why the bike was not secured. If the bike was not secured, then your insurance may not pay out either.

My gut feeling is that your daughter was careless and has learned a lesson the hard-way - as we all do, when growing up. I would not be hopeful about claiming from anyone, but maybe another MSEer has a different view.

The front door was open when my partner came home at lunchtime and that is how we found out the bike was missing and at the end of the day

1) Why should I have to lock up my bike inside my own home

2) It was only the fact that the door was left open that it got stolen.

I have no contents insurance (I can`t afford it) So that option is out of the window to! Could I also just say that my daughter was far from careless as she wasnt here at the time and had always left the bike in the passageway as there are only two properties we never thought to lock it up, you dont think you need to in your own home, Wouldn`t you agree?

lisyloo

it was down to the two individual firms who were working on the property at the time

If there were multiple parties going in and out of the house then I think a claim would be difficult because you don't have any evidence about who is at fault.

Was no-one supervising?
i.e. Did you let strangers into your house with no supervising adult there?

If you did have insurance then I think the insurance company would see this as a lack of care of your contents - a bit like leaving something on a beach and going for a swim.

Insurance companies (if you had insurance) don't cover you to go off and leave things unattended with strangers.

Sorry if I've misunderstood anything.

mariauk

Hi

Thanks for your reply, I live upstairs and the work was being done in the property downstairs, the hallway is shared between the two properties. So in effect my "front door" was closed, it was the shared front door that had been left open. There wasn`t anywork being done in my flat,So I had no reason to have my door open and was unable to see that the downstairs door had been left open, When my boyfriend came round he walked straight in and asked if my daughter was out on her bike as it wasn`t in the passage. That is when we found out it had gone. The door had been closed at 9.30am when I came back from shopping and the bike had been stolen between then and lunchtime. The problenm is both firms are in denial and I don`t think i have a leg to stand on and a teenager who wont be out and about with her friend come summer, Oh what joy that will be :rolleyes:

jaimeo

So it was in a communal area?

I dont think it is covered by anything.

Of course, it is slightly less communal if there is only normally you, and the people downstairs.

My contents insurance (I believe) would stipulate "locked" door...if i leave my own front door open (unlocked, not actually swinging in the wind) I think its "my fault".

I know it is horrible to have bikes stolen. I would write to both of the companies...ask them for half each or something!

In all honesty though, it sounds like you will get nowhere and that it was a mistake to leave the bike there when people are traipsing in and out. Live and learn I guess.

Sorry !

culpepper

I think if they are council flats then surely it is just as if they had been working in your flat and something was missing afterwards? Did the contractors have a key? Was the bike locked? It might even have BEEN the contractors who took it as they could have just loaded it into their van and driven away. I cant believe they are allowed to let someone work on the property and have no responsibility re security .IMHO The council contracted the workers so it comes back to them to sort it out.

lisyloo

I have insurance for pedal cycles on my contents.
It stipulates that the cycle must be in a locked building or secured to something permanent (like metal fencing). I think these are the usual terms for most insurance.
I am pretty sure that leaving it in a communal area that someone else has access to would not be sufficient for an insurance company.

I think the lesson to learn from that is that if you have insurance you need to be aware of the terms.

It might even have BEEN the contractors who took it as they could have just loaded it into their van and driven away. I cant believe they are allowed to let someone work on the property and have no responsibility re security .IMHO The council contracted the workers so it comes back to them to sort it out.

I don't agree that the council are liable just because someone MIGHT have done something.
There is no proof at all of what has happened here.
Perhaps they did take it.
Perhaps they left the door open and someone else took it.
Perhaps the neighbour left the door open and someone else took it.

I'm afraid you cannot pursue a claim against someone because you think they MIGHT have done something. Without proof you cannot do anything.

Have you tried asking the neighbours if anyone saw anything?

I'm not being nasty, but I think the mistake was leaving an unlocked valuable item in an area where you are not in control of security.

Queenie

Nothing to add to the above advice re: claiming but regarding dd and being bike-less ...


.. check the free papers/shop windows and see if you can get her a 2nd hand one for the summer. As she is a teen it may even be possible for her to get a little job to earn some extra money towards it. (If she is too fussy to have a 2nd hand one, or resents being asked to get a little extra money through working ... then you can honestly say to her when you're bearing the brunt of her unhappiness/surliness that she can't miss it that much )

It really is a pig when something you've worked hard for is taken away from you, in any circumstances and I'm quite sure you're as cheesed off about it as your girl; I'm sorry you're experiencing this. Good luck.

mariauk

culpepper wrote:

I think if they are council flats then surely it is just as if they had been working in your flat and something was missing afterwards? Did the contractors have a key? Was the bike locked? It might even have BEEN the contractors who took it as they could have just loaded it into their van and driven away. I cant believe they are allowed to let someone work on the property and have no responsibility re security .IMHO The council contracted the workers so it comes back to them to sort it out.

Exactly the point I was trying to make! The tenant downstairs was not around( He had given them the key to get in) and at the end of the day, if the council hadn`t of employed the contractors to work on the council property then they would not have been able to leave the door open in the first place. I dont believe it was the workman who stole the bike it was probably an opportunist who saw the door open which was shut when I came home and was wide open when my boyfriend turned up. As I was in upstairs and the tenant wasn`t there, it leaves one posibility and thats the workman left the door open. as I stated before, I have no insurance so cannot claim it was just the frustration of no one admiting liability! Thanks everyone for your comments so far.

mariauk

Queenie wrote:

Nothing to add to the above advice re: claiming but regarding dd and being bike-less ...


.. check the free papers/shop windows and see if you can get her a 2nd hand one for the summer. As she is a teen it may even be possible for her to get a little job to earn some extra money towards it. (If she is too fussy to have a 2nd hand one, or resents being asked to get a little extra money through working ... then you can honestly say to her when you're bearing the brunt of her unhappiness/surliness that she can't miss it that much )

It really is a pig when something you've worked hard for is taken away from you, in any circumstances and I'm quite sure you're as cheesed off about it as your girl; I'm sorry you're experiencing this. Good luck.

Hi Queenie

Thanks for your advice :T The problem is she had actually partly paid for this one with her birthday money when she was 12 (doing the responsibility stuff) and was 15 last week and is still to young to work without a national insurance number which she wont get yet anyway. She has been looking for any small jobs and asking if anyone needs babysitters etc for a while , So its not the lack of enthusiasm its the lack of work and her age. She even designed her own babysitting service website with her friend last year but nothing came out of it. She wouldn`t mind a second hand one either its just as a single parent with 2 children a bike would be a big chunk out of a very small budget and as it is a luxury, there isnt any stretching to that at the moment, but thank you for you kind thoughts :A