Flatmate says I owe her £600

[Digestivesandcheese]

I was meeting my flatmate (who is also a good friend) in London recently and agreed to bring her weekend bag with me on the train (She was meeting her DM earlier in the day for a trip to the Theatre) I had a rucksack containing my things for the weekend.
I got off the train in London and realised I had stupidly left her bag on the train. I got back on the train but the bag was gone! It hasn't turned up in lost property. I have chased up several times.
My friend says I owe her £600 for the bag and contents. I agree it was my fault but can I claim compensation from the rail company as the bag hasn't turned up? If not, I will have to borrow money to pay my friend for her things

Does she know you are having to borrow from your DM? I think a real friend would accept less than £600 from you.

I haven't said it was the issue in OPs case, particularly as she hasn't said she used the luggage rack. Yes, OP was careless and right to offer money to her friend. However, the friend shoudn't ask for 600 pounds. That is a ridiculous amount and if the bag really was worth that she should have warned OP because she might have preferred not to do the favour.

You don't owe her. Her bag was her responsibility and if she was happy to let someone cart it around for her, the risk remains with her. She wasn't paying you to do it! If I lost a friend's bag, I'd be mortified and offer to replace some of the contents but she doesn't have a right to require it!

There is cctv on trains and at stations. They could help find the thief but noone wants to unless someone is assaulted worse.

You'll have to find tge money, but tell her you're broke and ask her to be kind, you're sorry, her make up etc is unlikely to be new...

Her friend asked for the amount required to replace the things OP lost.

£600 is not a lot of money for a weekend bag.

I really feel for you, OP.

why should OP pay to replace everything? unless the friend gave her a brand new bag full of things in original packaging, it was not worth the new price. it was a weekend bag with clothes and makeup in. it was hardly worth anything! seriously, if someone lost a weekend bag of yours you would ask them to replace every single thing in it NEW...
flatmate should have warned OP about the "value" she placed on the bag, either that or take her £600 bag with her herself!

I would be really pissed off if my did this - you were irresponsible and G’s up her whole weekend. I’d be annoyed, but I wouldn’t charge a friend for a mistake, albeit a really stupid one. But I suppose she is in the right to ask for it, if you borrowed a ring and lost it, you’d replace it I guess. Do you have annual travel insurance? That might cover it but prob not without a police report.

Why would she pay a friend she asked to do her a favour? If OP wanted paying she had the option of asking before she agreed to do it.

OP agreed to take responsibility for her friend’s bag, and lost it through her own carelessness.

Although this seems like a lot, try not to let it ruin your friendship. It's surprising how quickly the price of things add up and this is a horrible situation for both of you. Friends are important though and money although useful isn't as important. As hard as it is, I think you need to borrow the money to replace your friend's things. Good luck with it all.

Because £600 is what it will cost her to replace the items OP lost, obviously.

She probably didn’t expect OP to be careless with her things. Imagine that, trusting a friend to do you a favour.

I think it's a bit harsh asking someone who did you a favour for free to replace things like for like. However on this occasion I would give her the money she demands but I would let the friendship cool. Clearly someone who asks a favour for free could cut you some financial slack if you mess up by accident. Clearly you're in a tight spot financially. She is not a good friend. If you continue with the friendship I certainly would not do her any favours ever again.

^ agree! i would be loathe to do favours for this lady again and would let her keep guard of her own belongings from now on. does she know you're borrowing money from your mother? try not to be a pushover, OP. you made a mistake and it was an accident. she's punishing you extremely harshly with this ask for a huge amount of money. would be much more inclined to tell you to hand it over if she asked for something more reasonable.

Playing this out: what if the friend had an uninsured Rolex in the bag? Would OP have to cover the cost of replacing that?

If I was the friend I might expect OP to make a contribution (not 100%) and then would accept or decline depending on what I could afford. A 50-50 split might be a good compromise but in my view the friend is not "entitled" to it

Yes. If she lost it through her own admitted carelessness, she should pay imo.

No way in hell I’d expect my friend to pay me £600 if they accidentally lost my bag. I would expect a contribution, 50/50 probably, but if I knew they were borrowing money from their own mother I’d probably reduce that down to 25/75. OP did you ask for a figure or did she give you one?

I really am enjoying those saying that in the same situation they’d no longer be friends with someone asking them to take responsibility for their own fuck up. Like that would be anything akin to a loss.

It isn’t a ‘huge amount of money’ for a weekend bag.

Really rubbish situation on both parts as you were doing her a favour but she’s lost her things. Feels excessive to expect you to replace the whole thing with brand new items unless they were brand new. Could she give a list of what was in the bag and brands, and you look on eBay / vinted and see what you can pick up. Some things eg the bag could be replace second hand. Make up might have been well worn / nearly finished, there’s always sample size make up that’s half the size that would probably more than replace the contents. Rather than hand over cash, see what you can replace it for. Because if she doesn’t replace like for like as she’s gone off something like a toiletry in her bag then it’s a bit crap.

i don’t think I could make any good friend of mine replace the contents for new especially as you were doing her a favour so she didn’t have to lug it about whilst meeting her mum.

you are deluded. the value of a weekend bag is not the new value.
many insane people itt saying "my makeup, jacket and shoes are worth 50, 200 and 150"
nope. not unless those are the prices of a used and or half empty item.
can't believe so many people dont understand this, its very basic.

It's replacement cost. You can't buy half used items 🤷🏻‍♀️

Actually I could sell my weekend bag for more than I paid for it new. There are certainly other items that haven’t reduced in value to the degree you seem they have.

You have no idea how used her products were, and even if used she’s hardly going to be trawling through Vinted looking for used lipsticks and concealers.

why not? that's what OP owes her. no more.

Don't be daft. She only needs to replace any of it because op lost it.

It’s unhygienic as fuck for a start. I disagree. As it turns out, so does OP. And insurance companies, for that matter.

If I had a friend/flatmate that took that attitude I wouldn’t bother to renew the lease tbh. They could use the money they saved on the additional rent.

the OP is not an insurance company! wtf? shes her friend who was doing her a favour.
i wouldnt bother to renew a lease with anyone who would expect me to reimburse full new replacement costs for an accident with a bag of old clothes and makeup. thats insanity.