Page 25 | Flatmate says I owe her £600

Digestivesandcheese · 2023-11-02T15:11:32+00:00

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

notlucreziaborgia · 04/11/2023 17:40

“Dance like nobody’s watching” - Sophocles

“Fuck around and find out” - Mahatma Gandhi

“Catch these hands” - Nelson Mandela

coffeeaddict77 · 04/11/2023 18:53

notlucreziaborgia · 04/11/2023 14:01

It is though, each case is considered on its own individuals merits within the framework of the law that governs that particular area. In the scenario you have mentioned involves a company and insurance policies, neither of which are factors present in OP’s situation.

You’re making a lot of assumptions based on your own preference when the reality may be very different to what you hope it is. The bottom line is that in this entirely hypothetical scenario she absolutely could be held liable and easily find herself further out of pocket than she would be if she just paid the £600 straight off. As such, ‘let her take it to court’ isn’t advice that couldn’t wholly backfire.

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I think you are a bit confused. Why would I have preferences or hopes that would influence what i think would happen if this went to court?

llizzie · 04/11/2023 18:55

If you watch JJ on TV you will know that she always makes the one who holds the property responsible for paying for it's loss.

There again, perhaps USA law is different.

coffeeaddict77 · 04/11/2023 19:06

ChiefWiggumsBoy · 04/11/2023 16:52

Yeah I thought as much @coffeeaddict77

Lucky for you, you're not in a city with no clothing, toiletries or anything else that needs replacing unless you're happy with sleeping and spending your days in one outfit? Arguing clothes don't retain value is just stupid, we all know that, it doesn't negate the fact that OP's flatmate can't run around London in the nip.

I didn't say OP shouldn't give any money though. I just think £600 is a ridiculous high amount. She doesn't need £600 to buy toiletries and enough clothes for two days.

coffeeaddict77 · 04/11/2023 19:10

llizzie · 04/11/2023 18:55

If you watch JJ on TV you will know that she always makes the one who holds the property responsible for paying for it's loss.

There again, perhaps USA law is different.

She doesn't. Also, she demands receipts and very much takes into account the fact that things depreciate in value,

Ric2013 · 04/11/2023 22:13

notlucreziaborgia · 04/11/2023 15:15

It isn’t irrelevant at all. She admits to forgetting the bag and leaving it unattended. She demonstrably did not treat it with the same care as she did her own. She admits to this.

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I agree that it is possible that a lack of care could have made the theft more likely, but you aren't the first to state the fact that the OP treated the friend's bag with less care than her own. Having checked through all the OP's posts, I cannot find a textual basis for her admitting this.

The OP admits to remembering her own 'rucksack', but not her friend's 'weekend bag' as she left the train. It is not clear how or why this happened (though I have my ideas which I have already discussed) and so we cannot say with confidence that it was or wasn't due to a lesser level of care being taken. The fact that she says it is her fault is her opinion as we don't have the full details.

I do not give much credit to the 'demonstrably' argument if that means the very fact that she remembered one bag and not the other shows a lesser care. If she was in a situation in which her abilities to remember everything at the same time were exceeded, she could have forgotten either or both the bags, so even if I am wrong to claim it is always more likely she'd forget the extra item, it could simply be luck of the draw as to which one she would forget.

nettie434 · 04/11/2023 23:44

Also, she demands receipts and very much takes into account the fact that things depreciate in value

This comment about Judge Judy reminded me of my experience when I lost my bag in a similar situation.

My insurance covered losses outside the home so I claimed. The bag was new and expensive. Luckily I still had the receipt but my claim would have gone nowhere if I hadn't. I also had to pay the excess which was about £150. I think that the cost of my insurance rose the next time it came up for renewal and the claim was on my record for a couple of years.

I think it's quite realistic that replacing the bag and its contents on an as new basis could cost £600. However, I'm not sure that if the OP or friend were able to claim via their insurance (and we know they can't), that they would have got £600. That's why I think it's unreasonable to expect OP to pay the full £600.

T1Dmama · 05/11/2023 00:56

I haven’t read everyone else comments but surely this needs reporting to the police? Whether you got off and back on again or not someone stole your friends bag and that’s criminal and needs reporting. CCTV might suddenly turn up if police ask for it!
also when I purchased train tickets recentky I paid a few quid extra which covered luggage being lost/stolen or damaged. No idea if you took this cover out??
it’s not exactly your fault her stuff got stolen. Keep calling the train company too… it may show up.

nk2017 · 05/11/2023 15:29

U should buy your own bag but u behave like u r poor n beg her to borrow a £600 bag!
I never ever give my stuff or I borrow some 1 just cos it's more expensive to show off I got designer bag that u can't afford unless it's gift then u lost your expensive gift bag.
If its your real expensive bag then u will look after it with u all the time. But its not your bag so u careless n lost it n expect its ok unattended .

Thedm · 05/11/2023 17:13

nk2017 · 05/11/2023 15:29

U should buy your own bag but u behave like u r poor n beg her to borrow a £600 bag!
I never ever give my stuff or I borrow some 1 just cos it's more expensive to show off I got designer bag that u can't afford unless it's gift then u lost your expensive gift bag.
If its your real expensive bag then u will look after it with u all the time. But its not your bag so u careless n lost it n expect its ok unattended .

What are you talking about? Who borrowed a £600 bag. The OP didn’t borrow a bag.

Mittleme · 05/11/2023 18:38

Lol.

nanamoo · 06/11/2023 20:20

It's not the rail company's fault it is missing, it's yours. So why would they compensate you for your lack of care with someone else's property?

angelfacecuti75 · 06/11/2023 23:21

Er if it was that valuable in the first place why did she leave it behind and not come get it herself ?! No way I would be paying £600 for potentially doing a friend a favour...

llizzie · 06/11/2023 23:37

I still think that if they live together they should know what they spend their money on and the cost.

PinkPantherPrat · 06/11/2023 23:41

I'm going to start a thread about what we all pack for a weekend away shortly and value of everything.

OP hope it's sorted, that was horrible for both of you.

Fedupwitheveryone · 08/11/2023 21:23

I am really careful with my belongings generally - and if i'm looking after something that belongs to someone else I am even more careful. This applies to cars, bags, clothes and other people's children.

If someone did a favour for me i'd expect them to look after it as well as I would myself.

VanityDiesHard · 08/11/2023 21:29

Fedupwitheveryone · 08/11/2023 21:23

I am really careful with my belongings generally - and if i'm looking after something that belongs to someone else I am even more careful. This applies to cars, bags, clothes and other people's children.

If someone did a favour for me i'd expect them to look after it as well as I would myself.

I'm the exact same. I'm really shocked by some of the replies on this thread.

Prawnofthedead · 08/11/2023 21:31

You didn't borrow her bag and then lose it. You were doing her a favour of no benefit to yourself and now people think that favour should cost you £600. She is a CF.

Passepartoute · 09/11/2023 07:37

If someone was doing me a favour and thereby lost something of mine through a genuine mistake, I would feel really, really icky about making them pay a lot of money to me. I do think if you're not going to take responsibility for your own stuff, you effectively agree to take the risk that someone else might have a moment of oversight.

GinAndJuice99 · 09/11/2023 11:30

VanityDiesHard · 08/11/2023 21:29

I'm the exact same. I'm really shocked by some of the replies on this thread.

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She borrows the bag and it goes missing, she's responsible

Flatmate asks her to carry the bag as a favour and it goes missing, flatmate is responsible

It's really simple

VanityDiesHard · 09/11/2023 14:01

GinAndJuice99 · 09/11/2023 11:30

She borrows the bag and it goes missing, she's responsible

Flatmate asks her to carry the bag as a favour and it goes missing, flatmate is responsible

It's really simple

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No, it isn't. I don't know why people are talking about borrowing, she didn't borrow the bag, but that isn't relevant. I wish that people would stop calling it a 'favour'. It is technically, I suppose, but it is a very, very minor one. The OP and her flatmate live in the same house, so all OP had to do was carry the bag on the train and meet her flatmate (whom she was meeting up with anyway, she didn't make the trip specially merely in order to deliver the bag) She then lost the bag. How is that the flatmates fault!?

Prawnofthedead · 12/11/2023 08:50

If the flatmate had said 'please bring me my bag but if you lose it or anything happens to it you will have to pay me £600' she would just have left the bag in the flat.

ComtesseDeSpair · 12/11/2023 10:00

Let’s say you asked a friend to water your plants whilst you were on holiday and in doing so, they left the front door unlocked or forgot they’d left the keys in the lock one day and you were burgled and your house trashed. Insurance refuses to pay out because there was no forced entry. Would you genuinely say to your friend “ah, no harm done, we’re all careless sometimes, was my fault as much as yours for trusting you with my keys, you were doing me a favour”? Or would you be pretty angry with them for their carelessness and expect them to make some gesture of compensation for your hundreds or thousands of pounds worth of loss?

I fail to believe anyone in that scenario would think they were just as much responsible as the careless friend because they’d asked for a favour and that it wasn’t the friend’s fault. And I don’t see how it’s any different to a friend forgetting the bag they were transporting for you on a train.

EliflurtleAndTheInfiniteMadness · 12/11/2023 10:55

CrabbiesGingerBeer · 03/11/2023 14:01

It’s a bag containing clothes / toiletries for at least one night away including an evening out. It would never occur to me someone wouldn’t realise it’s got items worth at least £1,000 if not considerably more.

I wouldn’t ‘warn’ someone because I’d see it as blatantly obvious.

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It seems we live in very different worlds then. Did it ever occur to you that some of us don't have that sort of money and for those of us without this is not a scenario that would enter our minds?

notlucreziaborgia · 12/11/2023 11:43

EliflurtleAndTheInfiniteMadness · 12/11/2023 10:55

It seems we live in very different worlds then. Did it ever occur to you that some of us don't have that sort of money and for those of us without this is not a scenario that would enter our minds?

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Then it’s best not to agree to take responsibility for someone else’s belongings. In the event of them being lost, you could find yourself in the position of being liable to replace them.