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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To tell my neighbour she has to pay for my son's bike?

177 replies

Bikelema · 28/06/2018 09:56

We are terraced houses and we share a passage to back gardens.

It has a gate on with a padlock.

We have a few bikes that are in the back garden (ours) but my son uses his daily so it usually stays in the locked passage.

She had a gardener come once in a while to mow her back garden.

Last time a friend was visiting he locked his bike in the passage and my neighbour had taken his bike and left it in the front garden.

I came out and moved it into my back garden. I asked the gardener not to take property from the locked passage and leave it unattended in the front, he said neighbour had told him to put it in front garden.

We live in a shit area.

I also knocked on the door and said this to neighbour

She apologised.

It happened again. Only this time I took the bike into my house whilst they were both in the back.

Sue her knocking on door panicking that bike was gone.

I told her I had it but not to leave the bike in the front.

So guess what.

It happened again but only this time it was stolen for real :(

It was a £800 bike that we got 2nd hand for £150

AIBU to ask she pays for it?

OP posts:
Juells · 28/06/2018 11:27

the neighbour actually physically moved the bike

Wasn't it the gardener?

I suspect that if OP asks the neighbour to pay for the bike, this is what will happen...

OP: My son's bike has been stolen, it was moved, please reimburse us.

N: I didn't touch it. Must have been the gardener, but I gave him strict instructions to put it in your back garden. He's responsible.

OP: Mr Gardener, please pay for a new bike.

Gardener: I don't know what you're talking about.

DrWhy · 28/06/2018 11:27

She agreed to it being left in the passage overnight presumably expecting it to be moved out of the way (ridden to school or something) in the daytime. You have consistently blocked the access her gardener needs in the daytime inconveniencing them and it’s come back to bite you.
Frankly leaving a bike in a communal passage is a fire hazard as well as annoying and I speak as someone who used to have to wash down their prized tri bike after every ride and bring it up 3 flights of stairs into the living room when living in a dodgy area. When in a nicer area I tried leaving it in the communal locked garden in a locked shed and it got pinched - insurance paid up as they could see the shed lock was forced so put in a ground anchor and secured it very well to that. I would suggest you do the same.

Trinity66 · 28/06/2018 11:30

Wasn't it the gardener?

ah you're right it was actually, but she had told him to put it there? It was pretty bad form of her tbf either way. If the bike was annoying her she should have told the OP to stop putting it there

littlemissdynamite · 28/06/2018 11:31

@bikelema YABU. You should have put it in your area/garden, not the communal area.

I used to live in a shitty area some 10 years ago - for 4 or 5 years - and I know the type of people that live there. Some people are lovely, but there are some real rogues.... It wouldn't surprise me if said neighbour has fenced it and kept the money.

PeppermintPasty · 28/06/2018 11:33

'Twas the gardener in the passage with the loppers Shock

nervousnails · 28/06/2018 11:33

So, you wont lock the bike or keep it in your garden. You want your neighbour to pay for your foolishness?? Cheeky Fucker.

upsideup · 28/06/2018 11:40

YABU
Presumably your ds is leaving it in the passage way as its so much quicker and easier to then get it out to the front than having to drag it out of the garden. When the gardener comes with a big heaving lawn mower and finds once again he cant get through as theres a bike in the way, why should he have to go to the effort that your son couldnt be bothered to go to and drag it all the way through the passage way into the garden? Hes going to move it out of his way that is easiest for him because he really shouldnt have to be moving at all, you didnt get the hint, thats your fault.

FlyingMonkeys · 28/06/2018 11:41

So why didn't OP just wheel the bike into her secure back garden every day? Guessing she couldn't be bothered... To inconvenience the neighbour and gardener is apparently fair game though. Topped off by then blaming them for the bike being stolen.

CircleofWillis · 28/06/2018 11:43

YABU for leaving your property in a communal space where it is obstructing access. However your neighbour has also been unreasonable for continually leaving your son’s bike out where it can be stolen.

I would ask for a contribution towards a replacement bike (not the £800 for a new one).

Katgurl · 28/06/2018 11:44

Yanbu

Your neighbour had no problem with you leaving the bike in the passageway, she had agreed if she needed to move it she would be careful where she left it, she wasn't and now it has been stolen.

However given she seems quite careless and irresponsible I don't see her paying and imo it's not worth falling out with a neighbour over 100£.

In your position I would simply say "I'm not sure if you're aware but the bike has been stolen. I'm quite upset as last time we talked about it you said you would make sure it didn't get put into the front garden."

See if she offers to pay or contribute. If not, I wouldn't pursue it but I would put her to my list of people not to be relied on.

Tara12 · 28/06/2018 11:47

I am sorry but I would consider the loss of your bike, entirely your own fault. She has no legal responsibility to pay for your back and if you ask her ( most unreasonably), you will also annoy her even more causing further unpleasantness.
if there is a problem, you should seek mediation, otherwise look after your own property.

Tara12 · 28/06/2018 11:48

Pay for your bike-sorry

neveradullmoment99 · 28/06/2018 11:53

I wouldnt rely on anyone doing anything for me. I reckon after a few times when they have done things contrary to what you had discussed alarm bells should have sounded. In principle and perhaps even legally, they shouldn't have moved it and they should pay but really you should have realised she didn't care about the bike and kept it somewhere safer in your own garden.

happypoobum · 28/06/2018 12:02

YABU

If the bike was valuable it shouldn't have been left unlocked or in an area that other people had access to.

Whereismumhiding2 · 28/06/2018 12:07

OP, I'm not going to pile on, as lots of PPs have said YABU.
I understand how you feel she has some culpability in it and your upset at having his precious bike stolen through what feels like carelessness. But gardener has to do his job and it is shared and only access. It's a salutary lesson that feels rather unfair. But it wasn't a satisfactory solution where DS was storing it really.

I like how @Juells summarises the bottom line and what @Katgurl suggests you say if you do broach it with neighbour.

I hope you can find DS a new equally bargain second hand bike. And that you can find a better storage solution for his bike, locked on your property that no one can interfere with.

Hissy · 28/06/2018 12:12

I dont think you are being unreasonable at all!

RavenLG · 28/06/2018 12:13

Just claim it on household insurance. As far as you were aware it was locked away and now it's been stolen

IF the OP has insurance that covers communal areas that MIGHT be a possibility, but generally will only cover if there is a forced entry.

Communal access passages are not storage areas even if your neighbour says it’s ok. Lessons learned.

sunshinesupermum · 28/06/2018 12:13

I really don't understand that just because your son uses his bike everyday why he can't put it in your back garden with everyone else's bikes every time he comes home. Problem solved (when he gets a new bike and no I wouldn't expect NDN to pay up for it)

ScattyCharly · 28/06/2018 12:17

The problem is that you trusted someone (neighbour) to deal with an expensive piece of property belonging to your household. You knew that it was preventing a mower from getting down the path and would have to be moved. You also knew that she had form for putting it at the front.

You can’t ask her for the money as she didn’t steal it. Although she has been a bad neighbour by disregarding your concerns about the front, she didn’t commit the crime. All she is guilty of is being foolish.

FlyingMonkeys · 28/06/2018 12:21

Well clearly the only reasonable option is that the neighbour doesn't attempt to use the communal access to her property in the future. Then OP can store as much of her stuff there as she likes...

PlatypusPie · 28/06/2018 12:34

" Except that she wouldn't, because legal right of access supercedes any moral duty to keep your neighbour's belongings from being stolen from their garden."

'"She would, I've watched similar cases on JJ before. She moved the bike from a secure area to a non secure area.'"

OR... I think Judge Judy would have said that as this moving of the item had happened before, the OP would have been aware that this was not a secure arrangement.

DarlingNikita · 28/06/2018 12:39

I don't think you can compel her to pay, but I'd tell her the bike has been stolen and remind her how many times you've talked about this issue. Let her see you're angry.

jacqroberts68 · 28/06/2018 12:40

What if she had a wheelchair to get down the passage way? Or a pushchair? I personally would have got annoyed having to shift the bike even once a week and would have told you to stop leaving it there in the first place.

glintandglide · 28/06/2018 12:40

It’s not likely to be worth paying the excess to claim on the insurance for a bike that can be had secondhand for £150.

I agree OP you won’t see any money from neighbour so probably best to abandon the idea

glintandglide · 28/06/2018 12:41

It doesn’t really matter what judge Judy would say though does it? Envy