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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:
glintandglide · 28/06/2018 12:41

That was supposed to be a smile!

londonrach · 28/06/2018 12:42

Bike in your own garden locked. Cant believe how you even think this is your neighbours fault. You shouldnt ever keep things in shared passageway. In flats ive rented item would be removed and dumped as fire risk. Why you didnt learn from the two other times i dont know. Yabvvvu and a bad neighbour blocking the passageway.

viques · 28/06/2018 12:44

So because your son was too lazy to unlock the second gate and secure his bike in your own back garden your neighbour should pay?

Hmmm I wouldn't pay . His bike, his responsibility, his loss. Lesson learned.

Petitprince · 28/06/2018 12:45

Why not just leave it in your own garden?

Donotbequotingmeinbold · 28/06/2018 12:46

Yabu. She does not have to pay for your son's bike. You should not store anything in a shared area. She did not steal the bike.

Is it not covered by your insurance policy anyway?

frasier · 28/06/2018 12:48

The sad situation here is that the bold got stolen because it wasn’t on your property, it was in a place where others could and did move it. No one shoukd take responsibility for your possessions except you.

Miserysquared · 28/06/2018 12:49

I think your son should not leave his bike there. If the garden comes infrequently but the bike which is apparently only stored there overnight is always in the way it sort of looks more like he leaves the bike there because he is a bit lazy about taking it to the back yard/you don;t want it in the house.

It's unfortunate that the bike has been stolen, but for the sake of the £50/£60 it is worth I would take it as a lesson. and ensure from now on that he or you take responsibility for securing the bike in the back yard.

frasier · 28/06/2018 12:50

Bold? Bike

PorkyPortia · 28/06/2018 12:50

Love it that people know the law because they’ve watched JJ Grin Classic

Mama2017 · 28/06/2018 12:50

YABU. Having worked in housing I can tell you if you leave anything in a shared area it's at your own risk. That area is not for storage and you should have had the bike in your garden rather than the shared pathway. If she tripped over the bike you would be liable!

And if this has happened twice before and you know the Gardener comes regularly and needs access via that path why were you not moving the bike yourself in advance so they didn't have to faff about with your stuff?

Miserysquared · 28/06/2018 12:51

PS I guess it's also impossible for you to tell if the bike was stolen from the passageway which could have been accidentally left unlocked, or from the garden? If you saw them put it in the front you should have gone and moved it, if you are just guessing it was stolen in this manner and that the neighbour deliberately went against what they said they would do then you should definitely think it through before commenting to her.

SpandexTutu · 28/06/2018 12:52

It's your job to keep your property safe, not your neighbour's. You knew what she was doing, you knew she was flakey about it.

MouseholeCat · 28/06/2018 12:57

YABU- it's a shared area and you had repeated warning that this was happening. It's your property and responsibility, not your neighbour's.

Keep the bike on your property where nobody else has access. Secure the bike to something using a D lock through the frame and back wheel. If you're in a dodgy area I'd also use a secondary lock.

ADishBestEatenCold · 28/06/2018 13:00

"It's the only access to the back garden."

And you chose to partially block it with (at least) your son's bike and a visitor's bike. You do this, at least in part, because your "son uses his daily" and is presumably too lazy to walk the extra few yards to your garden where you keep the rest of your bikes.

Yes, you would be unreasonable to tell your neighbour that she has to pay for my son's bike and ... if you do ... she would not be unreasonable in telling you to get lost.

I have no idea if £150 is a high price to pay in teaching your family to keep their things out of shared spaces, but it is your family's price to pay.

viques · 28/06/2018 13:00

And another thing, if someone told me I had to pay I wouldn't. I would be more likely to listen though if someone asked me if I could pay. I still wouldn't pay but I would be pleased they had asked politely and would feel better about them in the future.

SweetSummerchild · 28/06/2018 13:02

you are just guessing it was stolen in this manner

You were quite happy to leave the bike unsecured in an area that you could never guarantee the security of. What if your neighbour or the gardener had forgotten to lock it? The responsibility of keeping your possessions secure is yours and yours alone. It shouldn’t be devolved to your neighbour.

Valuable bikes should be secured on your own private property. I doubt your contents insurance would cover you under these circumstances (for good reason).

halfwitpicker · 28/06/2018 13:03

Any chance of a diagram?

halfwitpicker · 28/06/2018 13:03

Any chance of a diagram?

purplelass · 28/06/2018 13:09

Someone let me know when this one gets on Judge Rinder - I can just imagine his face when OP tries to blame the neighbour Grin

BlueBug45 · 28/06/2018 13:20

@ PorkyPortia posters are going on reasonableness especially bike owners.

If your bike is valuable to you then if you put it in a communal area, you lock it to an immoveable object. You also ensure that it isn't blocking anyone's access in the case of an emergency.

Plenty of bikes get stolen from locked garages and sheds so putting it unlocked in a communal area is just madness.

Takethemdown · 28/06/2018 13:21

It's alright the people saying the neighbour should have said if she wasn't happy with it there. As someone in this position, not all neighbours are decent. You say no to ours and get a load of shit from them.
We currently have to climb over two full size bikes in our hallway to leave our flat. It's a fire hazard. If we complain we get a load of shit

WeAllHaveWings · 28/06/2018 13:22

You cant expect someone else to be responsible for your property in a shared area, you knew the gardener (not your NDN) had form for moving it into the front on several occasions. You didn't take any additional precautions (lock bike to wall for example).

Why do you think your NDN should pay for something she didn't accept responsibility for (saying she doesn't mind you leaving the bike in passage is not the same as accepting responsibility for it), and didn't move?

BlueBug45 · 28/06/2018 13:26

@Takethemdown if they aren't the freeholders then you can complain. Either to your landlord if you are a tenant, or to the freeholder if you are a leaseholder.

Freeholders agents are suppose to do random inspections anyway for fire safety, and they should actually come to see what the problem is before writing to the other flat's occupants.

Crusoe · 28/06/2018 13:29

Your bike, your responsibility. Simple as.

Jux · 28/06/2018 13:31

NEIGHBOUR AGREED THAT BIKE COULD BE LEFT IN PASSAGE.

Sorry for shouting but people seem to be missing this important fact.

Neightbour also agreed that the bike would be moved to back garden rather than front.

I think she assumed you would tell the gardener too, as you'd had a word with him before. She forgot to tell him, or she didn't see him in order to tell him. If he just pops in as and when, then she may have been out.

I think you can ask her to replace the bike - if you're lucky she'll have contents insurance and they'll agree to pay for it.

Do you have contents insurance? (NFU are fab, btw! I'm still agog that my mobility scooter was stolen and NFU got me a replacement in 3 days!!! That sounds like an advert, doesn't it? Sorry.)

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