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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:
PorkFlute · 28/06/2018 13:37

Yabu to expect your neighbour to pay. You chose to leave the bike in an area that others have access to so it was your risk to take.
In future keep bikes in your garden. You can buy lockable containers if you have no shed.

PorkFlute · 28/06/2018 13:37

Yabu to expect your neighbour to pay. You chose to leave the bike in an area that others have access to so it was your risk to take.
In future keep bikes in your garden. You can buy lockable containers if you have no shed.

onalongsabbatical · 28/06/2018 13:38

Jux It’s no good shouting, neighbour agreed bike could be left in passage is NOT the same as neighbour is now responsible for safety of bike, is it?

SweetSummerchild · 28/06/2018 13:38

Very few house contents policies will cover valuable bikes left unsecured in an outside area. Our garden is enclosed on all sides with a locked gate but we still have to have them in an insurance approved container/shed to cover them under contents insurance.

If kept in a garage the door must have a certain grade of lock.

ShatnersWig · 28/06/2018 13:41

Jux Whether you shout it or not, it doesn't matter. Neighbour saying they don't mind if the bike is left in the passage does not equate to neighbour has responsibility for the bike. If you want to ensure your bike isn't moved or stolen, you keep it in your own property boundary and not communal areas, preferably locked.

ShatnersWig · 28/06/2018 13:41

Jux Whether you shout it or not, it doesn't matter. Neighbour saying they don't mind if the bike is left in the passage does not equate to neighbour has responsibility for the bike. If you want to ensure your bike isn't moved or stolen, you keep it in your own property boundary and not communal areas, preferably locked.

PeppermintPasty · 28/06/2018 13:41

It's not a legally binding agreement with/on neighbour though, it wouldn't stand up in court imo.
The owner of the property would be expected to take full responsibility for it in this scenario. Where is their responsibility?

MarthasGinYard · 28/06/2018 13:42

Stop leaving your bike there and then you can't blame neighbour when she moves it for access.

Yabu

Why should she be responsible for your stuff?

Put a lockable container in your own garden.

MarthasGinYard · 28/06/2018 13:44

'NEIGHBOUR AGREED THAT BIKE COULD BE LEFT IN PASSAGE.'

But neighbour isn't responsible for moving it and securing it?

KingLooieCatz · 28/06/2018 13:45

We live in a 4 storey tenement. The stairwell is locked. There are 1 or 2 bikes on each landing and the ground floor. They are all locked. Totally standard. I doubt very much any are worth close to £800.

It's one of those things like having right of way on a roundabout is very little consolation if you get mowed down, so you anticipate other road users driving badly.

You're right she shouldn't have left it out, but it was pretty predictable and avoidable, especially with such an expensive bike.

BlueBug45 · 28/06/2018 13:50

@Jux i You can shout that the neighbour agreed but the fact that the bike was moved twice before indicates that it wasn't locked to an immovable object. This means it cannot be proved who moved the bike and where it was stolen from.

SweetSummerchild · 28/06/2018 13:54

I don’t know how old your DS is, but maybe this will teach him a valuable lesson about being less careless with his possessions.

I taught in a secondary school and was gobsmacked at how many pupils left their bikes unlocked. OK, it was a very ‘naice’ school, but thefts didn’t happen.

I’d often see Cubes and Treks and Konas left in the bike sheds with the bike locks attached to the lock holders on the frame and nothing else. I often wondered what the parents would think if they knew how the kids were treating the expensive bikes that they had paid for.

SweetSummerchild · 28/06/2018 13:55

Thefts did happen!

MyKingdomForBrie · 28/06/2018 14:02

No one's missing it Jux in fact several people have commented on it. Simply that people don't interpret it the same way you do.

OP knew that neighbor or gardener was regularly having to move her son's bike out of the way in order to use the passage they save every right to pass through. Not only did she not care about the inconvenience but she made demands about what the neighbor should do with the bloody inconvenient bike.

I think it's a bad lesson you're teaching your son OP, to blame others when you're more at fault.

I agree that in an ideal world she should have said that it wasn't ok to keep there, but maybe you're more intimidating than you realise. A mistake has been made and you have to suck it up because you're the one leaving a bike where it *shouldn't be left, regardless of whether you had spoken to her about it being there. It's not a garden extension/free storage for you, it's a communal passage for both houses to use as ingress/egress only.

Jux · 28/06/2018 14:07

OK, apologies everyone.

flumpybear · 28/06/2018 14:21

I'm sorry about the bike but it's in the way in the passage way - it should be in your own garden and locked To something so it's safe and nobody can move it

I think YABU

DontTouchTheMoustache · 28/06/2018 14:57

I'm curious how the op knows for sure that this is how the bike was stolen? Could someone else have gained entry and taken the bike? Perhaps while the gardener was moving in and out somebody snuck it and grabbed it?
If OP saw the bike being moved to the front garden while the gardener was there then she should have put the bike somewhere safe. If she didn't see what happened then she certainly can't go around accusing people and demanding money.
The point is whether it was moved first or just nabbed from the garden the bike was not secure and this was bound to happen.

OurMiracle1106 · 28/06/2018 15:07

Actually if the area is communal it’s not secure. Gardener leaving gate open or unlocked. Neighbour forgetting to lock it etc means it’s not a secure area.

The neighbour has moved it from a more secure area to a area less secure, however neither were secure in the first place.

I wouldn’t pay. I have said OVERNIGHT not at your fancy including during the day and I’m guessing she was assuming it would be end of the day not throughout

Juells · 28/06/2018 19:06

If you think about it, things could easily have gone this way...

Gardener unlocks gate.

Gardener goes into passage and wheels out bicycle, leans it against the wall
Gardener gets lawn mower from truck and wheels it down passage to N's garden
Gardener forgets about bike leaning against wall, and gets on with cutting grass
Passing tea leaf gets on bike and cycles away

DayManChampionOfTheSun · 28/06/2018 19:31

Was she supposed to store the bike in her back garden for 30 minutes or was she supposed to put it into your garden? Also, has she admitted that she / gardener moved the bike or could it be that that passage was left open?

Pengggwn · 28/06/2018 19:33

You're blocking access and being a PITA.

HaudYerWheeshtBawbag · 28/06/2018 19:35

Yabu, you cannot dictate to people to comply to your wishes, you also cannot hold them responsible if the items go missing! Ultimately it’s your own fault that the item went missing you’d have thought you would have learnt from the 2nd incident that she cannot and should not be responsible for your household items.

Takethemdown · 29/06/2018 00:06

So if the neighbour wants to use her access way which should be clear she has to take responsibility for your sons bike by wheeling it into her back garden as yours will be locked (you said at both ends) and keeping it safe or she has to hope you are in when she knocks so that you can move it?

You know just so she can gain access to the area she has a right to clear access to?

Imknackeredzzz · 29/06/2018 00:18

Totally your fault, pain in the arse blocking a shared accessway- suiting yourself and bugger everyone else.

Tough lesson to learn but there you go, if it was so important put it in your garden!

TigerTooth · 29/06/2018 17:32

I wouldn't pay you - you are leaving your property obstructing the communal area - what if everyone did that. YABU and A bit selfish.