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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Wheelie bin damaged neighbours car.

105 replies

GiantBabyMumma · 29/11/2018 15:13

Hi,

I had my neighbours (both ladies from next door and one from opposite) knock on my door this morning to tell me that my empty wheelie bin had blown over and dented the side of their car.

They said that it had blown over once and they had picked it up, then it had blown over again into their car and caused the damage.

I was in my dressing gown and holding my crying (teething) baby so told them they'd have to come back later and speak to my partner when he is home from work.

Who is at fault here? I think neither as the wind is beyond my control!

I didn't hear the bin falling over, but they did, twice?

They supposedly moved it into the second position from which it fell causing the damage, so they have admitted that they put it in a place it was likely to cause damage if it fell.

If they had told me the first time I would have moved it.

Everyone on our street keeps their bins on the drive as there is no access to the back and nowhere else to keep them, so not just us.

I also feel as though the 3 of them knocking on my door together was to try and intimidate me into agreeing to pay any costs.

This happened between my partner leaving for work at 7.10am and 8.30am when they knocked on my door. They knew I was home alone with the baby (as I am every week day whilst on maternity leave).

Would I be unreasonable to say, no, we will not be paying anything? My partner wants to bring up the 3 of them banging on my door together to gang up on me when they know I'm home alone, do you think this would just cause further arguments?

Tia

OP posts:
RiverTam · 29/11/2018 15:14

it's surely accidental damage and their insurance will pay out if necessary. Sounds like they're trying to get away with not making a claim. Just politely stand firm.

BreakfastAtSquiffanys · 29/11/2018 15:15

It didn't damage their car from the position in which you left it

BreakfastAtSquiffanys · 29/11/2018 15:16

Actually, you didn't leave it in the first position, the bin men did after they emptied it

ExplodedPeach · 29/11/2018 15:16

YANBU, I wouldn't pay.

You didn't do anything that caused it and they put the bin in the position from which it damaged the car. It's just one of those things!

JacquesHammer · 29/11/2018 15:17

Honestly? It’s a tricky one.

Did you know the bin had been emptied? I think when the weather is as it is you take additional
Steps to prevent things like this happening?

I would offer a contribution if it was me.

BaronessBomburst · 29/11/2018 15:18

If they'd have left the bin where it was, blown over, it wouldn't have dented the car, would it? They should have put it somewhere secure.
I'm still struggling to work out how a wheelie bin can dent a car though?

Nesssie · 29/11/2018 15:19

Nah don't pay the CFers anything! Not your fault at all.

lovetherisingsun · 29/11/2018 15:21

This is what their insurance is for.

Purplerain067 · 29/11/2018 15:21

I do worry about a bin hitting my car, as they always seem to be falling all over the place. I will pick them up and try and wedge them against something if they have fallen in a dangerous place (close to my car), but if one did happen to hit my car I would never gang up and bang on a neighbours door!!

So rude of them. Tell them that you will be paying nothing as you do not control the wind.

lovetherisingsun · 29/11/2018 15:23

As long as you weren't "negligent".

charlestonchaplin · 29/11/2018 15:24

I'm not sure why women expect to be taken seriously when they say things like, 'They knew I was home alone with the baby'. Are you a woman or a mouse? Did the baby eat your brain and your confidence? It's a simple matter. It shouldn't require your big, strong, manly husband to deal with it.

RiverTam · 29/11/2018 15:25

Jacques what do you think people who are at work or just out when the bin men come on a windy day should do to prevent the bin from blowing over?

This kind of thing is exactly why you have insurance, they just don't want to claim and lose their no-claims bonus. Too bad.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 29/11/2018 15:26

Wind = act of God

Bin men = intervening act

Neighbours moving it = intervening act

Bin being outside on bin day = standard operating procedure

So no negligence, just an accident. They claim on their insurance, that's what it is for!

JacquesHammer · 29/11/2018 15:27

what do you think people who are at work or just out when the bin men come on a windy day should do to prevent the bin from blowing over?

We look after each other’s bins. So days I’m working from home I’ll bring in mine and the lady next door’s. When I’m not, chap down two doors down does it.

We all sort of help each other out.

In any event, it’s kind of moot as OP wasn’t out!

lovetherisingsun · 29/11/2018 15:29

I'm not sure why women expect to be taken seriously when they say things like, 'They knew I was home alone with the baby'. Are you a woman or a mouse? Did the baby eat your brain and your confidence? It's a simple matter. It shouldn't require your big, strong, manly husband to deal with it What a horrible, nasty thing to say.

I wanted to kill myself when I had my firstborn. I was suffering severe PND. Having to deal with any confrontation, even normally, shakes me. When you're sleep deprived and feeling like shit and feeling vulnerable then yes I would want my husband to deal with it. Not everyone is amazing and confident and fabulous and can deal with anything, you know.

SaucyJack · 29/11/2018 15:29

Had you gone out to get your bin in, or just left it to blow up and down the street? Having a crying (teething) baby doesn’t exempt you from basic household tasks or answering the door to more than one person.

But it is what insurance is for, so they’ll have to claim on it if you genuinely couldn’t have prevented it.

Bunnymumma · 29/11/2018 15:30

Pay nothing! If this went through any insurance, they wouldn't pay either, citing an act of god.

They moved the bin and then tried to strong arm you with extra support, so it sounds like they just feel stupid and put out.

Original poster
GiantBabyMumma · 29/11/2018 15:32

@charlestonchaplin I mentioned being home alone with the baby because what did they expect me to do? Take him outside in the pouring rain to stare at a dent on their car which may or may not have been caused by my bin, which was in a position I didn't put it in? And 3 women thought it was necessary to harass me on my doorstep about it when the car only belongs to one of them and I was holding my child?

I am more than capable of standing up for myself, I don't need a big, strong, manly husband in that sense. They just made me feel very uncomfortable in my own home by coming over altogether when they knew I was alone. 1 of them owns the car. Not all 3.

OP posts:
RiverTam · 29/11/2018 15:32

Jacques well, that does sound very lovely but won't be happening in my street, partly because lots of people are out in the day, or working and not paying attention to whether the bin men have been, and also because it's impossible to know who's bin is whose.

I'm afraid I think it's rather ludicrous to expect every bin on the street to be returned to its rightful home as soon as they've been emptied, and to use the fact that that hasn't happened as a reason to get the OP to pay up.

RiverTam · 29/11/2018 15:33

of course they were mobbing you, OP. Absolute bullies.

JacquesHammer · 29/11/2018 15:34

and also because it's impossible to know who's bin is whose

Oh come on, it’s not hard to number a bin Grin

I'm afraid I think it's rather ludicrous to expect every bin on the street to be returned to its rightful home as soon as they've been emptied, and to use the fact that that hasn't happened as a reason to get the OP to pay up

I don’t think it is essential on a normal day. I think when the weather is as it is, it’s a sensible thing to do. Because it prevents situations like this if nothing else!

Original poster
GiantBabyMumma · 29/11/2018 15:34

@saucyjack the bin was on my drive in the position it has been in every day for the last year that I have lived here. The same position that theirs is in! I don't know where they moved it to after it blew over the first time, they could have told me and I would have moved it behind the other full bin so that it didn't blow over again.

OP posts:
Puggles123 · 29/11/2018 15:34

Nah it’s not your fault, unless you had left it somewhere unreasonable then it’s one of those things, unfortunately.

billybagpuss · 29/11/2018 15:35

So the weather was appalling and they picked it up and it blew away again? As a general rule things are less likely to cause damage of that nature if lower down (lower centre of gravity etc) so if they hadn't picked it up in the first place it wouldn't have happened. I always leave blown over pots until the wind has subsided for that reason

I would ignore them and see what happens.

charlestonchaplin · 29/11/2018 15:35

The OP doesn't say the bin was where it was due to the bin men. She said they keep the wheelie bin on the drive normally. The wind may be out of OP's control but keeping the bin on the driveway where it may be blown in such a way that it can damage other's property, is not. The fact that access to the back of the property is difficult is neither here nor there. It's difficult, not impossible.

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