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Original poster

Neighbour issue - does she have a case to ask for compensation?

55 replies

NeighbourIssue · 29/05/2014 08:55

Just quick details

Victorian conversion with 3 flats.

Neighbour has kept a suitcase in communal hallway since Christmas.
Time and time again we asked her to move it. it was always next week...

Suitcase falls one day after we got in, if we had been out it would have blocked the door, preventing all three flats from getting into the building. Giant weight, could have hurt my child if it had fallen on it.

That day we moved it to the bin cupboard.

5 days later, neighbour knocks on door and says it was stolen.
Today (2 weeks on) she says she wants compensation as there were 'Dolce & Gabanna' dresses in there and it was thousands of pounds of clothes.

I just kept repeating she had left them there for 5 months, it fell and could have blocked us all in.

She said we should have knocked on her door and asked for it to be taken in. Basically what we had done for 5 months.

Does she have a leg to stand on?

(ps name changed for this post)

OP posts:
Longdistance · 29/05/2014 08:58

Not a chance. D&G dresses my arse.

It's her own bloody fault.

MadScientistsRuleTheAsylum · 29/05/2014 09:02

And how was she planning to prove what was in the case?

Dropdeadfred2 · 29/05/2014 09:04

Yell her to claim on insurance? She would need evidence of her amazing wardrobe...

Dropdeadfred2 · 29/05/2014 09:04

Tell not yell...

Dropdeadfred2 · 29/05/2014 09:04

Tell not yell...

vestandknickers · 29/05/2014 09:07

Ha ha! She's mad!

I bet it was a suitcase full of dead squirrels who'd "looked at her funny".

LIZS · 29/05/2014 09:07

Nope , hope she has receipts for her "D & G" to claim off her household insurance. Did you tell her where it was ?

theowlwhowasafraidofthedark · 29/05/2014 09:09

Did someone mistake it for rubbish and put it out with the bins?

Original poster
NeighbourIssue · 29/05/2014 09:11

I wasn't in when she first came to complain. so I don't know the full details and my husband was holding our 2yo so he couldn't go into too many details.

She said (bumped into her on the way to the trin this morning) she was going to come round this evening so I want to be prepared...

Can she claim on insurance if it was out on communal areas? or then in the unlocked bin cupboard?

BTW she also tends to not lock the door - slams it and it doesn't close properly.

I have photos of the case in the communal hallway from April...

Thanks

OP posts:
Original poster
NeighbourIssue · 29/05/2014 09:12

It was put in the cupboard where there is already a bike and a folding table.

This is the cupboard the bin men come and take the bags from. it is not locked but the bike and table have been there ages as well. no idea who owns those so they haven't been stolen

OP posts:
LIZS · 29/05/2014 09:13

She left it in a communal area , unsecured. Would say a bike or pushchair be covered in similar circumstances ? Doubt her insurance will buy it unless she has personal possessions cover but that is her problem.

Original poster
NeighbourIssue · 29/05/2014 09:15

The thing is all the other flats have children and we all take the prams into our flats. she is the only person leaving things in the communal areas in the way of everyone else.

I just want to know legally, if there is something she can claim from us as I think my husband admitted he was the one who took it to the bin cupboard.

I would have done it but it was too heavy for me to carry

OP posts:
LIZS · 29/05/2014 09:18

so in her eyes he "stole" it ?

Original poster
NeighbourIssue · 29/05/2014 09:18

yes, she told me today that 'putting in the bin cupboard was tantamount to theft'

OP posts:
LIZS · 29/05/2014 09:19

What does your lease say about leaving stuff in hall?

MadScientistsRuleTheAsylum · 29/05/2014 09:19

Did he tell her that is where is was? So she could have gone to get it if was so important?

Original poster
NeighbourIssue · 29/05/2014 09:19

Will need to check it...
I don't think it is allowed, but shall have a read this evening then..

OP posts:
Original poster
NeighbourIssue · 29/05/2014 09:20

She only came to complain after it was gone. so she knew where it was put, she must have guessed... it was taken down on the wednesday evening and she only came round monday evening

OP posts:
MadScientistsRuleTheAsylum · 29/05/2014 09:21

For theft, there has to be an intent to permanently deprive someone of their possessions. Not a chance that applies here. If you'd asked her to move it, told her when you had moved it and she did nothing about it then I can't see how she can claim. She presume alb knows that the bins are collected from that cupboard?

I would tell her to do one.

PeterParkerSays · 29/05/2014 09:23

Did you stick a note through her door telling her that it had been moved to the bin cupboard? Other than that, I can't see you did anything wrong.

Tell her that you won't be offering anything towards her loss and that she'll need to take this up with the police or the landlord.

if she persists - tell her that she left the main door open so anyone could have taken it. If she thinks your husband's actions are tantamount to theft then she must contact the police - offer to do it for her.

springbabydays · 29/05/2014 09:27

Sorry but she's got to be talking rubbish. No-one would leave a case full of designer clothes in a communal area and the insurance company will probably laugh at her if she tries to claim. The pp who mentioned squirrels is probably much closer to the mark.

Original poster
NeighbourIssue · 29/05/2014 09:34

Thanks all.
Just looking on the email and the copy of the lease we have on an email from the solicitor is a bit unreadable. Need to check if my husband filed a better one somewhere...

She rents her flat and we own, we have a share of the freehold, as does her landlord - not sure if this is relevant...

OP posts:
TheDudess · 29/05/2014 09:42

Has she reported the theft to the police?

Surely to claim on any insurance she would need a crime reference number, which would have to be logged as "left thousands of pounds of dead squirrels in suitcase unsecured in communal area, despite being repeatedly asked to move them".

If it ever got as far as the insurers, which it won't, they would take one look at the details of the crime and tell her to do one.

Original poster
NeighbourIssue · 29/05/2014 09:53

As far as I am aware she hasn't reported anything.

And I doubt she would even have asked the Council if the bin men had seen it/taken it.

She told me this morning she "had talked to her parents and they said it was theft and she wanted compensation"

OP posts:
JingletsJangletsYellowBanglets · 29/05/2014 09:57

If it blocked your hallway in any way, it was a fire hazard (preventing you from exiting safely in case of a fire). Tell her that is illegal and invalidates the building's insurance (including her landlord's).

Tell her she had 5 months notice to stop obstructing the stairway and chose to ignore those. Also tell her she should check her tenancy agreement as you're certain her LL is required to tell her she can't put things in the hallway as it invalidates the freeholders' insurance. (that's usually a standard clause that you can't keep anything in the hallway as it's a liability - if someone broke their leg tripping over her suitcase, they could sue the freeholders, hence why most leases do not allow tenants to keep things in communal areas.)

Keep repeating you didn't steal anything, it's nothing to do with you, and if she wants to report a crime, she should contact the police for her insurance purposes.