Bike Damage

[Bacon]

Ok, in November of 2009 I moved into a 5 bed house with live in landlords. I paid a £500 deposit, signed a contract and pay £425 rent for the room and use of shared facilities.

I informed them before I moved in that I had a motorbike and they said I could keep it in the garage although the garage was full of crap and they would clear it out for me.

3 months later, the garage was left untouched so I went in and cleared a large enough space for my bike. The bike was rolled in and everyone was happy.


Fast forward to 2 weekends ago (Saturday 7th Aug), the landlady asks me if I can move my bike out of the garage on the 8th so they can clear it out as they are getting worried that my bike may get damaged. I agree stating that I'm going out on a ride that day anyway.
I wheel the bike out of the garage to clean it only to find that it's already damaged down the right hand side.
I approach the landlady and ask which side of my bike the landlords son gets his BMX out from. The right hand side was the response. I then showed her the damage to the bellypan (scraped/paint removed) and she said we'll pay for it and get it sorted.
It is only after this that I start to notice other scrapes on the front fork, the frame and the engine.

On Monday 9th, I took the bike to a Yamaha dealer for a quote to repair the damage. Today the quote arrived and it totalled £1380.87.

The landlady has washed her hands of it stating she doesn't want to get involved and has instead left it with the landlord. This is where it gets interesting. Please stay with me...

I have tonight, shown him the damage and given him the quote. He has informed me that I'm taking the **** chucking a £1300 quote at him and whilst he is prepared to help me with the costs, there is no way he is paying £1300. He stated "you elected to park the bike in the garage and therefore you have to accept that something might happen to it. If the bike was on the drive and I put the bins out and scraped it at the same time then you would also have to accept responsibility as you chose to park it there.
In response I informed him that the bike was parked in the garage with his permission and he said yes but it was full of crap. And so the arguement goes on...


Where do I stand guys? He wants me to claim on my insurance and I've refused.

 

[necrotimus]

I don't know how things work in the UK but in the US it would be time to call a lawyer. Another possibility if you lived in the US would be to not pay rent to the landlord until the situation is satisifed by paying it instead into an escrow account. This is meant to allow the renter to have a means to get something resolved without being at the mercy of their landlord. I had to threaten a previous landlord with this until he repaired damages that existed before we moved into the house.

 

[greg]

it's criminal damages regardless of where the bike was stored

it might be worth getting another quote from an independant and seeing if it's any cheaper


the landlord may be able to use their home insurance to recover the costs, alternately you could try your insurers. Another option would be to use the legal cover on your policy and try and reclaim the costs that way.

I suspect either way though you may wish to find somewhere else to live after the fallout...

 

[spine]

I agree with Greg. Get another quote off someone else, as that does seem a bit steep. Some businesses will quote rediculous prices in the hope that you won't shop around.

 

[Bacon]

Well chaps, they are now denying any wrongdoing and claiming that I had no permission to use the garage... something I have been doing for 7 months or so now without anything being said. They have said if I can get a cheaper quote then they are willing to look at the house insurance route.

To be honest, I'd rather just leave it and move out asap.

 

[RJ2112]

Well chaps, they are now denying any wrongdoing and claiming that I had no permission to use the garage... something I have been doing for 7 months or so now without anything being said. They have said if I can get a cheaper quote then they are willing to look at the house insurance route.

To be honest, I'd rather just leave it and move out asap.

I'd move out.... but I'd still go to small claims court, or whatever the equivalent is and get compensation.

1300 pounds is still over $2000 USD. There's no way I'd let some POS take that much money out of my wallet -- and that's exactly what's happened here.

If you can compromise, and get some part of your money back, it's still better than nothing.

 

[Nooj]

Did you have anything in writing about being able to use the garage? If not it may just be their word against yours if it goes to court.

That quote sounds like a replace rather than repair cost, a few scratches shouldn't cost more than a couple of hundred quid to professionally repair. I reckon who ever gave you that quote has caught a wiff of a potential insurance pay-out and got very greedy. I'd get a few different repair quotes first, not from name dealers, visit a few body shops and painter and see what they say. Presenting a vastly over-inflated repair bill isn't going to help anyone.

Definitely look for somewhere else to live, WITHOUT KIDS! And be prepared for your current landlord to take the piss about returning your deposit in return for your repair bill. Thoroughly tidy up anywhere you've been and take pictures of all the areas and appliances you've had access to just before you leave in case they try and claim that you've broken stuff.

Go to CAB and see what they say, also ring round a few solicitors and see if they will do a free half-hour consultation as many do. But the best thing to help your cause is a reasonable repair bill.

Good luck with it.

 

[Bacon]

Nothing in writing no so it's just my word against theirs. It is more than just a few scratches hence the repair cost but yes, I could get it cheaper elsewhere.

After saying they had nothing to do with it they have now told me they are prepared to pay for the bellypan to be resprayed.

The mind boggles!

 

[The Toecutter]

You need The Peoples Court!! :rockon: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvOEipg2BqE]YouTube - The People's Court- "Motorcycle Damage" Part 1[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0noSVLUVa2g"]YouTube- The People's Court- "Motorcycle Damage" Part 2[/ame]