Do work have any responsibility, their bike "shed" was not fit for purpose

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Gapow

New Member
I had my bike stolen on the 25th of February from outside my office. I locked it up outside the office, right outside the front door, where they have those metal U shaped posts to secure your bike to. As it turns out, these posts were broken at one end. I did not realise when securing my bike, that the concrete the post was attached to could be lift up and my Kryptonite lock, slipped underneath.

6 people saw the guy struggling with my lock and not one person thought to query what was going on. As he couldn't undo the lock, he just slipped it under the broken post. They all saw him carrying the bike out the car park, not ride it, and still not one person thought "hmm that's a bit odd".

There are no signs saying "Bicycles are left at owners own risk" or something to that effect. The day after my bike was stolen, the condemned the bike shed, saying it wasn't fit for purpose, which is my whole argument. They tried to claim that my parking permit included the words "possessions left in the carpark are left at owners own risk", however I don't have a parking permit for that carpark so have not signed anything to that effect.

Once I had countered these early attempts at deflecting any blame, they said it had gone to their legal team. It has been with them for over a month and they will not give me any answer other than " company does not accept any responsibility"

Do I have any ground to stand on legally? Their facilities were not up to scratch, they even admitted that as they condemned the bike shed the day after my bike was stolen from it

Any advice would be helpful.
 

shouldbeinbed

Rollin' along
Location
Manchester way
You will need to get hold of any, if any, prior reports, memos, emails etc that recognised there was a problem with the stand(s) and it was recommended for / should have been repaired or condemned before your bike was stolen.

I imagine the legal department will be suggesting that the condemning of the facility was as a direct response to your loss, unforseen beforehand and that the management should be congratulated for recognising and dealing with the problem so quickly after an incident.

Unless any of the people that watched the thief in action are employed as security with a remit to be challenging such behaviour, or you have one hell of a 'good citizen' policy that expects anyone to jump in and tackle someone in that situation, regardless of personal safety, I guess you've just had a lesson in human nature on that one.

If you have free legal advice through a union or bank account with benefits or home insurance etc then give them a call and see how they see it, but do a bit of homework first, check whatever workplace policies that may apply and double check your own paperwork & ask for sight of your HR file to be sure you've not inadvertently (or forgotten about) signed a disclaimer absolving them of liability - still worth challenging even if so, but better for your composure if you don't get wrong footed in a meeting.

One to be wary of, if I've got it right, you say you don't have permit to park (car) in that area? Could they stretch that to bike parking too? Are there any other facilities you could have used or areas you do have a permit for? Any way that they could make a claim that you should have been using somewhere else and whatever liability they may have been able to consider is invalidated because you chose to park where you shouldn't. Do you drive/have a permit with an 'owners risk' disclaimer regardless of that particular car park or not. Ideally you don't and bikes do not require a permit so you couldn't legitimately have been expected to know what a car park permit or application for one stipulates.
 

Profpointy

Legendary Member
whilst I sympathise for the loss, not sure I agree with blaming the bike shed provided out of the goodness of your employer's heart. If provider of shed is responsible for theft from it, pretty soon they'll all be removed. Hey, if I let a friend keep stuff in my shed, I'd be pretty miffed to get a bill for doing 'em a favour if it was robbed.
 

mattobrien

Guru
Location
Sunny Suffolk
I suspect that if you try to persue your employers for your loss they many not be your employer for too much longer.

I am struggling to see how they are responsible for your unfortunate loss. You failed to notice the stand wasn't fit for purpose, so there is every chance they were unaware too, so pretty hard to blame them for something they knew nothing about.

Sorry for your loss, and for not providing a more positive answer.
 
If this was a car stolen from a car park would you think work would be replacing it?
If this was a car being stolen from a car park, I would assume it was insured.
 

Moodyman

Legendary Member
My bike got stolen in Feb 2013. Head office of a bank. Yes, that 's right, a bank.

Bike locked via cheap cable lock in a wheel bender. The scrotes cut through the perimeter fence and used bolt cutters to get past my cable. Work said I parked at my own risk. I had home insurance so didn't push the issue with work.

A group of office smokers stood bout 70 metres away and did nowt.

Work now changed to Sheffield stands with caged parking area - combination code required to get in. It hurts but take it on the chin,
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
We've lost about 3 bikes from within a so called secure facility.nfaults were found with the door,but the folk who have lost bikes had no recourse for action against the employer. It's tough, but if the fault wasn't known about, then it's just tough.

Let's say that our facility only has a handful of bikes in now, most lock up outside on Sheffield stands.
 
I used to work on Tabernacle Street in The City, my bike was nicked from the rack slap bang outside the security reception. I asked for the CCTV to be viewed and they said the thief was there for a good twenty minutes hammering and sawing yards from where the security bod sat, in plain view. I went mad, insisted on the cops coming down and sent angry emails to the head of security for the firm who eventually replied "You could get the tube to work". Months later she warned employees about bag-snatchers operating near the office, I sent an email saying maybe staff could leave their bags at home, never got a reply.
 
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