Who pays for replacing breaking down doors?
Discussion
I today had to pay £215 for a forced entry and lock change to a company asked to break into a house for the police. I took the new key and now I can't get into the house cos the police/locksmith or someone has nailed the door to the frame and the frame itself has become detached from the house. It will be an expensive fix.
The 5-0 then came round to ask some questions about the tenants, which I was happy to answer. They found me from the land registry records. Real shame they couldn't be bothered to do this beforehand and I'd have given them the spare key.
But then maybe one of their mates wouldn't have been able to charge the £215 for a secondhand lock and ONE key.
Or maybe I'm just being cynical....
The 5-0 then came round to ask some questions about the tenants, which I was happy to answer. They found me from the land registry records. Real shame they couldn't be bothered to do this beforehand and I'd have given them the spare key.
But then maybe one of their mates wouldn't have been able to charge the £215 for a secondhand lock and ONE key.
Or maybe I'm just being cynical....
zedstar said:
I today had to pay £215 for a forced entry and lock change to a company asked to break into a house for the police. I took the new key and now I can't get into the house cos the police/locksmith or someone has nailed the door to the frame and the frame itself has become detached from the house. It will be an expensive fix.
The 5-0 then came round to ask some questions about the tenants, which I was happy to answer. They found me from the land registry records. Real shame they couldn't be bothered to do this beforehand and I'd have given them the spare key.
But then maybe one of their mates wouldn't have been able to charge the £215 for a secondhand lock and ONE key.
Or maybe I'm just being cynical....
... or maybe the police don't like to advertise the fact that they will be paying a visit.The 5-0 then came round to ask some questions about the tenants, which I was happy to answer. They found me from the land registry records. Real shame they couldn't be bothered to do this beforehand and I'd have given them the spare key.
But then maybe one of their mates wouldn't have been able to charge the £215 for a secondhand lock and ONE key.
Or maybe I'm just being cynical....
It kinda defeats the object if someone knows you are coming.
NinjaPower said:
I'm afraid social housing has a reputation that is slowly getting worse, which is sad because it's a time that we need more of it than ever.
They are getting pushed into private rented, however with the introduction of Universal Credit, they are being pushed back. Giving some of these people a library card would be a stupid idea, let alone several hundred pounds every 4 weeks which they are supposed to pay their rent with.zedstar said:
I today had to pay £215 for a forced entry and lock change to a company asked to break into a house for the police. I took the new key and now I can't get into the house cos the police/locksmith or someone has nailed the door to the frame and the frame itself has become detached from the house. It will be an expensive fix.
The 5-0 then came round to ask some questions about the tenants, which I was happy to answer. They found me from the land registry records. Real shame they couldn't be bothered to do this beforehand and I'd have given them the spare key.
But then maybe one of their mates wouldn't have been able to charge the £215 for a secondhand lock and ONE key.
Or maybe I'm just being cynical....
You are being cynical as the Police won't be telling Jo Bloggs the location, time and date of an operation.The 5-0 then came round to ask some questions about the tenants, which I was happy to answer. They found me from the land registry records. Real shame they couldn't be bothered to do this beforehand and I'd have given them the spare key.
But then maybe one of their mates wouldn't have been able to charge the £215 for a secondhand lock and ONE key.
Or maybe I'm just being cynical....
I always speak to the landlord as soon as the door has gone in if we can't secure it and give them the option to come and put it right. Sadly a lot of the tenants don't want to disclose the land lord details so unless we can find papers in the house with details on it will be boarded up. Unless there are previous logs to the address with the landlords details on there isn't any more we can do.
Luckily we use a range of options when entering so some of the time the door is opened with very minimal damage meaning we can lock it with no need for a call out which is always the best result.
Greendubber said:
You are being cynical as the Police won't be telling Jo Bloggs the location, time and date of an operation.
I always speak to the landlord as soon as the door has gone in if we can't secure it and give them the option to come and put it right. Sadly a lot of the tenants don't want to disclose the land lord details so unless we can find papers in the house with details on it will be boarded up. Unless there are previous logs to the address with the landlords details on there isn't any more we can do.
Luckily we use a range of options when entering so some of the time the door is opened with very minimal damage meaning we can lock it with no need for a call out which is always the best result.
A retiring police officer, one from the old school, local bicycle community officer, stated to me that he was glad to be leaving the service, and that young constables were looking for the excitement from the job, "kicking doors in or car chases".I always speak to the landlord as soon as the door has gone in if we can't secure it and give them the option to come and put it right. Sadly a lot of the tenants don't want to disclose the land lord details so unless we can find papers in the house with details on it will be boarded up. Unless there are previous logs to the address with the landlords details on there isn't any more we can do.
Luckily we use a range of options when entering so some of the time the door is opened with very minimal damage meaning we can lock it with no need for a call out which is always the best result.
In my case, the tenant had decided to move to Canada, without telling his friends etc. I presume the police thought the tenant was incapacitated inside the rental FLAT, but rather than speak to tenants in neighbouring FLATS, they smashed in the FLAT's door.
The travelling tenant had an unusual surname, and once his neighbouring tenants had reported the damage inflicted to the FLAT's door, through directory enquiries I was able to contact the travelling tenant's relatives, who advised me that the tenant was in Canada.
Did the police have either the common sense or the desire to ask neighbouring tenants for contact details of the landlord, or to search the Land Registry for the same, oir even search directory enquiries--NO, kick the fxxxxing door in.
As to police not wanting to give out intelligence data prior to a call. I also had a burglary at a retail premises, "did I have any suspect/s in mind", Yes, I replied and offering over the suspect's name. The police only then went and arrested the suspect at his place of work, advising the arrested person that I had named him as a suspect.
northwest monkey said:
NinjaPower said:
I'm afraid social housing has a reputation that is slowly getting worse, which is sad because it's a time that we need more of it than ever.
They are getting pushed into private rented, however with the introduction of Universal Credit, they are being pushed back. Giving some of these people a library card would be a stupid idea, let alone several hundred pounds every 4 weeks which they are supposed to pay their rent with.The social housing sector is absolutely terrified about universal credit.
On the rare occasion that housing benefit was accidentally paid to the tenant instead of direct to the housing association, we never saw that money again.
Excuses included:
I don't think I received it.
I must have spent it.
I don't know what happened to it.
I had important things to spend it on instead on the rent
It's not my fault
I think the bank took it
Dog ate my homework
Etc
That tenant would then remain in arrears until the end of their tenancy, seemingly never able to come up with the money.
Wings said:
A retiring police officer, one from the old school, local bicycle community officer, stated to me that he was glad to be leaving the service, and that young constables were looking for the excitement from the job, "kicking doors in or car chases".
In my case, the tenant had decided to move to Canada, without telling his friends etc. I presume the police thought the tenant was incapacitated inside the rental FLAT, but rather than speak to tenants in neighbouring FLATS, they smashed in the FLAT's door.
The travelling tenant had an unusual surname, and once his neighbouring tenants had reported the damage inflicted to the FLAT's door, through directory enquiries I was able to contact the travelling tenant's relatives, who advised me that the tenant was in Canada.
Did the police have either the common sense or the desire to ask neighbouring tenants for contact details of the landlord, or to search the Land Registry for the same, oir even search directory enquiries--NO, kick the fxxxxing door in.
As to police not wanting to give out intelligence data prior to a call. I also had a burglary at a retail premises, "did I have any suspect/s in mind", Yes, I replied and offering over the suspect's name. The police only then went and arrested the suspect at his place of work, advising the arrested person that I had named him as a suspect.
Cool story broIn my case, the tenant had decided to move to Canada, without telling his friends etc. I presume the police thought the tenant was incapacitated inside the rental FLAT, but rather than speak to tenants in neighbouring FLATS, they smashed in the FLAT's door.
The travelling tenant had an unusual surname, and once his neighbouring tenants had reported the damage inflicted to the FLAT's door, through directory enquiries I was able to contact the travelling tenant's relatives, who advised me that the tenant was in Canada.
Did the police have either the common sense or the desire to ask neighbouring tenants for contact details of the landlord, or to search the Land Registry for the same, oir even search directory enquiries--NO, kick the fxxxxing door in.
As to police not wanting to give out intelligence data prior to a call. I also had a burglary at a retail premises, "did I have any suspect/s in mind", Yes, I replied and offering over the suspect's name. The police only then went and arrested the suspect at his place of work, advising the arrested person that I had named him as a suspect.
Greendubber said:
You are being cynical as the Police won't be telling Jo Bloggs the location, time and date of an operation.
I always speak to the landlord as soon as the door has gone in if we can't secure it and give them the option to come and put it right. Sadly a lot of the tenants don't want to disclose the land lord details so unless we can find papers in the house with details on it will be boarded up. Unless there are previous logs to the address with the landlords details on there isn't any more we can do.
Luckily we use a range of options when entering so some of the time the door is opened with very minimal damage meaning we can lock it with no need for a call out which is always the best result.
Fair enough.I always speak to the landlord as soon as the door has gone in if we can't secure it and give them the option to come and put it right. Sadly a lot of the tenants don't want to disclose the land lord details so unless we can find papers in the house with details on it will be boarded up. Unless there are previous logs to the address with the landlords details on there isn't any more we can do.
Luckily we use a range of options when entering so some of the time the door is opened with very minimal damage meaning we can lock it with no need for a call out which is always the best result.
Good thing they use a locksmith from a little town 20 miles away rather than one in the huge and busy city in which I live. Real nice to have to pay for someones extra time and mileage. I appreciate you try to minimise this by talking to the landlord and thats a decent thing to do, I don't know why its not policy or best practice though, they came round straight after to ask me questions - I would have happily sent a locksmith round if they had given me the option.
zedstar said:
Fair enough.
Good thing they use a locksmith from a little town 20 miles away rather than one in the huge and busy city in which I live. Real nice to have to pay for someones extra time and mileage. I appreciate you try to minimise this by talking to the landlord and thats a decent thing to do, I don't know why its not policy or best practice though, they came round straight after to ask me questions - I would have happily sent a locksmith round if they had given me the option.
If it's anything like my force we used to have a list of local glass & door places that we used on a call out basis and they were always quick and cheap. Now someone has reinvented the wheel and decided we have to use a large national company by contacting a call centre who will find the nearest on call guy to come out. I once waited 4 hours as a guy came from over 150 miles away to board a window we had gone in via. They're expensive and sGood thing they use a locksmith from a little town 20 miles away rather than one in the huge and busy city in which I live. Real nice to have to pay for someones extra time and mileage. I appreciate you try to minimise this by talking to the landlord and thats a decent thing to do, I don't know why its not policy or best practice though, they came round straight after to ask me questions - I would have happily sent a locksmith round if they had given me the option.
t but sadly someone has got promoted off sackin off the excellent local guys and employing these mongs. I think the local guys used to cost about 50 quid to board a front door for us and would often take it off a price to replace if the home owner accepted a quote later. I dread to think how much the new people cost.
Method of entry is my departments speciality so we will always use the most suitable way of getting into a place and damage is quite high up the list on things to keep to a minimum believe it or not. Sadly though people who don't often get chance to 'do a door' and aren't as well trained think it's very macho to turn a door to match sticks meaning anyone inside will be woken up and then start flushing.
Greendubber said:
zedstar said:
I today had to pay £215 for a forced entry and lock change to a company asked to break into a house for the police. I took the new key and now I can't get into the house cos the police/locksmith or someone has nailed the door to the frame and the frame itself has become detached from the house. It will be an expensive fix.
The 5-0 then came round to ask some questions about the tenants, which I was happy to answer. They found me from the land registry records. Real shame they couldn't be bothered to do this beforehand and I'd have given them the spare key.
But then maybe one of their mates wouldn't have been able to charge the £215 for a secondhand lock and ONE key.
Or maybe I'm just being cynical....
You are being cynical as the Police won't be telling Jo Bloggs the location, time and date of an operation.The 5-0 then came round to ask some questions about the tenants, which I was happy to answer. They found me from the land registry records. Real shame they couldn't be bothered to do this beforehand and I'd have given them the spare key.
But then maybe one of their mates wouldn't have been able to charge the £215 for a secondhand lock and ONE key.
Or maybe I'm just being cynical....
I always speak to the landlord as soon as the door has gone in if we can't secure it and give them the option to come and put it right. Sadly a lot of the tenants don't want to disclose the land lord details so unless we can find papers in the house with details on it will be boarded up. Unless there are previous logs to the address with the landlords details on there isn't any more we can do.
Luckily we use a range of options when entering so some of the time the door is opened with very minimal damage meaning we can lock it with no need for a call out which is always the best result.
All the jobs were raised as 'rechargeable' - "secure property after police raid, recharge to tenant"; whether the costs (where drugs/paraphernalia/other related items were ever recovered) is unknown - but that ALMO regularly wrote off quite a few hundred £k on historical rechargeable (and not just for doors being kicked down, broken windows due to vandalism or break-ins etc) jobs...
jith said:
Talk about ludicrous generalisation!!
My experience is that there are just as many "scumbags" working in council offices. Utterly mindless morons...J
I'm going through a legal process with my Council at the moment, which is way behind schedule. My experience is that there are just as many "scumbags" working in council offices. Utterly mindless morons...J
The moron dealing with it wrote to my Solicitor saying that the delay was my fault, as I hadn't provided her with my Solicitor's details....
northwest monkey said:
hairyben said:
I think my uncles had 3 or 4 new front doors courtesy of the met in the last 10 years or so. Saves him the bother of having to paint or maintain it I suppose.
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