Crime pays

[Xune]

So my 125 scooter I use to commute was stolen at the weekend. I'd just had £400 work done to it as well as an MOT, new tax disc and re-insurance. It was chained, covered, alarmed and off the road in a gated driveway. Yesterday it was picked up being ridden by a 15 year old without a helmet. The 15 year old is not the person who stole the bike, it was lifted by at least two people and probably put in a van.

The alarm has been ripped out, the stearing lock broken, mirrors kicked off, the ignition ripped out and hotwired. To add insult to injury the police have charged me £170 for the privilage of recovering my stolen property. Yes, the police are charging me a fucking storage fee for a vehicle that is only in their possession because someone stole it. Is the person found in possession having to pay? Despite riding a vehicle they could not have failed to know was stolen by dint of the fact that it needed to be hotwired, the answer is no.

The most gauling part is the repair and recovery cost barely exceded my excess, making a claim and loss of noclaims bonus with increased premiums far more expensive in the long run.

So the kid will probably will get off scot free, the people who stole the scooter will not get picked up and have profited, my insurance company still gets paid without having to pay out, the police have taken their cut (what the fuck are my taxes for again?) and I'm out a considerable sum of money.

I probably would have been better off if it hadn't been recovered at all.

Take away message, the victim of crime is at fault for allowing themselves to become a victim.

[Keep]

That. Is. Bullshit.

Sorry it happened to you man. What a crock.

[Xune]

Cheers, I needed to get it off my chest.

One last thing, collection at the police depot is unnecessarily difficult. Their opening hours are 8am to 1pm, so if you're, you know, not an unemployed criminal you have to jump through hoops "assisted" by definitely not the cream of the crop. Can't get over to the depot at a time that is convenint to officer diphit? No problem, they'll keep it for you till you can, but there's an incremental daily storage charge.

[Timofee]

I regret to say I laughed because the situation you find yourself in is wholly preposterous

My sympathies good sir.

[Gerbick]

That really is a shit situation. Please post daily so we know the chimps in blue haven't arrested you for daring to suggest they are a bunch of money-grabbing fupwads.

[Kelron]

At least they did recover it, but it's terrible that you have to pay the police to do their job. Are the fire brigade going to start billing people too?

Was the scooter chained to anything or just the wheels locked? My dad keeps his bike chained to a steel ring set in the ground outside his house.

[soldant]

Wow, that's absolutely ridiculous. You poor bastard.

[Nalano]

Was the scooter chained to anything or just the wheels locked? My dad keeps his bike chained to a steel ring set in the ground outside his house.

This. Pretty much anything that weighs less than a ton and isn't bolted to the ground will be taken.

[Xune]

Yeah, it was chained to a ground anchor. The chain was cut, I assume, because the thieves took that to. Perhaps they were worried about leaving prints.

Interesting security facts, alarms on 125 vehicles will not only drain the small battery but also won't go off if it's lifted steadily by two people. Hardened and "anti-freeze" chains won't stand-up to a pair of bolt cutters.

[Nalano]

What chains did you use? Personally, I use these and I still wouldn't trust leaving my shit outside for more than an hour or two.

[Xune]

I can't remember exactly but it was an Oxford chain. Unfortunately, the flat I'm in doesn't have a garage or shed, there's no where else for it to go.

[mentor07825]

I'm really sorry to hear that :( You shouldn't have been charged to get it back though. It's unfortunate that you cannot just tell them to get the bill from the people that stole it.

[Voon]

Sorry to hear that. The police just charged you that much because they thought they're running some kind of service rather than doing their job and helping you out? Man, that sucks. And did they bothered to investigate who stolen it, even?

[Nalano]

I can't remember exactly but it was an Oxford chain. Unfortunately, the flat I'm in doesn't have a garage or shed, there's no where else for it to go.

Consider a top-level New York chain. Mine's shrugged off quite a few bolt-cutters, and the top chains come with free insurance.

[Drake Sigar]

Sorry to hear that. My brother's car mirrors were smashed up by drunks a couple of years ago. We informed the police and were told the incident would be noted in the form of a statistic for overall area crime rates, which may or may not encourage them to assign more officers to those areas in future.

[Kelron]

Sorry to hear that. My brother's car mirrors were smashed up by drunks a couple of years ago. We informed the police and were told the incident would be noted in the form of a statistic for overall area crime rates, which may or may not encourage them to assign more officers to those areas in future.

Well in a case like that there's not much else they can do.