We actually were. I arrived home yesterday evening to find our front door kicked in and anything expensive and / or nickable gone. DVD reciever, x-box, digital camera, laptop, cash, stereo, jewellery, bike, mobile phone. All gone. Bastards.
Nevertheless, this isn't a rant as we are insured and shit does happen. Plus they did upstairs too which, well, does make me feel slightly better. Somehow.
Ahem. As I mentioned, the place is insured and getting the kit back won't be a problem except for the laptop which doesn't actually belong to me. It belongs to my old company and I 'forgot' to return when I left. Plus, they never asked for it back.
Having spoken to the insurance company, it appears they need proof of ownership of every item missing. Obviously I can't provide this for the laptop but i'm fucked if a break-in is going to cost Scrawny her computer.
Has anyone got any suggestions for how this could be handled?
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
You'd need a receipt. You'd need a receipt from someone that knows someone who can churn out a receipt. You'd need a receipt from someone like Chief-No-Bags who is supposed to be calling me tonight.
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
Firstly, just very sorry to hear that... you sound sanguine but it's such an awful violation to be burgled.
My view is that when you claim insurance you usually end up getting more than you actually lost in financial terms... buying the stuff back costs less, or you decide not to buy back books and CDs you didn't much like in the first place, or you claim for a burned copy of something. Any burglary I've experienced has left me well into the black with the insurance, which makes up a little bit for the appalling experience.
So... perhaps you will wind up with more money than you need to replace the things you really want to replace.
I guess the bottom line -- this isn't very generous advice on my part, but it's objective -- is that if it wasn't your laptop, you were lucky to have it even for a short time, and you could probably get a new one for £400 or so. Which isn't a huge bite into the savings of a professional couple.
Even more callously, you stole the laptop and now karma has taken it back.
Posted by jonesy999 (Member # 5) on :
I'm not sure about these days but back when I was Mike Jones Claims Negotiator at General Accident Fire Life Assurance Company PLC it was standard policy to ask for receipts/proof of purchase for stolen items when a claim first came in.
Actually the first thing we did was repudiate all claims with a letter saying "You must be stupid stupid stupid", but after that, if they came back, we would ask for receipts.
However, no one can be expected to keep receipts for everything they own so if a policy holder came back with "I don't have the receipts for everything I own. That's ridiculous" we would simply ask for an 'estimate' for the closest possible replacement. That usually meant the policy holder wandering into a shop, pointing at anything which took their fancy and asking the shop assistant to write "To replace flash watch with like for like £1000" on a piece of headed paper.
I don't know if things have changed but, if I were you, I'd call them and explain you don't have the receipts and ask how you should proceed with your claim.
Plus, bummer, sorry about your burglary dude.
Although, at least you weren't the couple on crimewatch last night who woke up to find a man standing in their bedroom doorway with a knife and saying "It is now the end of your life. Tonight you will die." Or something like that.
[ 22.09.2004, 08:46: Message edited by: jonesy999 ]
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
Posted by discodamage (Member # 66) on :
morally i think that laptop has to be written off as a bad loss. because strictly speaking- very strictly speaking- it was never actually yours in the first place, and finagling some fake evidence to try and prove your ownership of it is- again, strictly speaking- fraud.
this has been a message from the south-east london branch of the office of moral superiority. we thank you for your attention.
[ 22.09.2004, 08:46: Message edited by: discodamage ]
Posted by Bandy (Member # 12) on :
Actually, if it was just for me I wouldn't be so bothered but as I gave it to Scrawny I feel duty-bound to try and recover it.
[ 22.09.2004, 08:44: Message edited by: Bandy ]
Posted by herbs (Member # 101) on :
Bum rap.
Isn't the standard procedure with insurance claims: 1) to claim for more than you lost, to cover the excess. 2) to claim for even more, to get back the money you've spent on premiums over the years 3) to discover something that went missing after you've made the claim, and never get round to claiming for it 4) for it all to work out about evenly and for the insurance company to put up the premiums to put people off being dishonest?
Posted by jonesy999 (Member # 5) on :
Also, I know a 'flash' watch costs considerably more than a thousand pounds in your futureworld Bandy but this was 1992.
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
quote:Originally posted by discodamage: morally i think that laptop has to be written off as a bad loss. because strictly speaking- very strictly speaking- it was never actually yours in the first place, and finagling some fake evidence to try and prove your ownership of it is- again, strictly speaking- fraud.
I think faking a document in order to claim back money on something you "borrowed" is even fraud loosely speaking.
Posted by froopyscot (Member # 178) on :
Sorry about the break-in Bandy. That megasucks.
Just a thought: what if you had purchased the laptop from a friend in a personal sale? They'd have to accept a handwritten receipt, wouldn't they? And what would stop them someone from creating same (ethical and legal problems aside)?
Or if handwritten receipts won't suffice, this font would probably be useful to someone who may or may not be so inclined.
[ 22.09.2004, 08:48: Message edited by: froopyscot ]
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
Did Scrawny know you had stolen the laptop, when she received it from you? I'm afraid she might be culpable too.
PS. sorry about the burglary. I said it first and I did mean it, so I think I am excused.
PPS. excellent font I did one but I can't paste it in.
[ 22.09.2004, 08:53: Message edited by: kovacs ]
Posted by discodamage (Member # 66) on :
yes kovacs, but as herbs so correctly outlined above the concept of morality is so elastic when it comes to insurance claims that i have to put 'strictly' so as not to feel like even more of a goody goody suck than i did already.
and i am sorry about the burglary! being burgled is so horrid it must be even worse if you actually have something worth nicking.
[ 22.09.2004, 08:54: Message edited by: discodamage ]
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
I'll leave the paperwork;
Behind the phonebox Outside Debenhams the usual spot Posted by discodamage (Member # 66) on :
lol i have just rung my mum and asked if she cant put me on her house insurance because i do actually have two things worth nicking, my telly and my dvd. unfortunately my dreams of being burgled and claiming back something that isnt a supercheapo piece of british made shit have been scuppered by the fact that my mother doesnt have insurance! hopefully any burglars will be discriminating and will not steal my rubbishy british made silver goods.
Posted by herbs (Member # 101) on :
I think I may have been Bandy-esque in my insurance claim. The laptop that was stolen in my recent break in didn't belong to either me or R, but his friend. It was on long-term loan. But the friend didn't pay for it either. But if we hadn't claimed for it, we would have been responsible for losing this guy's laptop, which would have been bad.
But somebody paid for it once, and were probably insured, though admittedly not by the same company. But they all own each other, don't they. So, er... yeah.
Does anyone actually buy laptops?
Posted by discodamage (Member # 66) on :
[ 22.09.2004, 09:07: Message edited by: discodamage ]
Posted by jonesy999 (Member # 5) on :
The best claims for 'exaggerating' were accidental damage to freezer contents. If you have a power cut, for example, and your freezer defrosts, you are covered for the damaged goods. The policy stipulated that you save the manky, melted Findus crispy pancakes and box of lolly sticks for inspection but no one ever did. I don't remember ever turning the claims down, though. And you’d be amazed how many people had things like "Very expensive caviar" and "whole roast dodo" in their freezer, valued at over a thousand pounds.
Posted by H1ppychick (Member # 529) on :
You are all a bunch of pikey crooks. It's people like you who keep my premiums (premia?) so high.
, etc.
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
quote:Originally posted by herbs: But if we hadn't claimed for it, we would have been responsible for losing this guy's laptop, which would have been bad.
Totally. This isn't Bandy being selfish, or pikey. He's doing this for the team.
Posted by froopyscot (Member # 178) on :
Right. And we all get a cut, of course.
Posted by Bandy (Member # 12) on :
quote:Originally posted by H1ppychick: You are all a bunch of pikey crooks.
I'm the victim here you fucker. I've been offered victim support and everything. Posted by H1ppychick (Member # 529) on :
GODD! Joke! I was doing my Daily Mail pastiche. I still think it's a bit off claiming for a laptop that you effectively stole, though.
Posted by herbs (Member # 101) on :
If anyone here's the victim, it's me. i'm losing my no claims bonus claiming for a laptop belonging to friend of boyfriend, who didn't even own it.
I feel violated.
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
quote:Originally posted by herbs: I feel violated.
They could've stolen your vibrator too.
Posted by sabian (Member # 6) on :
quote:Originally posted by herbs: Does anyone actually buy laptops?
If not, could you all point me in the direction of your 'shop'?
I could use a laptop!
Posted by Black Mask (Member # 185) on :
quote:Originally posted by sabian: I could use a laptop!
You should get an iBook. They rock.
Posted by sabian (Member # 6) on :
I wouldn't use an Apple product to prop open a door.
*I* have dignity!
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
quote:Originally posted by sabian: I could use a laptop!
Bloke down at my local reckons he's got one for sale for £20. Says he'll throw in an X-Box with it.
Posted by Bandy (Member # 12) on :
They've also stolen all (3) mobile phone chargers from the house. I know this because my phone has just died. Fuckers.
Posted by herbs (Member # 101) on :
quote:Originally posted by Thorn Davis:
quote:Originally posted by sabian: I could use a laptop!
Bloke down at my local reckons he's got one for sale for £20. Says he'll throw in an X-Box with it.
Better insure it for a grand...
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
quote:Originally posted by Bandy: They've also stolen all (3) mobile phone chargers from the house. I know this because my phone has just died. Fuckers.
Jeez! What did they leave, your toothbrushes and and old camera with some film waiting to be developed inside it?
Posted by Waynster (Member # 56) on :
This sucks Banders - I just hope you manage to get the claim sorted quickly and get some level of sanity (and hopefully some added security) back to your house.
Posted by damo (Member # 722) on :
quote:Originally posted by New Way Of Decay:
quote:Originally posted by Bandy: They've also stolen all (3) mobile phone chargers from the house. I know this because my phone has just died. Fuckers.
Jeez! What did they leave, your toothbrushes and and old camera with some film waiting to be developed inside it?
der, bandy only has digital cameras. why would he want antique trickery...
Posted by Bailey (Member # 261) on :
quote:Originally posted by Bandy: They've also stolen all (3) mobile phone chargers from the house. I know this because my phone has just died. Fuckers.
I have a spare one (or two) you can have. I can bring it over later tonight if you want?
Posted by Bandy (Member # 12) on :
quote:Originally posted by Bailey: I can bring it over later tonight if you want?
Cheers for the offer but Scrawners has a couple at work and will bring one back Posted by turbo (Member # 593) on :
Sorry to hear about that Bandy, being burgled is never fun. Also, I don't see how your insurance company can insist on receipts for everything - nobody keeps all their receipts unless they're particularly anal. Several years ago I claimed for a camera that I'd "lost" (I dropped it and it broke) and I was never asked for proof of ownership - they just sent me the same model, but brand spanking new.
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
One of the things that worries me most is having my DeeVeeDees stolen. I even took a photo of the shelf, in hi-res so you can see all the titles, so I could use it as 'proof of owenership'. I don';t know why that particular thing bugs me so much, but it does.
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
quote:Originally posted by damo:
quote:Originally posted by New Way Of Decay:
quote:Originally posted by Bandy: They've also stolen all (3) mobile phone chargers from the house. I know this because my phone has just died. Fuckers.
Jeez! What did they leave, your toothbrushes and and old camera with some film waiting to be developed inside it?
der, bandy only has digital cameras. why would he want antique trickery...
[ 22.09.2004, 10:40: Message edited by: New Way Of Decay ]
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
Still got the iPod, iTrust?
Posted by Vogon Poetess (Member # 164) on :
Really sorry to hear that, Bandy & Scrawn.
I will sort some insurance out for my house, I will now, honestly.
Posted by damo (Member # 722) on :
why not head to new zealand? i;m sure teh kiwi burglars would give you stuff instead of robbing you.
Posted by Black Mask (Member # 185) on :
God, NZ'z gReAt, isn't it?
Posted by Vogon Poetess (Member # 164) on :
quote:Originally posted by Black Mask: God, NZ'z gReAt, isn't it?
You mean "isn't NZ'z God great?"
Edit: Five consecutive image failures. The God's word must be heeded.
[ 22.09.2004, 11:56: Message edited by: Vogon Poetess ]
Posted by Bailey (Member # 261) on :
quote:Originally posted by Vogon Poetess: I will sort some insurance out for my house, I will now, honestly.
This is exactly what I thought too, after meaning to do it for months. However I am stumbling at the first block of filling out online quote forms, since I have no idea when my building was built, and cocking Peabody Trust are useless. Is there an easy way to find out these things?
Posted by Gemini (Member # 428) on :
Bandy I have a PS2 that I never use, you are welcome to borrow it until your insurance comes thru.
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
Have you got any good games I can have, then.
Posted by H1ppychick (Member # 529) on :
FAO Bailey:
Presumably you're going for a combined buildings and contents policy as otherwise I have no idea why they would want to know the building's age. Do you own or rent? If you own your flat your purchase documents should help so phone your solicitor. If you rent I don't know why you would need buildings cover.
Failing any of the above, you could try and check with the Land Registry but they might charge you. I'd just guess a ballpark date.
[ 22.09.2004, 12:11: Message edited by: H1ppychick ]
Posted by Bailey (Member # 261) on :
quote:Originally posted by H1ppychick: FAO Bailey: If you rent I don't know why you would need buildings cover.
That's what I thought, but apparently even for contents insurance they have to know when the building was built. I have managed to find out that my flat was occupied for the 1901 census, so that's something I suppose. If Peabody were any good it would just take a single phone call, but they're not.
Thanks though!
Posted by Bandy (Member # 12) on :
I use Endsleigh insurance - contents only as i'm renting. At the moment I think they're fine (easy to apply over the phone) but i'll reserve full judgement until I see how long it takes for me to get my stuff back.
Endsleigh Insurance: 0800 028 3571
Posted by Abby (Member # 582) on :
Maybe the want to know the age of the bulding because you can break through the chipboard and plaster walls of modern buildings with a spoon?
I have been working on sorting out my insurance for a while...the form is filled out now...I was wondering about the whole recipts issue since we dont have any recipts for anthing. Hmm.
Posted by damo (Member # 722) on :
quote:Originally posted by Black Mask: God, NZ'z gReAt, isn't it?
no. did i tell you i had some friends who went to new zealand? maybe on your camping hosteling trips you met them? or maybe you bumped into them in thailand, or singapore, or san francisco. or maybe vanuatuu, or anywhere else on the fucking scheduled round the world ticket that includes 4 stops. what about jo'burg? did you see them there?
Posted by vikram (Member # 98) on :
[ 22.09.2004, 13:03: Message edited by: vikram ]
Posted by scrawny (Member # 113) on :
Bastard cunting fuckwads.
They took our passports, man. Our passports. This is the only thing that really bothered me - anything else was replaceable, or in the case of the laptop, frustrating but karma as Kovacs said. Everything else was also in the living room. Everything else was clearly visible. Stealing our passports, on the other hand, means they had to go through all the drawers, including my underwear drawer, in our bedroom.
Dirty fucking bastard CUNTFLANGES.
[ 22.09.2004, 13:21: Message edited by: scrawny ]
Posted by vikram (Member # 98) on :
That really sucks.
/ Posted by vikram (Member # 98) on :
Could be worse though...
Posted by mooch (Member # 730) on :
quote:Originally posted by New Way Of Decay: Jeez! What did they leave, your toothbrushes and and old camera with some film waiting to be developed inside it?
Which reminds me. A friend was burgled 20 (TWENTY!!) times over a two year period while living with her mother in Joburg. She now lives in NZ and her mother on a mountain in Malawi.
During one of the 20 break-ins they even nicked the dirty laundry.
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
quote:Originally posted by scrawny: Bastard cunting fuckwads.
They took our passports, man. Our passports. This is the only thing that really bothered me - anything else was replaceable, or in the case of the laptop, frustrating but karma as Kovacs said. Everything else was also in the living room. Everything else was clearly visible. Stealing our passports, on the other hand, means they had to go through all the drawers, including my underwear drawer, in our bedroom.
Underwear aside, which I guess is a particular violation for girls -- I wonder, do men feel the same disgust and horror at the idea that burglars have gone through their boxers? probably not -- this does seem grotesquerie in a different league.
As you suggest, it implies motive, deliberate malice instead of just random opportunism: perhaps the bile-in-mouth feeling that arises from this idea is the sense it gives you of the burglars' psychology, the engagement with their twisted way of thinking. In discovering where they've been, you gradually and after the fact seem to be following their clues, building up a picture of their behaviour in your house, their passage through your own intimate space, and can imagine their decisions, even their conversations. It is a repulsive thought, as though discovering what's gone, objects found to be absent, brings the intruders into a presence.
Posted by Bailey (Member # 261) on :
quote:Originally posted by scrawny: Bastard cunting fuckwads.
They took our passports, man. Our passports. This is the only thing that really bothered me - anything else was replaceable, or in the case of the laptop, frustrating but karma as Kovacs said. Everything else was also in the living room. Everything else was clearly visible. Stealing our passports, on the other hand, means they had to go through all the drawers, including my underwear drawer, in our bedroom.
Dirty fucking bastard CUNTFLANGES.
That's awful. I know it's almost a laughable question, but do the police have any ideas?
My sister got burgled once, and they stole a washbag of tampax, and selectively rifled through her tapes, adding insult to injury implying that her taste wasn't good enough either. Thieving fuckers.
Posted by H1ppychick (Member # 529) on :
Don't take the passport theft personally, Scrawny. I would imagine that passports are as good as cash in criminal circles since they're probably difficult to forge from scratch, but perhaps relatively simple to de-laminate and replace a photo so that someone else could use them.
Probably of little comfort, but perhaps better than feeling singled out.
Posted by Vogon Poetess (Member # 164) on :
quote:Originally posted by damo: [did i tell you i had some friends who went to new zealand? maybe on your camping hosteling trips you met them? or maybe you bumped into them in thailand, or singapore, or san francisco. or maybe vanuatuu, or anywhere else on the fucking scheduled round the world ticket that includes 4 stops. what about jo'burg? did you see them there?
What the fuck are you talking about?
The passports thing is fucking ill. It does seem so much more personal, as well as the hassle and expense of sorting out replacements. I'm quite fond of mine; I like all the stamps and visas in mine, in my sad squirrelly hoarding way it's a compact reminder of places I've been.
Posted by turbo (Member # 593) on :
That would really piss me off too - electrical equipment is pretty impersonal stuff (it's hard to get emotionally attached to a VCR, for example) but a passport is something that is completely unique to you. Ugh. It makes you wonder what goes through a burglar's mind, doesn't it? My parents' neighbours were robbed and, along with all the electronic goods, they stole their country & western CD's but left all the others. I could just picture a burglar rifling through their CD collection and taking his time to nick only the ones he could use for his line-dancing club. Very strange.
Posted by saltrock (Member # 622) on :
I'm actually a bit concerned at the number of you who don't have contents insurance. I know it's not compulsory, but surely even if you live in a "safe" area, you'd have it for things like burning a hole in the carpet with your iron or accidentally setting the curtains on fire.
[The whole burglary thing totally sucks - sorry Bandy and Scrawny. Disrespectful little fuckers (the burgliers, not you)].
Posted by Sidney (Member # 399) on :
I just read this.
I'm sorry to hear that this has happened. Being burgled is horrible.
Posted by Grianagh (Member # 583) on :
Hey ya'll, like Sidney, I just read this thread. Damn. Sorry to hear what happened.
On the other hand, possession is 9/10th yada yada...so the laptop was yours, ect ect...C(they don't need to know the history) just get rightously aggrivated when the ins co tries to dispute.
Posted by H1ppychick (Member # 529) on :
If possession is indeed 9/10ths, then all of Bandy's and Scrawny's stuff is now the legal property of their burglars and they have no grounds for any form of complaint.
Do try and be a little bit sensible here.
Posted by ben (Member # 13) on :
Very sorry to hear about the break-in, Bandy and Scrawny. Posted by mart (Member # 32) on :
quote:Originally posted by H1ppychick:
Do try and be a little bit sensible here.
why?
Posted by H1ppychick (Member # 529) on :
Leaving aside B&S's valid feelings of their space being violated and anger at the loss of their own (legal) possessions, I just have little patience for all this guff about feeling hard done by for having a laptop nicked when it was never yours to start off with. And G's "possession is 9/10ths" argument therefore seemed to have a huge gaping logical hole right in the middle of it.
Sorry if my wording sounded harsh, but there you go.
Posted by Waynster (Member # 56) on :
quote:Originally posted by Thorn Davis: One of the things that worries me most is having my DeeVeeDees stolen. I even took a photo of the shelf, in hi-res so you can see all the titles, so I could use it as 'proof of owenership'. I don';t know why that particular thing bugs me so much, but it does.
I did exactly the same with my CDs Thorn, specially all the rarities. Not a bad idea to do that.
Posted by Bandy (Member # 12) on :
quote:Originally posted by H1ppychick: I just have little patience for all this guff about feeling hard done by for having a laptop nicked when it was never yours to start off with.
Hard done by? Where? Fool.
quote:Originally posted by Waynster: I did exactly the same with my CDs Thorn, specially all the rarities. Not a bad idea to do that.
Heh. A fine idea until they steal the camera and / or computer the photos are stored on.
[ 24.09.2004, 04:48: Message edited by: Bandy ]
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
quote:Obviously I can't provide this for the laptop but i'm fucked if a break-in is going to cost Scrawny her computer.
Not exactly "hard done-by", but "indignant" that an item that you borrowed/nicked has now been nicked/borrowed. (of course, a perk from the job is very different from breaking into someone's home, so I'm not sure how far this parallel can be taken... you arguably had some moral right to ownership of the laptop, having been given it by your employers, perhaps "earned" the right to keep it through the extra work you probably put in for that company, and there is perhaps an understanding, even on the employers' side, that these appropriations of hardware are part of a broader, unofficial payment scheme)
But in fairness Bandy you started the thread because you were annoyed that someone had taken the laptop -- you didn't even care so much about the other stuff, which you could claim on, or the violation, which you were able to live with. You posted because someone had taken an item that strictly speaking you didn't have a right to keep. So I think Hippychick shouldn't be called a fool.
On the other hand, you were posting selflessly because it had been Scrawny's laptop, which puts it in a different light. And possibly you were channeling all your anger and outrage about the break-in as a whole into this single item.
[ 24.09.2004, 05:06: Message edited by: kovacs ]
Posted by MiscellaneousFiles (Member # 60) on :
quote:Originally posted by Bandy:
quote:Originally posted by Waynster: I did exactly the same with my CDs Thorn, specially all the rarities. Not a bad idea to do that.
Heh. A fine idea until they steal the camera and / or computer the photos are stored on.
You'll soon see your own photos appear in an eBay listing, entitled JOB LOT!!! Hundreds of CDs & DVDs + FREE Digital Camera --NO RESERVE--
[ 24.09.2004, 05:08: Message edited by: MiscellaneousFiles ]
Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
You can store photos on the internet now, meaning the 'device' can't be stolen. I can't believe neither of you web designers knew that. What are you, fucking thick or something.
Also Bandy - do you still want that shaver, or what?
Posted by Darryn.R (Member # 1) on :
Guys I'm so sorry to read this..
Good luck with the insurance.
Posted by kovacs (Member # 28) on :
If it's tasteless to argue the toss about morality on a thread where two people have gone through the awful experience of burglary, then I apologise for that.
Posted by Abby (Member # 582) on :
Some good has come of this - I now have insurance!
Now wait for some disaster to befall suspiciously quickly after me taking out the policy and watch me get done for fraud....
Posted by H1ppychick (Member # 529) on :
quote:Originally posted by kovacs: If it's tasteless to argue the toss about morality on a thread where two people have gone through the awful experience of burglary, then I apologise for that.
Yeah, me too. Though it's not often I get called a fool; it's kind of refreshing.
Posted by fish (Member # 22) on :
Sorry to hear about the break in B&S. That's annoying.
On an upbeat note, my friends got burgled recently... had all their electrical goods and designer clothes stolen. They put in a claim through Ensleigh - who paid up really quickly.
They were really chuffed and went out and bought a new widescreen tv, upgraded their dvd player to a recorder, got a much better stereo and new kettle, toaster and iron (yup, all stolen too) and some new clothes.
They said it was one of the best days of their lives because they just went out on the saturday and bought everying in one go - the biggest shopping trip ever - they felt like millionaires!
They went out to dinner with his parents the next night and came home to find they'd been burgled for the second time in a month! Not only had the bastards taken all their new stuff... but also all of the big cardboard boxes and packaging my friends had left in their front yard for the dustmen Posted by Thorn Davis (Member # 65) on :
Ick. That's an old (and mean) trick.
Posted by vikram (Member # 98) on :
lol
Posted by scrawny (Member # 113) on :
My God, what utter *****. Reminds me of some mates of mine at Uni who were burgled three times by the family that lived opposite them. Their MO was to rob them, wait for the insurance money to come through, wait for them to replace everything, wait for them to go out, then rob them, wait etc.
Yes, the laptop was a freebie, but that doesn't make this any less frustrating, or the work on it any less valuable to me, so this...
quote:Originally posted by H1ppychick: I just have little patience for all this guff about feeling hard done by for having a laptop nicked when it was never yours to start off with
...is bollocks. Of course I feel hard done by. Tell me you wouldn't feel the same.
Posted by fish (Member # 22) on :
I kind of see where Hippy is coming from, but in the real world I think lines are a bit fuzzier. If I picked up a £10 note in the street and was subsequently mugged, I'd still feel pretty aggreived, despite the fact I had no legal claim to the money.
Posted by scrawny (Member # 113) on :
I think I'd see the point if we'd been bitching about the insurance companies, claiming that it was our godgiven right to get it back. It isn't, and we know it isn't. Would be nice though. Given a choice between laptop/no laptop at all, you can hardly be blamed for coming down the sensible side of the divide.
Posted by H1ppychick (Member # 529) on :
I'm not saying that it's not human nature and that you shouldn't feel aggrieved to be deprived of your laptop. I just find it difficult to make a moral distinction between you defrauding an insurance company of money and a toerag half-inching your 15-incher. Therefore when several people piled on with advice on how best to perpetrate that fraud, or seemed to be unable to appreciate the moral ambiguity or even wrongness of such a thing, it just set me off on a tangential rant.
I'm sorry if you think this means I can't see where you are coming from about feeling sorry for losing the laptop or that I'm completely callous and inhuman - this isn't the case, as I pointed out several posts ago.
In these situations, people tend to put forward arguments like "Oh but it's just a faceless corporation, it doesn't matter if I rip it off".
No. That company has shareholders, who are expecting to get a return for investing their money. What if that shareholder is your mum, who has put some of her nest egg into the stockmarket? Or it could well even be you yourself - a significant proportion of public shares are owned by institutional investors like pension schemes - like the one your employer may run. How would you like it if your pension were to be cut because people making inflated or fraudulent insurance claims have knocked the value of your shares or the dividends that they can generate?
Popular argument 2: "Everyone does it, so why can't I? Anyway, it's covered by the premiums that I've paid."
That's bollocks too. If everyone does it, everyone is committing fraud. The premiums that you pay are set at a level which covers an expected level of claims, the company's costs of administration, and should leave enough left over to pay a modest dividend to the people who are funding the company (which may be you or your mum; see above). If people inflate their claims, two things could happen; either the dividend has to be reduced (but stock-markets don't like that) or future premiums have to be increased to cover the shortfall. This is what tends to happen. This is why the cost of insurance goes up and up when inflation remains steady - it doesn't cost you significantly more to replace the goods stolen but someone has to fund the fact that last year Joe Bloggs thought that he'd claim for a laptop that his mate 'liberated' from work.
Sorry, where was I? Ah yes. Insurance is a necessary evil and shouldn't be made more expensive than absolutely required by people inflating claims. Of course, we're not living in Utopia and human nature dictates that people will try for whatever they can get away with. It doesn't make it morally or ethically (or indeed, legally) correct to do so.
Posted by Black Mask (Member # 185) on :
quote:Originally posted by 1mp3rial1stoogechick: Way to be a hippy
Posted by H1ppychick (Member # 529) on :
Property is theft, man.
Posted by Samuelnorton (Member # 48) on :
quote:Originally posted by scrawny: They took our passports, man. Our passports
Right now, Mahmood and Ali in Mogadishu have just received a phone call telling them that their passage to Britain is all but sorted.
Sorry to hear the bad news, but I guess my adding a sympathetic tuppence to the comments already made by everyone else isn't going to add much.
I'd forget about thinking about putting in a claim for the laptop though - think of it as karmic justice, or something.
Posted by Black Mask (Member # 185) on :
Rick believes in karma..? Now, there's a can of worms.
Posted by vikram (Member # 98) on :
Snorton's next life.
[ 24.09.2004, 16:36: Message edited by: vikram ]
Posted by Samuelnorton (Member # 48) on :
quote:Originally posted by vikram:
Snorton's next life.
That did make me laugh Vikram, even though I do hate admitting the fact.
Posted by Samuelnorton (Member # 48) on :
quote:Originally posted by Black Mask: Rick believes in karma..? Now, there's a can of worms.
I did qualify the statement with an open-ended "or something" though... That said, Himmler believed in karma so I am in pretty good company... Posted by turbo (Member # 593) on :
When my parents were burgled, the insurance company sent around a man to make an estimate of how much it would cost to replace/repair their things. He estimated their (ripped) curtains at an extortionately high price and my mum, ever the honest one, said they weren't nearly that expensive. The bloke actually winked and said the insurance company didn't know that. ??!! My mum then bought extortionately expensive curtains for exactly the amount the insurance company gave them! Bless.
Posted by Tef-land (Member # 561) on :
I usually don't get involved in such things...but as me and Banders go way back (he has been calling me fat and unfunny longer than any of you other fuckers) I have to say that this whole thing sucks and blows.
Hope you get it all sorted quickly dood - and Scrawners, don't feel too bad - at least they only took something out of your underwear draw, a girlie friend had something 'left' in hers when she was burgled.....
[AMY]Eeeeeeeeeew!![/AMY]
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
My work colleague came in today, pretty upset and shaken because four people barged into his flat and stabbed his housemate for a playstaion 2 and a TV/video combo. He was out at his mates at the time.
Posted by Bandy (Member # 12) on :
Christ. Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
S...sorry, that isn't very comforting. They live a street away from my new abode though, but I am advised that the guy was a care worker and had a habit of inviting waifes and strays in from time to time. Mix in with the wrong crowd, and that's the payback I guess.
Posted by scrawny (Member # 113) on :
quote:Originally posted by H1ppychick: Common sense...
Fair enough mate, I think I agreed with the karma argument earlier on, I just disagreed with the assertion that I shouldn't feel hard done by. Feeling hard done by doesn't mean I'm out to rip somebody else off to make myself feel better.
And NWoD - . That's it, I'm moving to the North Pole.
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
toss Posted by froopyscot (Member # 178) on :
What a senseless, senseless attack. Really makes you think.
...
...
I mean, you might be able to understand if it had been an X-box...
Erm. Ah. Sorry.
Posted by Vogon Poetess (Member # 164) on :
I have insurance now! For £3000, which is approximately 10 times the value of everything in my room. Not including CDs and DVDs, but they don't take those, do they?
Posted by Bandy (Member # 12) on :
quote:Originally posted by Vogon Poetess: Not including CDs and DVDs, but they don't take those, do they?
Not your collection, no.
Posted by Vogon Poetess (Member # 164) on :
I was waiting for Thorn to say that.
Bandy: 9.87 % Thorn-Simulation effective.
Posted by Benny the Ball (Member # 694) on :
They'll take anything they can carry.
Sorry about the break-in - it's a nasty thing to return home and see that initial sign that something ain't right.
Also, christ NWoD, where do you live?!
Posted by New Way Of Decay (Member # 106) on :
quote:Originally posted by Benny the Ball: Also, christ NWoD, where do you live?!
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