Hotel Break-in

[Z Holt]

Hi All,

 

I stayed at a hotel in Basingstoke on Saturday 2nd May and during the night, a thief managed to open the window from the security latch built into the window frame whilst myself, partner and two infant children were asleep.

 

The thief managed to grab my mobile phone and sons changing bag from the window and can be seen on CCTV (cannot make out anything as camera is too far away)

 

I don't have any form of insurance anymore so I am not personally covered however I want to know where i stand with regards to claiming from the hotel. The general manager has told me that their insurance will not cover theft but will pass on information to them.

 

Basically, the security latches on the windows do not provide enough security! I can see how the thief has opened it and could do it myself to any one of the rooms on the ground floor in under 20 seconds. This needs to be sorted by them too

[Sidewinder]

Were the police called to investigate the theft? Can you demonstrate that the latch was in any way faulty? Did you take pictures?

 

Hotels will not normally be liable for loss of personal belongings unless the loss is caused through their own negligence - fitting substandard window locks or latches may well fall into that possibility but how could you prove this?

 

If you look on Tripadvisor at the hotel reviews you might find that there have been previous thefts in a similar manner - this could be used as evidence that the hotel were aware of the risk and have not taken adequate steps to deal with that risk?

 

If you have a reasonable degree of proof of negligence then you could issue a claim against the hotel but in the absence of such proof it might just be something that you have to accept. You say that you have no insurance? What about your own home insurance? Would this cover you for goods temporarily removed from your premises? Again there may be a clause relating to the theft of belongings not secured in a hotel safe but it might be worth checking.

[Z Holt]

Hello Sidewinder,

 

Yes the police where informed but no I did not take any pictures as they stole my phone which i use to take them!

The window lock is definitely substandard, all you have to do is run your finger up the back of the window until you hit the latch, apply pressure upwards whilst pushing the window back until the latch simply comes off!

 

I'm not too sure about other similar events happening as i've not delved deep enough in the review sites.

We have no insurance as we've recently moved back with family to save up to emigrate.

 

I believe that there is a hotel proprietors act but i'm not sure how this would relate

Thanks again

[unclebulgaria67]

Hi All,

 

I stayed at a hotel in Basingstoke on Saturday 2nd May and during the night, a thief managed to open the window from the security latch built into the window frame whilst myself, partner and two infant children were asleep.

 

The thief managed to grab my mobile phone and sons changing bag from the window and can be seen on CCTV (cannot make out anything as camera is too far away)

 

I don't have any form of insurance anymore so I am not personally covered however I want to know where i stand with regards to claiming from the hotel. The general manager has told me that their insurance will not cover theft but will pass on information to them.

 

Basically, the security latches on the windows do not provide enough security! I can see how the thief has opened it and could do it myself to any one of the rooms on the ground floor in under 20 seconds. This needs to be sorted by them too

 

You need to get legal advice about this. I would have thought that the Hotel had a general duty of care to provide adequate security and it is then an argument about whether the security latches on the windows satisfied this duty of care.

 

If the Hotel has had this problem before and did not improve the security then you may have more of a chance. You should report it to the Police and get a crime reference number. If you speak to the Police in Basingstoke, you could ask them how it is possible to obtain details of any previous reports of thefts from that Hotel. The Police probably maintain details and there should be a process for obtaining general data they hold. Explain that you are seeking to make a civil legal claim against the Hotel and the data would be useful to have.

 

Did you obtain any pictures of the window security ? That would have been helpful.

 

What you could do is write a formal complaint to the Hotel, explain what happened, say that you have now reported it to the Police and ask the Hotel for the legal basis as to why they are not taking responsibility for their duty of care in providing adequate security to guests and their property. Then see how they respond.

 

The Hotel contract you signed up to probably contains a legal disclaimer that the Hotel is not responsible for any thefts from rooms, functions rooms, lobies and the only thefts they are responsible for is in regard to any property they put in the Hotel safe. It may be difficult to argue against a legal disclaimer you signed up to when you signed in. I don't expect that you spent half an hour at reception reading the contract.

[unclebulgaria67]

Hello Sidewinder,

 

Yes the police where informed but no I did not take any pictures as they stole my phone which i use to take them!

The window lock is definitely substandard, all you have to do is run your finger up the back of the window until you hit the latch, apply pressure upwards whilst pushing the window back until the latch simply comes off!

 

I'm not too sure about other similar events happening as i've not delved deep enough in the review sites.

We have no insurance as we've recently moved back with family to save up to emigrate.

 

I believe that there is a hotel proprietors act but i'm not sure how this would relate

Thanks again

 

I responded before reading this.

 

Why don't you search online for review sites for the Hotel and add a review saying what happened. That you have now written to the Hotel after they had denied you any help.

 

Any Travel Insurance arranged before this, as they often cover UK trips. If you have a Bank account that provided Travel Insurance, that may offer cover.

[Z Holt]

In this instance I was definitely not insured!

Where would be best to get legal advice?

I'm trawling through sites now!

[Z Holt]

basingstokegazette.co.uk/news/10082657.Burglar_targets_Apollo_Hotel

[unclebulgaria67]

In this instance I was definitely not insured!

Where would be best to get legal advice?

I'm trawling through sites now!

 

There is plenty of free legal advice online ( CAG has a legal page), but obviously they would not be able to see documents that you have e.g your Hotel Booking contract. Also CAG is a public forum and people who reply may not be legally qualified.

 

You may be able to see a Solicitors through your local Citizens Advice Bureau and they will give you general advice. If there is not a Solictor available, it will be general consumer advice.

 

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/about-us/how-we-provide-advice/advice/Get-advice/

 

As I explained earlier, any claim against the Hotel may be difficult. You would have to write to them anyway, to give them a chance to resolve. You cannot just issue any court claim, without trying to resolve first. You may find that the Hotel contract you signed, excluded any theft from your Hotel room. Then it could get quite complicated and not worth pursuing.

[unclebulgaria67]

basingstokegazette.co.uk/news/10082657.Burglar_targets_Apollo_Hotel

 

If you have had the same problem, best route would to embarass the Hotel by advising what happened on internet review sites and say that you have been disappointed that the Hotel have so far refused to help.

[Z Holt]

Also, could something be done regarding the CCTV being poor (too far away from the room outside for police to be able to do anything) ?

 

I'll get in touch with CAB,

 

Regards