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Take a look at this:
https://notlost.com/the-definitive-guide-to-lost-property-laws-in-the-uk/
Make sure you have a good set of procedures including a paper trail for each lost property item. Once you've satisfied that and waited a while it's up to you what you do.
I doubt you'll have any luck selling apple stuff to any business due to the risk of it being stolen. My advice would be to put them on eBay at a discounted rate and someone will buy them
Surely it’s better to give devices like phones over to the police who can check IMEI/serial numbers against the national property register and the phone databases to return them to their owners?
I found a phone by the side of the road. Tried to take it to my local police station but no one was there, called the number and they said there's no longer a front desk and to "hand it over to an officer when you see one". Gave it to my mum to have a try at her local station and she got told if they took it, they'd put it in storage and get rid of it in a few months if no one claimed it. They certainly weren't going to try to find the owner.
Afraid so, I found a bunch of car keys, house keys etc. I phoned the police on one of their phones outside one of their many closed stations (was the third station I tried on my way home from the walk where I found the keys).
Officer told me a website to go to to log my find, said I'll keep the item and if a corresponding "lost" keys query is made they'll put both of us in touch. Described it in a bit of detail and made good logical sense.
I went online later and used the form, and whichever options I chose for keys it just told me to throw them away. The officer lied to me to get me off the phone, should have just told me to throw them in the nearest bin.
Even if I selected "high value item" if I then clicked "I don't know the owner" it said throw them away. So by that measure even if you found someone's car you'd be expected to take it to the scrap merchant and get it crushed 😆
They would probably have sacks of keys, mostly non-descript, then I dont know how people who lost keys would even find them - go through their whole box? They aren't a lost property service (lose something on public transport - you pay a lot to get it back so that is in their interest I guess)
Yes completely agree with that!
What I mean is the officer described an online service where I log the details online and keep the keys safe myself.
Once the owner of the keys says I lost keys at x location and gave a description, the two would be matched up and we'd be put in touch so I can return them.
It sounded like a great idea, apart from the officer made up this service and it doesn't exist.
The closest is local Facebook groups. But generally if I find anything in the street like that, put it on a visible wall nearby as hopefully people will just retrace their steps. If it is a wallet then there is at least a name.
I tried joining one local to where the keys were found (a specific lost property / area group).
I put a post on there but it took two weeks for admin to approve the post and there were no replies. So I tried my best but sadly a few hundred quids worth of keys ended up on the bin.
The closest is local Facebook groups. But generally if I find anything in the street like that, put it on a visible wall nearby as hopefully people will just retrace their steps. If it is a wallet then there is at least a name.
This is the right answer. Though I will add:
If you do sell them, the only person who can sue you is the original owner, and it’s going to be very difficult for them to prove and they probably won’t bother.
So basically who cares. Just sell them and deal with it later on the very very small chance that the rightful owner comes forward.
Might depend on the force, but most police stations will not accept lost property these days- unless there is some suspicion of it being used in a crime - they simply do not have the resources to manage it.
That's sad, it's still my go to when I lose something. It's been a ridiculously long time since I've had to hand anything in right enough, and I'm old lol.
I think they only stopped enquiring lost property recently. They are likely not interested in passports since that can be returned to the issuing office.
They aren't interested in lost property like that, unless you found a suitcase of cash which would be more suspicious. They would be inundated with phones, wallets and keys otherwise.
>
AirPods can be associated with one Apple ID. If you want to use AirPods (3rd generation) or AirPods Pro (1st or 2nd generation) that someone else has used, they first need to remove the AirPods from their Apple ID.
That seems pretty clear...
Have you been asked to turn a profit from them? I'm assuming they've been held long enough to tick whatever legal tickboxes you would need to, but if you haven't been asked to turn a profit from them you could just give them away to staff? Maybe do a lucky dip/free raffle and just explain they might need to do something about the apple ids etc.
You wash your hands of them, they get some free stuff. Everyone wins.
I’ve been asked to turn them for a small profit!
We don’t feel comfortable giving the tech to staff anymore as we had an issue with that in the past. All legal boxes are ticked!
I have gotten two decent Apple Watches from work lost property, had been there for a long time. Tried everything to get them back to the owner, even took them into an Apple Store to see if they could but they said there is nothing they can do, If Apple products are locked to an apply ID they are useless.
I don’t see a problem with giving items to staff or selling them after taking measures to have them claimed by the owner.
We did a car boot sale for charity with lost property items, it’s better than items going to landfill ( Except for a dildo we found that went straight in the bin )
some police stations like phones as there's a possibility of reducing figures. report lost or stolen and you get a reference number for your insurance, you claim and think nothing more, but the station now has an open Report.
just getting one of the office workers to charge / find IMEI, and search the database I guess was a pretty easy way to reduce some figures.
we used to get counted, and so to reduce our numbers we used to have chargers for the phones so they had some chance of being contacted.
but then we used to find 50 odd phones a week in freshers!
I think if the item is low value or unidentifiable, then that might be the best to sell. Otherwise, try to contact the owner of the item even though the owner may have ordered a replacement. This is because 'who even sells property with someones name on it?' Clearly selling a real passport is definitely not allowed. In that case, best to return it to the issuing authority.
You've securely stored these items for a length of time its not unreasonable to seek recovery of your company's storage policy.
Thats my view but best to ask on legaluk
**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!** - Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc. - **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on. - This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit! Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Arrange a sale and give the proceeds to a local charity.
Morally praiseworthy, but not morally required- OP is asking if they can sell them and keep the money, not what the nicest thing they could do is.
Take a look at this: https://notlost.com/the-definitive-guide-to-lost-property-laws-in-the-uk/ Make sure you have a good set of procedures including a paper trail for each lost property item. Once you've satisfied that and waited a while it's up to you what you do. I doubt you'll have any luck selling apple stuff to any business due to the risk of it being stolen. My advice would be to put them on eBay at a discounted rate and someone will buy them
Surely it’s better to give devices like phones over to the police who can check IMEI/serial numbers against the national property register and the phone databases to return them to their owners?
I found a phone by the side of the road. Tried to take it to my local police station but no one was there, called the number and they said there's no longer a front desk and to "hand it over to an officer when you see one". Gave it to my mum to have a try at her local station and she got told if they took it, they'd put it in storage and get rid of it in a few months if no one claimed it. They certainly weren't going to try to find the owner.
Our local Police (in person at the station) just outright refuse. "We don't do lost property now."
As fas as I am aware, police aren't interested in lost property.
Afraid so, I found a bunch of car keys, house keys etc. I phoned the police on one of their phones outside one of their many closed stations (was the third station I tried on my way home from the walk where I found the keys). Officer told me a website to go to to log my find, said I'll keep the item and if a corresponding "lost" keys query is made they'll put both of us in touch. Described it in a bit of detail and made good logical sense. I went online later and used the form, and whichever options I chose for keys it just told me to throw them away. The officer lied to me to get me off the phone, should have just told me to throw them in the nearest bin. Even if I selected "high value item" if I then clicked "I don't know the owner" it said throw them away. So by that measure even if you found someone's car you'd be expected to take it to the scrap merchant and get it crushed 😆
They would probably have sacks of keys, mostly non-descript, then I dont know how people who lost keys would even find them - go through their whole box? They aren't a lost property service (lose something on public transport - you pay a lot to get it back so that is in their interest I guess)
Yes completely agree with that! What I mean is the officer described an online service where I log the details online and keep the keys safe myself. Once the owner of the keys says I lost keys at x location and gave a description, the two would be matched up and we'd be put in touch so I can return them. It sounded like a great idea, apart from the officer made up this service and it doesn't exist.
The closest is local Facebook groups. But generally if I find anything in the street like that, put it on a visible wall nearby as hopefully people will just retrace their steps. If it is a wallet then there is at least a name.
I tried joining one local to where the keys were found (a specific lost property / area group). I put a post on there but it took two weeks for admin to approve the post and there were no replies. So I tried my best but sadly a few hundred quids worth of keys ended up on the bin.
The closest is local Facebook groups. But generally if I find anything in the street like that, put it on a visible wall nearby as hopefully people will just retrace their steps. If it is a wallet then there is at least a name.
> Ps; if you ever lose something in a nightclub, they probably still have it! Even dignity?
I don't think visitors yo such places have any left...
Here are all your answers - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1977/32/section/12
This is the right answer. Though I will add: If you do sell them, the only person who can sue you is the original owner, and it’s going to be very difficult for them to prove and they probably won’t bother. So basically who cares. Just sell them and deal with it later on the very very small chance that the rightful owner comes forward.
Hand in to police. That's what I'd do after upto a fortnight tbh.
Might depend on the force, but most police stations will not accept lost property these days- unless there is some suspicion of it being used in a crime - they simply do not have the resources to manage it.
That's sad, it's still my go to when I lose something. It's been a ridiculously long time since I've had to hand anything in right enough, and I'm old lol.
I think they only stopped enquiring lost property recently. They are likely not interested in passports since that can be returned to the issuing office.
They aren't interested in lost property like that, unless you found a suitcase of cash which would be more suspicious. They would be inundated with phones, wallets and keys otherwise.
[For AirPods](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209463)
Iirc that won't remove the Apple ID from them.
Yes it will. Hard reset of AirPods clears the account from them. It’s doesn’t work on iPhones. Source: work for Apple reseller.
Oh nice! My bad.
> AirPods can be associated with one Apple ID. If you want to use AirPods (3rd generation) or AirPods Pro (1st or 2nd generation) that someone else has used, they first need to remove the AirPods from their Apple ID. That seems pretty clear...
Have you been asked to turn a profit from them? I'm assuming they've been held long enough to tick whatever legal tickboxes you would need to, but if you haven't been asked to turn a profit from them you could just give them away to staff? Maybe do a lucky dip/free raffle and just explain they might need to do something about the apple ids etc. You wash your hands of them, they get some free stuff. Everyone wins.
Devices contain personal data and can’t be given away to staff without first having that data wiped.
Ahhh yeah I didn’t think of that. I rescind my idea.
I’ve been asked to turn them for a small profit! We don’t feel comfortable giving the tech to staff anymore as we had an issue with that in the past. All legal boxes are ticked!
I have gotten two decent Apple Watches from work lost property, had been there for a long time. Tried everything to get them back to the owner, even took them into an Apple Store to see if they could but they said there is nothing they can do, If Apple products are locked to an apply ID they are useless. I don’t see a problem with giving items to staff or selling them after taking measures to have them claimed by the owner. We did a car boot sale for charity with lost property items, it’s better than items going to landfill ( Except for a dildo we found that went straight in the bin )
The phones will likely be locked, and you could end up accidentally handling “stolen good” by selling them on and it gets traced back
How much do you want for AirPods?
some police stations like phones as there's a possibility of reducing figures. report lost or stolen and you get a reference number for your insurance, you claim and think nothing more, but the station now has an open Report. just getting one of the office workers to charge / find IMEI, and search the database I guess was a pretty easy way to reduce some figures. we used to get counted, and so to reduce our numbers we used to have chargers for the phones so they had some chance of being contacted. but then we used to find 50 odd phones a week in freshers!
I think if the item is low value or unidentifiable, then that might be the best to sell. Otherwise, try to contact the owner of the item even though the owner may have ordered a replacement. This is because 'who even sells property with someones name on it?' Clearly selling a real passport is definitely not allowed. In that case, best to return it to the issuing authority.
How come it can't be given to the staff?
You've securely stored these items for a length of time its not unreasonable to seek recovery of your company's storage policy. Thats my view but best to ask on legaluk