Advice please. DS has broken a shop window!!

hobo28

This reminds me of a few years ago a similar thing happened in my parents shop.

I am shocked how people think just because it was an accident the son bares no responsibility. He clearly does.

If someone scratches your car would you want him to pay? Or are you happy that its covered by your insurance.

I think the shopkeeper is being entirely reasonable in his response. He's only looking for his insurance excess and he only detained the child for as long as it took for the police to show up.

I'd say pay up and make your son pay you back. Responsibility is a hard lesson to learn but if you let him get away with this now, it will not help him.

TAG

hobo28

Read my original post. Where do I say that he is not responsible?

And as far as detaining him for 2 and a half hours. I think that is totally unreasonable. The police took so long to arrive as it was an unimportant incident.

Pssst

Indeed...for your son to have to wait at the shop for that length of time is unsatisfactory and just shows how thin the thin blue line is.

In such a circumstance, your son could have chosen to leave but provide some kind of identification or give a phone number for the shopkeeper to ring to confirm his ID.

Of course not all 15 year olds are the same and no doubt he would have possibly been fearful or apprenhensive. Had he left,the shopkeeper may have tried to forcibly detain him which is a whole new issue.

As i say, i think your best route is

definately get shopkeeper to have liability confirmed

Check your house insurance

if you have to pay,explain your situation and offer to pay by installments

real1314

I'm a bit surprised that a ball can break a shop window in this day and age. Aren't shop supposed to use toughened glass? And it's a ball that can be thrown? Now a football that's been thrown doesn't often have enough force to break a decent glass window, and a small ball cetainly shouldn't imo. All seems a bit odd?

I'd certainly be unhappy about the 2.5 hrs your son was kept in by the shopkeeper and would be speaking to plod about the time the call was logged, the details that were given and the response time given that a minor was being held.

However at the end of the day your son does have to take responsibility for his actions, albeit that it was an accident.
Ask the shopkeeper if he can work off the debt?

all imho.

PasturesNew

Check your household insurance, you might find members of your family are insured when they are away from the house. However, there might be an excess on your policy too.

Also, check if you have a Free Legal Helpline with any of your insurances. Phone them for advice.

Find out the whole circumstances of what was going on. Whether your son was entirely responsible, or if it was just at that point in time he happened to throw the ball that the other guy missed. e.g. if the other boy had initiated the ball throwing and was actively participating in it, there might be grounds to contact his parents to share the financial burden. It's not just a question of the one incident that broke the window, but who was doing what in the few minutes leading up to that one point that might make them morally equally responsible.

vaio

TAG wrote: »

Pssst I fully appreciate what your saying. As I have already said DS has admitted what has happened and is willing to pay for it or work it off in someway. However as it's a tattoo shop I doubt there's much he could help with. And neither of us can borrow or obtain money from anywhere, hard as that may seem.

I will ask for a break down of the cost to replace the window though. Apparently it's around £1000. I don't know if the house insurance will cover anything will have to look into that one.

Talk about a bad week it's only Monday and DS2 had his bike nicked yesterday whilst trying to earn a bit of money doing a paper round. The exhaust is literally hanging off of my car and now this.

I’d be very careful about demanding anything, your son broke the window and has admitted it, I can’t actually see why the shopkeepers insurance would pass up their right to recover their costs from the party responsible ie your DS.

In fact, as a customer of various insurance companies, I’m not at all sure I’m happy with my premiums going up to cover the costs of your son & mate being unable to play catch without breaking windows.

On a slightly different note I’d be less than happy at a civilian detaining my minor son for 2 hours+ and I’d be asking on what basis this was done.

DaisyFlower

I agree, you're not in a position to make demands. Having to pay the excess is very reasonable as he could have billed you for the whole of the replacement cost as by claiming he may meet increased insurance costs at renewal.

ceebeeby

TAG,

Thanks for sharing your dilema ... your son and the shopkeeper must have been really upset at the time.

I am as concerned as some of the above at the length of time the shopkeeper apparently 'detained' a minor. But this is separate and should be kept as such. I would though at some time be sharing these concerns with the owner, your son and perhaps the police.

I would also be asking for some sort of proof that the window wasn't already damaged, because your son and friend would have had to have been going some for the ball to actually penetrate / smash a shop window that a poster above rightly says should be toughened glass. If I've got you right, your son was throwing a ball to a friend who was (stood by / near the window) for him to catch. Therefore your son was presumably some distance away (I'm guessing a bit here). I guess it depends what type of ball it was, but again, if it was just an ordinary football (as opposed to a tennis ball / cricket ball / medicine ball) unless the glass was already weakened I would at least be asking the question as to how he managed to throw a ball so hard (from a distance) .... a kick yes, but a hand held throw ????

I know I've deviated from your original question, and you've already accepted liability / responsibility - however, you don't have the money to pay for it. I'm not sure that working off the debt in the shop is the best solution (remember this was the man who detained said minor), although the spirit of the suggestion is correct.

I would definitely ask for the copy of the excess, and what exactly is being replaced (was it standard sheet glass, being replaced with the same ... or toughened glass etc.) £1000 for a window is a lot of money.

I guess your son will be going to the park to play in future.

I hope you get it sorted, let us know how you get on.

TAG

vaio wrote: »

I’d be very careful about demanding anything, your son broke the window and has admitted it, I can’t actually see why the shopkeepers insurance would pass up their right to recover their costs from the party responsible ie your DS.

In fact, as a customer of various insurance companies, I’m not at all sure I’m happy with my premiums going up to cover the costs of your son & mate being unable to play catch without breaking windows.

On a slightly different note I’d be less than happy at a civilian detaining my minor son for 2 hours+ and I’d be asking on what basis this was done.

So what's the point in any of us having insurance then. I have never claimed on my car or house insurance but my premiums go up each year due to flooding and uninsured drivers. Maybe I should have a word with mother nature and tell her that I'm less than happy that she dumps a months worth of rain in a few days and it's really very inconvenient.

It was an accident. I think the very fact the lad actually stayed in the shop for the length of time he did shows the sort of kid he is. The majority would of legged it at the first opportunity they had.

As for 'demanding' I don't remember posting that I was going to demand anything. I did however say that I would ask for a break down of the cost. After all we don't know yet if the excess truly is £250 and the replacement window £1000. I only have the shopkeepers say so on that. For all we know he could be trying to pull a fast one.

As for the insurance company recovering costs from my son I don't know. Do they normally pursue 15 year olds? Or will they chase us the parents?

But, yes I have to say that it has put my mind to rest a bit that the majority of posters find it odd to say the least that the shopkeeper detained him for all that time. At one point he even got a customer to watch him whilst he went upstairs to get something.

ceebeeby I also find it strange that the window was broken by a ball. It was a football by the way and it was thrown not kicked. DS has said that the glass wasn't very thick so I can only assume that it wasn't toughened then. Are they meant to be?

I'll find out alot more tomorrow. I'll get DS to show me where he was standing when he threw it etc etc.

belfastgirl23

I think it's really good that your son accepted responsibility for this - it shows you've brought him up well. And I'd be inclined to support him in this decision.

I'd talk to the shopkeeper about repayment terms. Make the point that your DS has to make up for it himself. First of all I would ask about repayments in kind (car wash every week for a year? there might just be something your DS could do). Otherwise if you could arrange with him for your DS to pay him off at a tenner a week once he gets a job. But I'd definitely be asking for this as a favour and as a way of helping to reinforce the 'right from wrong' message.

Well done on raising an honest son!