Money Moral Dilemma: Do you charge house guests for breakages?

3plus1

I don't think you should even have to ask. If someone breaks one of your possessions, they should offer to replace/refund immediately. If the culprit is a minor, then the parent should stump up the cash.

A £500 tv is a bit much to write off as 'just an accident'. A real friend would write a cheque without squabbling - for that matter, so would any decent person, even if they didn't know you all that well.

If you were particularly rich and a £500 tv was a drop in the ocean, you would politely turn down your friend's offer to replace it - but the friend should still offer in the first place, rather than assume you could take the hit yourself.

If the item in question wasn't a £500 tv but an item of low value, your friend should offer to pay or buy you a replacement, you should decline, your friend should offer to buy you a drink instead to say sorry and you should accept that. Simple.

DFW74

Nerdy technical point!!!! I used to work in claims for a national insurer whose contents policy automatically covered accidental damage to tv's and the like even if you didn't have AD cover on your contents (don't know if other Insurers do this). Just had a look at their Premier Home Insurance Policy document online and they still do have this cover. Don't know if I can say who they are but they are a National Mutual company who shall we say target Farmers.... and yes I do still have all my insurances with them(house, car and horse).

In reply to the question though, I agree with previous posters in that if they are 'good friends' they will automatically offer to pay.

3plus1

ihatebt wrote: »

What if little Tommy's mum is a struggling single parent?

She should still offer to pay. You might have had a £500 tv in your house, but that doesn't mean you don't have money worries of your own! The tv might have been a present, it might have been bought on credit or maybe you might have been able to afford it once, but now with the credit crunch, you're actually struggling to pay the mortgage/rent and you have no cash to spare!

If you are actually quite rich, your struggling single mum friend should still offer to pay for the damage. You should then say no, it's okay, I can afford to replace it myself. Point is though, she should offer - it's the gesture that's important.

Katyag

Kids in the house so id always have accidental damage cover. I also wouldnt be letting kids throw balls about inside.

We have however had friends who when we damaged something of theirs they demanded to be paid for it but when they damaged something of ours it went unreplaced! Needless to say we hardly see these people anymore!

jud!th

If the parents had told/asked Tommy not to throw the ball and he had, it's their responsibility, and they should pay.

If they didn't tell/ask him, and I had to tell/ask him not to do it, then it's their responsibility and I'd struggle to keep a friendship going with the parents if they didn't pay for the TV, because they're not respecting me or taking responsibility for their role in bringing up their child.

If I'd been watching him do it and said nothing, and the parents had also been watching him do it and said nothing, then it's my fault because I should have made sure something was said, so I'd pay for the TV. Although I'd be pleased if they offered to pay.

I've got a 5 year old and that's the expectations I'd put upon myself if they did it.

JayD

Well, firstly I would always have accidental cover but this isn't about me.
Secondly, regardless of the above, I would expect my friends to be extremely apologetic and to offer to pay for a replacement.

Assuming that these friends don't do that, I would smooth their way to offering to do that by reassuring them that I totally understood that this was an accident and that I know if they could have prevented it, I am sure they would have. However, I would also explain that this was an expensive TV which is now bust and it was broken by their child. So perhaps they could make arrangements to replace it?

If there were valid pleas of poverty I would accept an offer of a payment towards a replacement - especially if these were very close friends who I knew didn't have much money - but I wouldn't just smile and say 'never mind, these things happen' unless I was so well off that it didn't make much of a dent in my own finances.

As with many of these 'dilemmas', a lot depends on variables that haven't been given.

PeteW

Though I wouldn't ask for it, I'd certainly expect the parents to offer to replace it (I would in their position), and we wouldn't be friends much longer if they didn't!

awehla

ihatechoosingnames wrote: »

she's no longer welcome because of an accident? wow..seems a bit harsh.

Yep me and my colleague agree. Stupid behaviour it may have been but she's still his girlfriend and I know people who married or got engaged to the boyfriends/girlfriends they have had since they were 17.

Re: little Tommy I think the parents should cough up some money towards a new TV at least, but you can't demand payment off friends. Again, a kid throwing a cricket ball wouldn't happen in my house

Lisa
x

JimmyTheWig

3plus1 wrote: »

She should still offer to pay. You might have had a £500 tv in your house, but that doesn't mean you don't have money worries of your own! The tv might have been a present, it might have been bought on credit or maybe you might have been able to afford it once, but now with the credit crunch, you're actually struggling to pay the mortgage/rent and you have no cash to spare!

No reason why it can't be replaced with a decent CRT TV from freecycle. I think Tommy's parents should at least offer to find one for them. But I don't see why they should have to pay for their friends expensive tastes, whether their friends can afford such tastes or not...

v967210

Very naughty I know, but i would see if my friends had accidental damage insurance and swap the TV's round and get them to claim on their insurance :rotfl: