Claiming from the school for son's stolen property.

careless

Hi
Has anyone any knowledge/experience of this type of situation?
My son has been in High School foe a month. He had to give a talk at school about things that are important to him. The teacher told the class to bring in props for their talks but didn't organise timings properly so lots of children had to take stuff back and forth for days before their turn came around. My son makes Bionicles (lego figures) and has a big collection. For his talk, he designed one using pieces from lots of different standard Bionicles. He was ok taking it back and forth but then the teacher said she would look after it in her cupboard for him. He handed it over.
The next day, it had gone. She says she can only look for it and then apologised but said there was no more she could do. When he told her it would cost a lot to replace, she told him he shouldn't have brought it in but at no other time did she tell any of the class to hold back on what they brought and actively encouraged them to bring stuff.
We've totted up what it would cost to replace and to our astonishment, it's over £200 because some Bionicles are no longer made.
I think we should be able to claim on the school's insurance as she was negligent with his property. What do you think?

dunstonh

You should claim against your own household personal policy if you have personal possessions cover. Otherwise put it down to experience.

If you take expensive items into school then its part of the risk you take if someone pinches them.

skiddy2k

If I was you, I'd forget about it and make sure your son learnt the valuable lessons:
1)never to take expencive items to school
2)never leave valuables in school
3)never trust teachers

Tiggs_2

Moral of the story.....

Dont take anything expensive into a place full of kids

Dont play with lego after your 5th birthday

ArchieB_2

I know - why don't you try and claim from the school, bump up the cost of their insurance and hopefully the cost will be so big due to peole making silly claims that they will need to get rid of a teacher to continue to pay their premium.:eek:

Alternatively accept responsibility for your own actions.:rolleyes:

skiddy2k

ArchieB wrote:

I know - why don't you try and claim from the school, bump up the cost of their insurance and hopefully the cost will be so big due to peole making silly claims that they will need to get rid of a teacher to continue to pay their premium.:eek:

Alternatively accept responsibility for your own actions.:rolleyes:

....:T....

Petal_3

Was that really necessary?

careless

skiddy2k wrote:

....:T....

I would be happy to do this if the model had been stolen from my son's bag. The fact is that the teacher had taken it to 'look after'. She did not take proper care of it. After talking to my son, I found that he even asked her if she was sure it would be safe and she assured him it would. As a teacher myself, I would expect to replace personal property that I had lost or damaged. As a parent, if my son caused damage to school property through his own fault, I would expect to have to make it right.

My other son scratched a neighbour's car slightly and accidentally whilst falling off his bike - no question that he apologised and we paid to have it fixed. But that's my own personal attitude. I think what made me most cross was her attitude to him AFTER the theft.

Anyway, I'll be phoning the school tomorrow to see what's being done.

alba37

I know in our school it says on notices they will not be held responsible for loss of personal belongings, although the fact the teacher was looking after it makes this different... let us know the outcome & good luck.

careless

Thanks Alba
I just can't afford to replace this stuff and as he's used years of birthday and Christmas money on it - not to mention the money he earns by doing all our ironing - I haven't the heart to tell him he'll have to put it down to experience! He's only just 12, first month in High School and he was only doing as the teacher instructed because he's so keen to please. He's gutted enough to think that someone would have been horrible enough to have nicked it in the first place.

alba37

I have just had a similar"ish" problem with school. My 13 year old had wanted an Oakley backpack for ages... I was dead against it due to the cost, but eventually got him one at Xmas. He loved it!!

A few weeks ago a new craze started at school.... (probably not new, but new to me!!) Lots of the boys were putting their hands in others shirt pockets then ripping them off in one pull! The first day Marc came back with a pocket off I wasn't too happy. The following day he came home again minus a pocket & also one on the straps ripped away from his bag, it had been stiched on securely and also had 3 rivets!! Seemingly, when he had his bag on, someone tied their tie to the strap & yanked it from behind! Well, to say I was annoyed was an understatement & Marc was really upset.

Some boys had made collections of pockets... I reported it & some boys were cautioned for the pocket ripping, but that was it! I can just imagine if they had been collecting covers from school books or had damaged a teachers bag! I guess I could have taken it further, but I just have so many other things going on just now I couldn't face it.

I really think the teacher is a fault in your case, she should never have said she would take care of it if she was unable to do that. What sort of example is that?

I hope your outcome is good, but to be honest I think we have more morals than that teacher.

Good luck.