Money Moral Dilemma: Who should pay the bill?

Les_Richenbacher

:j If the house had burned down because your MiL had an accident in the house would you be insured.
My company say my policy would not cover this.
I'm only covered if she sets fire to the house while I or the wife (joint policy holders) are in attendance.

No one goes in our house while we are out.
I can't afford to lose my house, can you?
:mad:

tenuissent

That is just ridiculous.

We have family and friends to stay constantly, including children, and sometimes we have to go out while they are at home. What are we supposed to do? Tell them to wander the streets until we get home again?

No, we can't afford to lose our house, but we are not going to guard it every second that someone else is in it. Get a life.

blackwid0w

You gave the key and the code and so regardless of whether she turned up at a pre-arranged day or not, it could still have happened on a day that you had agreed.

If she hadn't visited, it might have been you that ending up breaking it when you returned home from work out of normal office hours.
She likely did you a favour getting the problem sorted without you having to do a thing. If it had been after you'd got in, it may have taken ages to sort (and may have had a higher call-out fee) and I doubt your neighbours would have appreciated it much.

p_rushby

the house owner should pay. lets face it if the washer broke or the boiler stopped working etc, whilst the MIL was in the house would you suggest that she pays for them also?

tallgirld

Mention to her that you received a £50 bill. She may just offer to pay it. If not just tell her not to mess with the alarm again!!!

s1lv3rdal5

The alarm manufacturers should pay, through the County Court if need be.
The alarm is not fit for purpose;
The buttons should be able to withstand a certain amount of use and they were not of the standard required by a reasonable person.

An elderly lady should not be able to exert a force that would break the button.

In the interim, would any damage be covered under a household insurance policy, was the alarm under warranty?

If the owner expects his mother in law to pay then her daughter married the wrong man and should consult a divorce lawyer.

attemptingmoneysaving

Surely this is more a question of your relationship with your MIL? Does your partner think their Mum should pay? Isn't this a discussion to be had with your OH?

Pellyman

Did she push the button too hard or was she just the unlucky one to push it NORMALLY when it decided to get stuck? I bet she didn't tell you she pushed it 'too hard', but just that it stuck when she pushed it.
Presumably this wasn't a one off visit, if she had a key and knew the code she presumably had your implied permission to use them both. If the alarm was going off and she couldn't get in to switch it off she had little option but to 'phone the alarm company. If she did get in she obviously couldn't switch it off - or she would have done.
This is hardly a moral dilemma - it's a family thing. My feeling is that YOU should stay out of it and leave your other half to make the decision whether to raise the matter with their mother.

Littlemissteapot

You pay.
You gave her an open invitation to your house by giving her unrestricted access .i.e you gave her a key to the alarm, you must have given her the front door key 'cos she got in and I am assuming that she has gone into your house without an invitation before 'cos your are not angry that she admitted being in your house!.
I am also going to challenge the comment that she pushed the button too hard and hence it broke. I believe that the alarm was not new 'cos you seem to have no valid maintainence contract or guarantee, it has frequently been used (twice daily at least, switching it on and off) and that the same buttons are under frequent pressure 'cos I doubt you regularly change the code on your alarm, and that it was only a matter of time until fatigue of the equipment due to frequent, repeative use caused it to break. It was just unlucky that it broke when it was your mother-in-law that switched the alarm off.
I'm afraid things wear out and break over time due to age and your mother acted responsibly by calling someone out to deal with the situation. If it is 50 quid that it costs; its 50 quid that you pay.

pennypinchUK

What? You're going to risk a row with your mother-in-law for £50? Are you mad? Get on the wrong side of your mother-in-law, start a long running family feud pitting you against her might and she'll get you back for much more than £50. Pay up and be grateful she only cost you that much....!