Partner been told to pay for broken laptop

DKLS

Seems harsh whenever I have killed a laptop it was replaced and the only concern was any loss of data and not the actual laptop.

jc808

Was the beverage being on the table in contravention of the sites health and safety type rules eg 'no hot drinks on the table by the computers' etc.

Whose beverage was it?

If I knocked over someone elses beverage in a location where beverages were not allowed on desks, etc, I would be pushing back.

PlutoinCapricorn

It seems like joint responsibility to me.

The_Magnificent_Spoon

£1000 sounds very expensive for a laptop these days. What model laptop was it, how much was it when originally purchased and how old was it (depreciation usually classifies laptops as value less after three years)?

Your partner would be required to replace its value, not a brand new higher spec replacement.

pinkshoes

I would ask for the laptop to be sent over to be examined before agreeing to anything.

You should then also ask for a receipt of purchase for this specific laptop, linking its serial number. The business should have this. If they haven't i would be suspicious!

You should not pay for betterment. If it is 3 years old, offer 25% of replacement cost.

Enterprise_1701C

Definitely ask for the laptop to be sent so it can be independently inspected. Surely if he pays £1000 he is effectively buying it anyway. Also, he can then check the specs to see how much a replacement would be.

rs65

Charliezoo wrote: »

Does he really have to pay?

Sounds like he was liable.

He is entitled to see evidence of the damage and his liability insurers will require it. Any settlement will be based on today's value not new replacement value.

sueturnersmith

I'm afraid your partner is liable for the repair or replacement of the laptop.

He is a self employed contractor, and therefore operating his own business, albeit on another business premises.

He should have public liability insurance which is intended to cover breakages such as this.

Voyager2002

pinkshoes wrote: »

I would ask for the laptop to be sent over to be examined before agreeing to anything.

You should then also ask for a receipt of purchase for this specific laptop, linking its serial number. The business should have this. If they haven't i would be suspicious!

You should not pay for betterment. If it is 3 years old, offer 25% of replacement cost.

I agree with most of this comment, but not the first point. If a computer gets wet then it needs to be turned off and left for a good long time until it is completely dry. It is probable that someone tried to turn on this laptop before it dried out, thus frying it: you could argue that they were negligent but proving that the destruction happened when turned on rather than at the point of the accident would probably not be possible.

All in all, it does sound like joint liability. It would be reasonable to offer to pay HALF of the actual value of the machine at the time of the accident: to calculate this you would need to see the receipt and know the age and specifications. However I would be inclined to trust them that the laptop is now beyond use.

DKLS

The_Magnificent_Spoon wrote: »

£1000 sounds very expensive for a laptop these days. What model laptop was it, how much was it when originally purchased and how old was it (depreciation usually classifies laptops as value less after three years)?

Your partner would be required to replace its value, not a brand new higher spec replacement.

I would question the figure of 1k, I saw what one company I worked for paid for laptops, they had a retail price of 1k, but due to our buying power we would pay £229 for each laptop.