AIBU to not want to pay £1k for a lamp my toddler broke in the doctor's waiting room?

[sanam2010]

Ok so my DH took my 22 month old DD to a doctor for a check-up today. About ten minutes after appointment time, when they had been waiting for 15min, apparently DD reached for the lamp on the magazine table next to them (she was on DH's lap), the lamp fell off the table and broke.

They then said this was a very expensive special lamp worth £1,000 and that we had to pay for a replacement!! Isn't this mad? I don' have any insurance that would cover this.

As much as i regret the damage and wish she hadn't touched anything, first of all if they had kept te appointment time this would not have happened (private practice, not NHS by the way), plus it was a complete accident, not a case of negligence or intentional damage, plus what are they doing putting a £1k lamp on a simple coffee table in the waiting room? And shouldn't their insurance cover this?

What do you guys think is a reasonable agreement i can reach with them? Is it unreasonable not to pay for it?

hahaha I can just imagine the receptionist saying -
"a thousand pounds! yes I should say something in the region of about a thousand pounds!" just like in 'I'm sorry I've got no head'...
tell them to do one, and change doctors.

Don't pay. But do get yourself insurance!
We also rent but have contents insurance. This paid for the damage our dog did to a brand new car by running into it costing over £1000.
Please get yourself contents insurance as you'd be suprised how much it costs to replace things in a fire or if they a nicked. Costs less than £10 a month

I hope your DD doesn't end up with a broken glass phobia like mine. It makes me feel sick. That started with a mug shattering on a kitchen floor at my feet as a small child.

so that's where the money goes for private health insurance?

Tell them to get stuffed.

Stupid place to put a £1000 lamp. Simple as.

They will claim on insurance. Let them try and take you to court. They will not.

Really?

yanbu that is fucking insane! tbey are so taking the piss! it was an.accident and they should have insurance to cover it!

wtf is a dentist surgery doing with a £1000 pound lamp anyway!

tell them youll pay after youve sued because of the danger they put your childs life in and upset that was caused by having an unsturdy lamp in a public area.

Could you report it to environmental health or whoever deals with elf and safety? Our surgeries only have ceiling lights. Don't offer to pay anything. That could be viewed as admitting liability

www.italian-lighting-centre.co.uk/classic/black-gold-lamp-with-swarovski-crystals-shade-p-6104.html

now thats an expensive lamp

This isn't true, is it?

www.italian-lighting-centre.co.uk/modern/murano-glass-table-light-p-2241.html

even more shocking

Wait for them to sue you for it. They won't.

Claifairy

You are my hero - I couldn't have put it better myself.

OP

Perhaps we could see a picture of you looking sad in the DM?

This is why I love the NHS - no 1K lamps to break. I've been to private doctors all my life (US) and often wonder why the waiting rooms have to look like posh living rooms! In fact I've been to one private clinic since being in the UK and there were ridiculous pieces of pottery and art everywhere. DH was whispering about how all of our money was going on pottery and framing costs!

YANBU - they don't have a leg to stand on.

Ridiculous. They would have their own insurance to cover the loss, and if they had failed to include an expensive lamp on it, then that's their own bloody fault (and for having it in an easy-access area of the waiting room anyway).

Pay nothing! And if they write to you, refer it to a solicitor.

I expect the request to pay, is down to some miserable receptionist, not what the practice actually expect to happen??

Even if the OP decided to replace the lamp-it wouldn´t have to be the same one, would it?

I´d be tempted to do nothing.

If it gets mentioned again-laugh!

"Very expensive special lamp"-if she really said that-how did you not just laugh anyway?

Yanbu at all. Just don't pay it. £1000 for a lamp is ridiculous.

Tell them, THEY indangered your child

Thanks for all your messages. My instinct is still to call them and complain about the upset this has caused my daughter and the danger she was put in. Rather than doing nothing? I am worried that if we do nothing they take it as an admission of guilt. I am worried my husband wasn't tough enough on them yesterday as he was so surprised and shocked himself.

Can on talk to the citizen's advice bureau or get some legal advice on this to have clarity?

Surely a breakable lamp within a toddler's reach in a waiting room is a risk in itself? Don't pay, instead threaten to report them to the HSE. What a bloody cheek.

YANBU at all.

They should be insured.

What a silly place to put an expensive vase.

I would try the CAB. If they can't help you, they should be able to point you in the direction of someone who can.

You can afford private dentistry for a child, but don't have the wherewithal for home insurance? I'm confused.

If you went to a friend's house and your child broke a lamp, you'd be responsible legally and financially for repairing it or replacing it. It's not different legally that you broke the lamp at a commercial premises, and it's irrelevant that the damage was accidental - nearly all damage to contents is accidental.

However, as the facts stand you do not have insurance and the dentist inevitably will.

They want you to pay for the damage because claiming on their own insurance will cost them an excess (which may be £250) and will also escalate their own insurance premium or lose them their no-claims clause.

Offer to pay the excess and a small sum in recompense of the premium.

Or do nothing and wait to be sued in a small claims procedure. You probably won't be.

Do not begin to negotiate payment with them as this may make you liable.
They will have their own insurance to cover this loss.
Do not contact them by phone or reply to phone calls from them, keep all contact with them to letter only so you have records of every thing, if they phone you tell them to write to you.
Keep a time line of all events, start this now while it is fresh in your mind.
Find out your local HSE office in case you need them, your first reply to any more contact from GP should state that you are consulting HSE.
Post here on the legal board for detailed advice.