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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask cleaner to pay for (expensive) lamp she broke?

28 replies

Mobilette · 04/02/2015 23:04

New cleaner, 3 weeks in. Overall slapdash, flaky on time, and not that great at cleaning, so I was thinking of calling time. Called me at work to say she'd broken glass lampshade of expensive (- and out of the way) table lamp. Want to sack her even more, but get her to pay for new shade first. AIBU?

OP posts:
CountingThePennies · 04/02/2015 23:06

Yanbu

She should have public liability insurance so i would claim on that

Caronaim · 04/02/2015 23:06

aren't you insured?

Samcro · 04/02/2015 23:06

do you not have insurance?

MrsSchadenfreude · 04/02/2015 23:07

Your home insurance should cover this.

CountingThePennies · 04/02/2015 23:08

Dont go on your home insurance, as your premiums will go up.

Claim on hers

Nolim · 04/02/2015 23:09

If she was hired throug an agency the probably have insurance for these incidents.

TinLizzie · 04/02/2015 23:17

If you're paying for a service that is, frankly, rubbish, then you need to do something about it. Regardless of breakages (accidents happen and at least she told you), if she's not up to scratch and you're not willing to sit with her to discuss then you need to replace your staff.

But firstly try telling her where she's going wrong. Not fair otherwise, as I think cleaning seems to be a bit... ambiguous and well, subjective.

I've learnt from lurking here!!

TinLizzie · 04/02/2015 23:18

Replace your staff? Where did that come from? Blush

hippo123 · 04/02/2015 23:27

Is she an agency cleaner? In which case Yanbu. If your just paying someone a bit of cash in hand yabu and you should claim on your household insurance.

Bogeyface · 04/02/2015 23:33

YANBU to ask her to leave on the basis of her shoddy work. YABU to expect her to pay for a replacement, I would very much doubt that she can afford to replace it.
Next time use an agency.

GlitterBelle · 04/02/2015 23:44

I've had a few cleaners break things - they've all left notes saying sorry, and brought replacements the following weeks without me saying anything. I would expect an offer of the money if it wasn't a replacable item though.

GlitterBelle · 04/02/2015 23:46

I would expect the company to be paying though, not the cleaners from their own pockets. The company is insured and state this is the case for if they cause any damage.

StackladysMorphicResonator · 05/02/2015 07:48

The cleaner or the company should pay for the lamp.

Don't sack the cleaner until it's paid for though! Perhaps give her a warning - mention the things you're unhappy about and tell her how to improve.

Altinkum · 05/02/2015 07:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PtolemysNeedle · 05/02/2015 08:09

YANBU, she should have insurance and that's what it's for.

londonrach · 05/02/2015 08:10

Tinlizzie Grin

BallsforEarrings · 05/02/2015 08:18

She will have public liability insurance - however with ours the excess is £250 it is really to cover for greater incidents of liability such as causing fire or knackering a bathroom suite or something. I have just paid out £249.00 for a TV one of our cleaners broke (we are a cleaning company btw!)

Smaller services sometimes have a lower excess of £100 upwards though so it is worth checking out, she should put the £100 towards it and let her insurance pay the rest, or she may wish to pay the lot to avoid losing no claims!

If she was giving sterling service I would think carefully about whether to risk losing her as good cleaners are so hard to find (I should know, takes me months to find a new recruit of quality despite my best efforts so growth is slow for us, we have no choice but to turn away work!) but since she isn't providing any real value for money I would ask her to pay it and get shut of her, you are losing all round staying in this situation!

trice · 05/02/2015 08:20

This is why you should use cleaners who have insurance. You can claim through their policy.

If you have used a "cash in hand" type, non professional cleaner you will have to pay yourself.

If your cleaner has a poor attitude to her work, in my experience nothing is going to fix this. You will have to ask her to leave.

I have a fab team of cleaners. They are fast, efficient, careful and reliable and proud of their work. It took me three tries to find them. Good luck.

minibmw2010 · 05/02/2015 09:11

Ask her for her insurance details or if she's an agency cleaner, contact them direct.

JoanHickson · 05/02/2015 09:18

Oh yes she should claim on her insurance. I agree if she isn't great at her job nothing will help. I knew someone who was dreadful at keeping their own homes clean to my standards who became a cleaner. I sat in shock at her telling me she had no idea why she was needed there wasn't much to do, she lost the job after two weeks.

DialsMavis · 05/02/2015 10:15

I'm not sure. She sounds like a crap cleaner, but if I break something at work I am not expected to pay for a replacement

101handbags · 05/02/2015 10:18

We use Molly Maid - they have insurance for precisely this kind of thing. Use a cleaner with insurance in future.

ThatBloodyWoman · 05/02/2015 10:21

Yabu.
Claim on your own accidental damage cover.

NeedABumChange · 05/02/2015 10:26

She should pay for it whether through her insurance or from her own pocket. You can't go around smashing other peoples stuff, accident or not.

fatherpeeweestairmaster · 05/02/2015 10:46

Just out of interest, is it normal for agency cleaners to have insurance? I gave my local agency a trial run on a spring clean and when the owner emailed the agreement details through, the first thing on the list was that they were not responsible in any way for any damage caused to home owner's property during the cleaning process. I thought that was one of the main advantages of using an agency - that they had insurance - so decided not to book them on a regular basis.

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