To not pay for friend to get her phone fixed after I smashed it?

[katie3347]

Friday night me and my friend went out for drinks.
We were stood at the bar and I turned around quick and knocked my friends phone out of her hand,it hit the floor and smashed the screen.
It's still working but the screen is totally cracked.

She was a bit upset saying she didn't have insurance and couldn't afford to get it fixed.
I can't afford it either and shouldn't she have had insurance on such a expensive phone?
Anyway I haven't mentioned it since ..aibu to just not mention it again?
I know she probably expected me to pay to get it fixed but it was a accident and she was the one who let go once I hit her arm.

[glagdy]

Of course you should bloody pay!!

[52FestiveRoad]

I think you should pay. My car insurance is money I could use for other things but I still have to pay it, like all my other bills. It was an accident but it was caused by you.

[Twotailed]

Honestly I really would question the moral standards in general of someone who thinks it's ok to break other people's possessions and not pay.

It was an ACCIDENT - not negligence, or recklessness. The friend was holding her very expensive phone, clearly without a screen protector or cover, and dropped it when bumped into. And she hadn’t paid for the insurance to cover the damage. That was her decision, and she has to live with the consequences of that.

I honestly think you’re not a decent person if you think that people should be forced to pay for purely accidental damage when insurance exists for this exact purpose. If you choose to own expensive things and endanger them by holding them, uncovered, in a crowded bar then what possible justification do you have for expecting money from your friends when your expensive, unprotected, uninsured possessions inevitably get damaged?

We live in such an entitled society now - nobody is willing to take personal responsibility for their own things. It is ridiculous.

[Secretsquirrel101]

You should absolutely pay for it seeing as your actions caused it to get broken.

[Birdsgottafly]

I'd pay because I caused the accident.

If that is a real hardship, then I'd offer to go halves.

[NoSquirrels]

This is either reverse or deliberately goady, I reckon.

[ridinghighinapril]

Aside from the issue of who pays, if she has contents insurance then her phone may be covered under its terms

[nellieellie]

At least halves. I’d be mortified if I’d done this - even by accident. I think half is fair.

[Blondie1994]

You owe her a replacement!

[Rockbird]

You should pay half. I have an expensive phone. It has a solid case with a finger loop, a glass screen protector and is insured. I've done all I can to protect it. But if someone knocked it out of my hand and broke the screen I'd still have to pay the excess on my insurance and I wouldn't be happy.

[LannieDuck]

We live in such an entitled society now - nobody is willing to take personal responsibility for their own things. It is ridiculous.

You could easily say "We live in such an entitled society now - nobody is willing to take personal responsibility for their own actions. It is ridiculous."

OP broke the phone. Yes it was an accident, but she caused it. She should take responsibility for the damage her action caused. I would at least go halves.

[MidnightAura]

Of course you should pay. You broke it.

[villainousbroodmare]

Of course you have to pay! How could you think otherwise? I'm astonished at some posters suggesting not.

[Shortandsweet20]

Did she have a case on her phone? That would be a deciding factor for me, if she did I'd offer to pay more. If not I'd offer something but not all, she should take precaution over her things

[Stripyhoglets1]

I'd go halves if I was skint or pay for it all if I was better off than friend.

[Twotailed]

I’m glad I’m not friends with the grabby CFs on this thread, that’s all I can say. And I’m glad I’m a decent enough person to insure my own possessions, rather than expecting my friends to subsidise my recklessness.

[Aaaahfuck]

I think your belongings are in general your own responsibility. If something is broken in accident it is just that so I think it's quite harsh to blame op. If you have a remotely decent smartphone you should have insurance of some kind it's often way cheaper to add it to your home insurance rather than stand alone insurance. Also decent insurance not 100 excess where for lots of damage it becomes a bit useless as the excess is so large. If you can't afford this get a slightly cheaper phone with insurance or think about what might happen if it is damaged.

[Lazypuppy]

Phones should be covered on contents insurance if she picked the cover items away from the home

[stabbybitch]

Of course you pay for it your the bloody reason it broke!

[cushioncovers]

Of course you should offer to go halves, you broke it. I know it was accidental but still it's your fault. If you're are out in a bar drinking you obviously have some disposable income even if it's only a small amount and could offer to pay her something once a month for a few months. And she's an idiot for not insuring an expensive phone.

[BarryTheKestrel]

If you'd bumped into a random stranger who didn't happen to have hold of their phone tight enough and therefore dropped it, would you pay for their phone?

Your friend has no insurance, no decent protective case or glass screen protector and had chosen to play on her phone in what I assume to be a crowded bar surrounded by drunk people.

Her property, her responsibility. Accidents happen. If you'd done it maliciously it would be a different story.

[Rudi44]

Accident or not it was caused by you. At the very least I would offer her something. If I were in your friends situation I wouldn’t accept an offer of payment but you haven’t even offered.

[ilovesooty]

You should offer at least half. Even under insurance there will be an excess and you caused the accident.

I bet you spent more than £40 on your night out and your comments about the money are deeply unpleasant.

[TwoBlueShoes]

I think legally it would depend on intent and negligence.

I feel in this case the OP had no intent to damage the phone and she wasn't acting in a way that you could foresee damage to the phone, so I doubt she would be held legally responsible to pay.

[DishranawaywiththeSpoon]

It's not entitled to say someone should pay for something they broke ffs! It's entitled to break something and think it's not your responsibility! I'm not expecting my friends to pay for my things but in this situation I think they should at least offer (which if it was me if probably turn down)

I think half is fair, you broke it but she probably could have protected it better so going halves seems fair cop. £80 is the excess on my insurance and is fairly standard price for screen replacement. It's not some extornionate figure, it would be similar if she had a cheap smartphone.