My friend water damaged my laptop

[ston]

Last year while in my last year of university I had my laptop in the kitchen to do some work (everyone in my house regularly did this) when my friend accidentally spilt a whole pint of water on it.

I did not have insurance. The cost at Apple was around £400 to repair.

At the time I was sure that my friend should pay most of the cost for the broken laptop and I pay a bit also. Thinking back was this the wrong stance? I was a broke student with no money and my dad had just been made redundant so could not help me. My friend however had disposable income.

I’m now just thinking was I in the wrong - my friend basically ended our friendship over this situation.

If you’re that poor why do you have a Apple MacBook? It’s not like you would have been able to afford the repair had you accidentally damaged it yourself. If you can’t afford insurance, repairs or maintenance then it probably isn’t the best decision for someone on low/no income.

At least don’t leave it in the vicinity of others who wouldn’t look after your belongings as carefully as you would. Once in halls, someone accidentally split an alcoholic drink on my phone left on my kitchen table. It still worked but left brown liquid stains on my screen so I learnt that lesson pretty fast. I wasn’t about to go after a bunch of drunk students for the cost.

As a student who had a full job, I wouldn’t have been able to afford £400 for an accident - regardless of how flush you thought I was. The £400 would still impact her financially so I can sort of understand why she distanced herself from you afterwards. It changes the tone of your friendship.

One of my flat mates during first year was given a sizeable bursary by our uni as he came from a disadvantaged background - he immediately spent it on a MacBook Pro and spent the rest of the year eating everyone else’s food, using and losing our plates/cutlery and stealing our alcohol because he “had no money”.

Both my kids at uni have MacBooks and the first thing we did was make sure they were insured and what the conditions of the insurance were. Saying others did it as well is no excuse, maybe they insured their laptops so weren’t taking the same risk.
As other PPs have said, I think losing the friend is more about how you handled the situation, rather than anything else. Did you jump straight in and hassle her to pay for the repairs by any chance?

I would have probably gone 50/50. She spilt the water but you A) didn't have it insured. B) Shouldn't have had it in the kitchen where accidents and spills are likely to occur and C) Your property so your responsibility, and you weren't as responsible with it as you could have been in that instant.

I would have offered to pay because I would feel guilty about spilling my drink, but I probably would harbour some resentment over it - rightly or wrongly.

Some of the replies on this thread are shocking and SO brash for no reason. Assuming I hassled her to pay couldn’t be further from the truth.

My parents got me a MacBook for a Christmas and birthday present and I chipped in half of the money (earnt from my part time job). They did not mention insurance and I presumed that it would be covered in whichever policy my dad had taken out.

Thanks for all responses

Having an laptop in the kitchen with food & drinks was not very sensible likewise you should have had insurance . At best your flat mate should have offered something but that’s purely discretionary you were reckless having a laptop in a dangerous environment really the blame lies with you

OP, you are incredibly good at passing the buck. Nothing's ever your fault.

I am clearly stating that I am to blame from not having insurance and having my laptop in the kitchen. I am not disputing that hence this thread. However I am stating reasons as to why I did not think about these things before.

Well, hopefully you've learned something!

I've seen no shocking replies on here at all OP, just some that do not sympathise particularly with you.

Ok, so the lack of insurance was due to a mistaken assumption made by a young person but that was not your ex friend's problem. Plus, old enough to go to university is old enough to check the small print in the cover for an expensive item and take full responsibility for doing so. it was not your parents' fault either.

You should have been more careful and to answer your original question: yes, I think you were in the wrong.

£400 is a lot of money for me now, never mind when I was a student, especially for an entirely preventable situation.

You should have had insurance and shouldnt have left a laptop in a kitchen and not expect there to be a possibility of it getting damaged.

If I was using the kitchen for the reason intended - ie preparing and consuming food/drink - and during the course of that I spilled something, which is an entirely plausible action in this context, it should not cost me £400 because of someone else's choice (to leave an uninsured expensive piece of equipment in a place where it could be damaged).

I might offer to contribute something towards repairs as I have to take some responsibility towards causing the spill, but no way should I be expected to pay the whole amount. If a friend expected me to pay the full cost of repairs in the hundreds of pounds and didnt take any responsibility for their part in the item being damaged then I would reevaluate that friendship.

What would have happened if it had been irreparable? Or the repairs were more expensive - say £500+, which is not unheard of for Apple items and the grant you got didnt cover the costs? Would you still have expected the friend to pay the entire amount?

Personally, I wouldn't ask a friend to pay. Money issues tend to be an ending of a friendship...

No you should've had insurance. They should have paid the excess. Your fault you didn't have it; in this case I think it would've been nice for your ex friend to offer to pay a contribution. You had something expensive and uninsured in a shared space. Not fair to expect them to pay £400.

Someone living in student accommodation should be able to spill water in a kitchen without finding themselves out £400.

I think this is the crux of the matter. £400 is a lot of money for you to ask of your student housemate over a complete accident. I mean, it’s your laptop and you wouldn’t have been able to afford the repair yourself, yet expected her to stump up the money. £40 for example would be fine, but £400 is eye watering. She didn’t maliciously set out to damage your laptop, she didn’t do it on purpose.

Also did this housemate financially help you out or pay for things on your behalf? As I student I had a job and my housemates didn’t, I regularly paid for nights out, takeaways, alcohol/grocery shops, group birthday gifts, Ubers etc without a penny in return (although bank transfer promises were made). Whilst I didn’t chase them or keep a tally, I would have been annoyed had the same housemates asked me for £400 over this - 1 rule for me, another for them etc.

@puds11 try harder...for who ? You ? Please

@misssensible

I said what I said. If you damage it - you buy it. Simple as that.

It was a risk to use it in the kitchen, obviously, but that doesn't make it your fault that someone else spilled water on it. Any more than leaving a window open makes it your fault if someone else burgles your house.

So she should have paid for it.

Whether others used their laptops in the kitchen or not, you were really daft to use your laptop in the kitchen.

However, if I damaged someone else's property I would expect to pay for it to be repaired. I do think it would depend on the exact circumstances though.

(I don't think the fact that you were broke, your dad had been made redundant and your friend has disposable income is relevant to the decision).

that doesn't make it your fault that someone else spilled water on it. Any more than leaving a window open makes it your fault if someone else burgles your house.

Unfortunately whilst it may not be your fault you were burgled, you do still bear some responsibility for not securing your property.

According to my home insurance, if I leave my house unsecured and someone gains access due to my negligence (in not closing/locking doors/windows etc) then my policy is invalidated.

Someone living in student accommodation should be able to spill water in a kitchen without finding themselves out £400.

Yes. This. Your friend was almost certainly left in a financial hole as a result of this. I find is impossible to believe that a student had £400 lying around they wouldn't notice. Of course that will impact on your friendship.

It would be nice if she contributed....

But ultimately,

You shouldn't of left the laptop in a kitchen, an environment where it was likely to be damaged....

And the insurance situation was unfortunate!

We all live and learn!

AmelieTaylor laptop worth £400 of repair is a valuable and leaving it on a kitchen table is waiting for water to be spilled on. there is no need to say f...s...

RosieJaune morally the burglary would not be your fault. However, leaving a window open would practically make you much easier to burgle and thus would probably invalidate your home insurance. Much like using a laptop in the kitchen would make it more likely to have water spilt on it.

Insurance and keeping in a safe place is your responsibility, so I would say the primary responsibility was yours, if the water was spilt because she was messing about, she should perhaps take some responsibility but only half of a standard insurance excess so probably no more than £100

That cost sounds like the cost you'd have to pay even if you had Applecare plus. Water damage is just not covered.