Cleaner let cats into living room

[slithytoveisascientist]

Last week she let them into bedroom and luckily I caught it before anything happened. I reminded her and she was very apologetic and promised to be more careful.

This week she has left the living room door open and the cats have gone in and scratched my leather sofa. It’s never had any damage before and I’m gutted.

AIBU to ask to claim on her insurance for a repair, and will I even have any success?

And who said I wouldn't @PollyPut ?

Plus they aren't dashers

They are old

They meander

The door was wide open

Problem is you don’t know when they went in either. You were on a work call when she left, so they could easily have gone in while you were in sole charge

Because I've left it to my husband to do, and source another cleaner, it's comes under his responsibility not mine.

I think they did!

Through a door I asked her to close that I didn't know was open

That's the point

I asked her to shut the doors (x2)
She said she would
She didn't

I reminded her last week
This week she didn't again

Cat went in
Cat did damage

If she had done as she said they cat would not have walked in

Cleaner is NOT in charge of cats

Just doing the job she said she would which includes closing 2 internal doors

And if she didn't want to be responsible for closing doors she could have declined the job.

How hard is it to leave a door as you find it once you walk through it? It's ingrained in me.

Be careful here OP, there is always so much projected shame around cleaning threads, evidenced via comments like 'clean your own house', 'you're disgusting', 'your' filth etc or how about this one from further up thread:

'I'm also in the North West and would be ashamed to pay someone that hourly rate'

£17.50 an hour is a good rate for an unskilled job. & yes while a cleaner is not a cat sitter, surely it is not too much to ask that they respect your home.

Actually, closing mechanisms on doors are really not a good ides for houses with cats, a neighbour's cat had to have a leg amputated after a door self-closed onto it.

I have cats so I expect:
Scratched furniture
Pissing on things they shouldn't occasionally
Bits of fur everywhere
Being tripped up
Stalking
🖤

I expect

Vomit
Hair
Destruction
Unwelcome gifts
2am raves

But only in the spaces they are allowed

How could I forget the 2am raves 😆

OP I think just write this off.

Our cat isn't allowed in the living room without us being around, to ward of sofa scratching (although since I've had cats, I'll never have a leather sofa - too risky even when supervised!). Our cleaner knows they shouldn't be left in there, or the doors left open when she finishes.

However, if she did leave it open and there was a bit of damage as a result, I'd be annoyed, but I wouldn't expect her to pay for it to be repaired. That's what the accidental damage cover on my house insurance is for.

I'd only consider claiming against a cleaner's insurance if they'd made a deal of the fact that they're insured against damages when you started using them.

Our cleaner is a friend of a friend and I'd never ask her to pay anything. I know how much she needs the money!

I’m not a cleaner but my work involves me letting myself in and out of properties. I made a mistake and the person I work for sent me such a sweet and humorous text regarding the matter I couldn’t possibly have taken offence. I was really glad they told me rather than losing their custom.
As regards leaving notice on door, you could just blame your children/ husband/ mother on being forgetful and therefore avoiding any discomfort you might feel with your cleaner. It’s really important you like and trust your cleaner and I’m sure you’ll sort this out in a sensitive way as you come across as kind and polite

I think they did!

Through a door I asked her to close that I didn't know was open

That's the point

You have no way of proving you asked her to close the door.
You were the responsible party once she left the home. You have no way of knowing whether the damage occurred on her watch or yours.

If you've had to ask her twice, then you knew there was a chance the door would be left open, but you didn't check.

I think the damage to the couch is on you.

I don't need to prove it

I know and she knows I asked her

She left it open not me

It happened because she left it open

Prove it? 🤣

If you make a claim for couch repair or replacement, you will need to do a little more than offer a case of "I know and she knows".

I suspect there is no way you can prove that the damage occurred on the day the cleaner was there, or after the cleaner was there on that day.

If you're going to claim you know and she knows that you asked her twice to make sure the door was shut, then you knew there was a risk there, yet you did not check.

Posting on AIBU is inviting all and sundry to judge you, not just for whatever you are posting, but as a person, with your every moral called into question. You will be called despicable. You will be reviled. You will be called a scarlet woman. Even if you're just posting something really innocuous about pasta

Oh yes indeed. I once posted an AIBU about my husband cooking pasta by putting it into cold water then turning on the gas, instead of putting the pasta into the water once it’s boiling. I was told I was a controlling arsehole who should be grateful he was cooking, and on the other hand that I should LTB for his crimes against pasta.

My god @slithytoveisascientist you’ve unleashed a beast by having the audacity to have nice things and pay (a very good rate up north) a cleaner. Here is a photo of my vomiting/furniture scratching/ mouse catching diva ( think of all the mice and birds lives you have saved by cat proofing your garden)

But I'm not claiming? The many many posts stating as much make that very clear

I feel like it's neglect to keeps the cats out of the rooms, get over yourself

I’d be a bit annoyed but not really sure there’s anything you can do, insurance won’t pay for this. I think it’s probably fairly inevitable that this was going to happen at some point, people forget things and not always remembering to shut an internal door seems fairly understandable to me. I think you’d have to literally shut the cats away somewhere (where she doesn’t need to go into) for this to be a fair expectation- which obviously if she cleans in every room won’t be possible.

Oh well if we’re sharing cat photos, 5plus5 then here is my sofa vomiter, utterly unrepentant on the sofa she spoilt. (And once again, the blanket has been moved and is not in full protection mode, sigh)

@missmollygreen how many rooms should they have access to?

The problem is, the cleaner could say she did close that door, that the cat got in another time.
And I suspect most insurance - whether yours or hers - will exclude cover for any damage caused by pets.