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?

It is 🤣 so true.

How long have you had the cleaner for? Are they new? To be honest, if she is new to your house, there are a million things she needs to learn/watch out for (speaking from experience), your house is big, she was probably just rushing around and forgot to close the door (if that's indeed what's happened, as it could be that as others have said the cats just sneaked in). Either way, it would be unfair to ask her to use her insurance, this would increase her premiums for something that ultimately wasn't done deliberately.

@slithytoveisascientist maybe you overlooked that I was showing care and concern for your cats here.

Your response of "And who said I wouldn't ?" seems a little harsh.

@PollyPut I've felt unduly criticised on this thread and perhaps took your post in the same light. Apologies as you didn't intend it in that way.

@PollyPut the post straight after mine May explain my sensitivity! 😂

Omg I would quit working for you if I was her
They're your cats buy them a scratching pole their claws obviously hurt which is why they scratched your sofa

If you asked me to claim I would tell you to do one and I'm not even a rude person

OP I would let it go. It was genuinely inevitable. Years after training mine to not scratch anything she has decided to start being a little terror. Similarly, we used to keep out of the bedroom at night, but she just learnt to open the door eventually.

No, I’m saying you’re ridiculous to expect the cleaner to mind your cats.

Op, I think you're getting a pretty hard time on here tbh.

I'd be annoyed too if I'd asked for the door to be closed and they didn't do it. But, I do think you should have kept them in with you rather than have them roam free.

And you are right, you probably can't have her clean when you're not there, unless you lock them in a room out of the way.

YABU

Her insurance is highly unlikely to pay for this, it would be damage by her, such as her scratching your sofa whilst cleaning.

No, I don't think you should claim on her insurance. Your cats, your responsibility. She skivvys for you on an extremely low wage and you want to make things harder for her. YATA.

You've zero chance of claiming however I'd let the cleaner go tbh you asked her not to leave the door open more than once.

I think you will find this is a clear exclusion on your own policy as it is something that will happen if you have cats.

If I was your cleaner, I'd be running for the hills....is she allowed to do anything?!
I get that your property is important to you, because you've spent hard earned money on it - and there's nothing wrong with that. But the damage doesn't even look that bad, I doubt many people would even notice.
Currently looking at the state of my sofa - you'd probably condemn it to hell. But that's the joy of children...or cats

That would be so easy to forget to do!

I have housecats. They can go everywhere in the house.

I love how people are accusing OP of not being a “cat person “ just cos she’s not over the moon about her cats scratching her sofa to bits and they’re not allowed in her bedroom.

People can be ridiculous about cats on mumsnet!!

Whilst yes, she should have closed the door it’s not that easy when you are carrying hoovers etc. and cats are slippery little escape artists. I think you’ll just have to live with it.

YANBU
You specifically asked her not tonlet them into 2 rooms due to damage, she made one mistake and said she would be more careful, then she wasnt.
I would want to ask her about the insurance, cos thats what its for.
however, idon't know if youd get anywhere And you may also sour the relationship.

And for those who say your cat your problem, its about cleaner following instructions, not about accidental cat damage.
.. i have a very scratchy cat, who isnt allowed in living room unaccompanied. Id be gutted if someone let her in and she trashed the sofa While unsupervised.

She should have been more careful but if she’s not an animal owner she won’t understand, it’s not unreasonable for you to claim against her insurance if she’s got any but success will be down to your contract does it state in it that the door needs to be closed, has she signed it, have you signed it, was it witnessed by someone who could testify both parties understood it’s content, does the repair cost more than her excess? This is what will be considered along with the probability of you forgetting to latch the door …

If you’d asked her to close the door and she didn’t then she’s responsible.
She knew you had cats when she started cleaning for you and you gave her specific instructions when she started.
Not sure if you can claim but I’d be looking for someone else.

@TerfTalking how is closing a door minding cats?

1. It's not a wage she isn't an employee

1. She sets the rates so if £17.50 is "extremely low" it's on her not me

1. She also chooses to 'skivvy' as you so delightfully put it

Why be so dismissive of a cleaning job? And it is a choice she has made, one she is good at and appears to have made a successful business from it.

I have two condemned to hell sofas

It's not wrong to want ONE thing kept nice

Why would being asked to close a door after entering a room make you want to run for the hills?

To be honest I wish when she started (and agreed to shutting the two doors) or last week when i reminded her (and she agreed to shutting them) that she had "run for the hills" as then this wouldn't have happened!