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?

Out of interest what other instructions is it ok for the cleaner not to follow?

I ask her to only use a specific (provided) product on a certain floor. Same for a certain mop.

Is it ok to forget those instructions and damage my floor?

What if she accidentally broke a tv or something?

When is insurance ok to claim on?

You sound like an exhausting host/employee. I bet everyone leaves feeling very bloody stressed about your odd ‘shut the door’ rule because you decided to get a pet that is known for scratching things yet don’t want your things scratched….

@Megifer I don't have the dexterity in my fingers for leather repair and my mum is amazing at crafts. Why are you being so unpleasant

Yes I think you should claim on your insurance. Please come back and tell us what they say 😁

Do you have scratchers and cat trees? My indoor cats never clawed the furniture.

@Gerrataere what does my job have to do with this? And when people are visiting me they aren't usually up and down out of the living room it's really not an issue.

And my bedroom isn't open for guests so that's not an issue.

@DuploTrain my home insurance covers accidental damage why is this idea funny? They covered a TV falling off wall.

@AgnesX 3 very large and sturdy posts plus a carpeted wall in the garage

Honestly, I would fire her unless you have a long time relationship. Not because of the sofa but I can't have people in my home who might thoughtlessly let my pets outside.

Its up to you to clear the field so the cleaner can clean. You should have shut the cars in a space where the cleaner never entered. Accidents happen. I’ve had the same cleaners for 20 years—things get broken occasionally, mistakes get made, but I have broken things too accidentally. Accident s happen eventually.

If you ask her to claim on her insurance, I suspect you'd just never see or hear from her again. If you use a cleaner, you run the risk of them making a mistake. If they seem incompetent, you stop using that cleaner.

You can get automatic closers for doors, a little chain that fits to the door frame and is barely visible. Putting those on the doors of rooms you want the cats to stay out of might help.

Never heard of these, will investigate thank you. Sounds perfect

I'm not going to pick on all the parts of your post, but you have my sympathies when it comes to the fact that you asked her not to leave the door open and she did.

I've found that unfortunately I just have to leave multiple signs up to ensure that our cleaner doesn't leave the wrong doors open or closed for the cats, then resorted to firmly locking/fixing them in place. (Our main worry is that she has shut the cats in the conservatory, which at certain times of year could be fatal).

YABU. Yes, she should have closed the door but she didn’t.

Regardless, they’re still your cats, so no you can’t claim on her insurance.

This is my fear plus what other instructions are going ignored / forgotten

Using the wrong product on my floor could easily damage it and I'm putting a lot of trust in her.

It’s a typo, I meant employer. Do you have children? Younger kids are always in and about (usually with sticky fingers and what ever else), and certainly forgetting to shut doors? Or would they get docked savings for for letting the cats into the room?

I’ve had cats most of my adult life. They generally should be outdoor cats.

If you don’t want them in another room then have a lockable room for them and put them in there. Don’t put this on your cleaner to sort out.

So yes, YABU.

This kind of thing https://www.amazon.co.uk/Concealed-XFORT-Provides-Automatic-Internal/dp/B07CT85F2T/ref=sr_1_9?c=ts&keywords=Door+Closers&qid=1697108397&s=diy&sr=1-9&ts_id=1938426031

Because initially it just looked like you were lazy tbh. Apologies but still, make sure your mum is aware you might claim for damage if she wrecks it.

It's clear
The cats aren't there when she cleans

She left the door open when she left
Cats walked in
Had a scratching party
Also ate my flowers which will mean vomit later

I agree I need to lock them away

I'm disappointed though as was hoping to build up to cleaners being able to come when I'm away or out and that won't be possible due to lack of trust

An automatic closer on a door as @fearfuloffluff says is a good idea.

I have 4 cats and 2 rooms with leather sofas that the cats are not allowed into because we know, and accept, that they can do damage (and they have the run of the rest of the house and a cat flap to roam as they wish just like OP) and I would be majorly pissed off if a cleaner were to leave a door open into those rooms when I had made clear my expectations.

I once had a cat sitter who had a nosey around (which she had no reason to do) and locked two of the cats in one of these rooms for several hours. Whilst the sofas weren’t damaged, the carpets were pulled up. I didn’t claim against her insurance but I did fire her.

@Gerrataere

I'm not her employer I'm her client

She is free to not work with me

I have children 9 and 10

We only got a nice sofa after we knew we could trust them to keep it nice which they have

We redid the living room about a year ago and it's my safe grown up elegant haven

I can understand why you are upset OP. We also have two indoor cats and they are only allowed in the open plan sitting room/kitchen/dining area when we are there. We built an extension last year and finally got the kitchen and furniture we wanted after 12 years of living in a very run down house. The cats have access to the rest of the house including the bedrooms. They also sleep in the utility at night time.

Yes, a lot of people don't understand when they visit that they need to keep front and back doors closed so cats don't escape, don't leave windows open that have no security latch and basically that the cat's are not allowed on the furniture.

I would show the cleaner the damage the cats did and reiterate how the cats are not allowed in the sitting room. Hopefully she will feel guilty and be extra vigilant going forward. I don't think you can ask her to pay however.

Yes she should have closed the door but she probably just forgot. Human beings can be forgetful at times.

Now I feel sorry for the cats and kids. Guests may only be visiting, but the children have to tip toe around their mothers ‘grown up’ room and always shut the door, rather than have a relaxing family space. But I guess the cats are fine to scratch up their rooms since it’s only your bedroom off limits to the claws…

Hardly any insurance policies will cover accidental damage specifically by pets, precisely because they are unpredictable. Unless you bought a special extended policy?