Cleaner has cost me £1600

[Bootsybugs22]

I was out of the country for two days and my regular ckeaner (for 5 months) went in to clean whilst I was away. She letnherself in via a back door key left in a safe place. Our decking is really slippy so I said if she needed to go in and out she coulds use the front door once she was in. I text her to say the front door keys were square yale , labelled and in a key pot in the hall.

We have a front modern door to the porch and an older wooden self locking door from porch to house.

She called me whilst away to say she was locked in the porch because the keys i left didn't fit the door. She had picked up some other keys out the fruit bowl in the kitchen.

I called a locksmith. In the meantime she called back and said that stressful situations increase her risk of a seizure (she's epileptic) and I needed to get her out now. So I called my neighbour and asked them to force the rear back paito door. This is because the cleaner had passed the keys she had through the letterbox and one of them was for the rear patio door but not the main opener. So the neighbour tried to force the secondary door open as it could be unlocked. Anyway door got broken in the process.

Locksmith arrived. Drilled the lock, got her out, fitted a new lock. But before he'd arrived the door had been damaged by the neighbour (I gave them permission to force the door)

Today I paid the locksmith £85. Had a man round to quote on repair of the door (£1500 for new set of doors.... not repairable).

I messaged the cleaner and asked if she had insurance. She's now blocked me on WhatsApp but messaged me separately on normal text messaging to say she cancelled her insurance last year when she got her epilepsy diagnosis (why?!).

I'm at a total loss. AIBU that I want SOME recompense even if uts £85?

I feel it’s your fault.

You have a slippy dangerous deck, yet you asked her to walk across it.
You left a set of keys outside for her use! If you’d been burgled, would you have blamed her ?

You then told her to use keys found in a vase, and she accidentally locked herself between two doors, because she accidentally used a set of keys from a fruit bowl.

You asked the neighbour to break down the door, as well as getting a locksmith involved.

I think it’s all on you, but you won’t be insured, which you probably know, because you left your key in an unsafe place.

And then a whole lot of misunderstandings and stress occurred

She told her the "front door keys were square yale , labelled and in a key pot in the hall."

The cleaner took keys from a fruit bowl in the kitchen.

If she’s liable to be fitting in people’s houses, surely that’s on her.

Is she insured not to damage stuff while fitting?

To be honest, keys is a vase, keys in a fruit bowl, I’d probably have done the same 🤣🤣

She's an idiot

Exactly, my cleaner has a set of keys and I am absolutely certain that she has no insurance. She is a refugee and we have a private arrangement. Works well and it means that I don't have to be around when she comes in.

Honestly don't think someone who's vulnerable should be working in an empty house (that isn't their own home). Especially when you are away. I know this doesn't help now so sorry.

It's very easy to make that sort of mistake.

She was told to take the labelled keys from the pot in the hall. Instead, she picked up a completely unrelated set of keys (which were unlabelled amd didn't match the descruption given to her) from the fruit bowl in the kitchen then was confused as to why these keys didn't work. Not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Short and to the point.

@Bootsybugs22 I knew a dog sitter who LIED on a business card that she was “ Recommended by a major animal charity and insured.
She was neither of these things, and on benefits so couldn’t register with Council to get insurance.

She too was a flake.

Nice to the dogs, but dread to think if one was injured in her care.

If the decking is slippy to walk on then this should not have been the entry and exit route for the cleaner in the first place. You should have a safe alternative arrange for her, not a if the decking is slippy try this other way etc.… Assuming she had to walk on the slippy dealing to start with, if so, this is not on.

also, lots of nasty insults to the cleaner on this thread.

Well said.

If she's a self employed cleaner then she should have had public liability insurance so she's either lied or let it lapse.

I'd let your cleaner go and hire someone else but ask to see their certificate of insurance first making note of the renewal date and asking for proof of renewal when it comes around.

And then locked herself in a porch.

I feel like most 3 year olds aren't silly enough to do that.

It’s rubbish that you have a huge bill, but perhaps look at it from a different perspective.

It’s an unfortunate incident but you did allow the cleaner in whilst you were away, and left keys to your property outside, and allowed the neighbour to force the door so it’s on you.
As mentioned it sounds like a fire hazard and like anyone could easily be locked in.

If you had called the fire brigade, I believe the onus would still on you to fix it if they had to break the door down. We’ve had them around for people stuck in a broken lift (myself included). I think the cleaner blocked you as she was petrified of getting stuck with a huge bill.

I think it’s an unlucky, but could have been far worse given all the info and the slippery back porch. No point crying over spoilt milk, and her terrible cleaning, and feeling sorry for yourself whilst you’re on holiday.

This might seem really rubbish today, but you getting that door fixed and the lock set up changed might be the difference between life and death should anyone get stuck in that porch whilst your house is on fire, or become critically ill.Think of it as a blessing in disguise. You may look back one day and be very grateful for this incident.

Money comes and goes, and you may be surprised to find that you have unexpected money coming your way, or that your insurance covers some of the damage.

Get an outdoor keysafe, screwed to the wall, and leave the key in that for your cleaner (give her the code to access it) in future for when you're not in.

I have a cleaner and it's never been stressful - but you need to see you access like this to make it simpler

In the current situation I think you instructed the neighbour to do the damage and had quite a complicated key set up so I don't think she should reimburse you for the damage.

Easy to mix up keys, especially if it was just a verbal message and you're just trying to recall it

It was the neighbour who broke the door.

I feel for you OP. I would have been like you - I wouldn't have wanted to tell her she was no longer needed just before Christmas. I would have been worried she'd slip (and claim from me) on slippery decking. I would have been terrified that she'd have a seizure when locked between two doors. You did what most other people faced with that dilemma would have done.

You were probably even relieved the neighbour was around to kick in the door at the time.

Perhaps your home insurance would cover it? Perhaps you will end up with better insulated/better locking mechanism new doors. Hopefully some good will come to you from all this.

I thought that! What if someone got locked in there and really did have some sort of medical emergency - if she hadn’t had her phone and had a seizure, she could have died!

Why can't you just claim on your home insurance?

I’m confused about “lugging a hoover over the decking”. Did she bring her own hoover with her or something? That’s odd.

Also don’t get the knee-jerk blocking you in WhatsApp. How incredibly childish.

The damage occurred after you gave someone permission to break the door, and they broke down the door. The surrounding circumstances are really irrelevant.

As for insurance, what insured contingency (fire, flood, storm damage etc.) do you suppose covers that?

No insurer's going to entertain a claim.

Your title is accurate. Your cleaner has cost you 1600. That's about all there is to say. You won't be getting it from anywhere else.

Exactly