Who pays for broken items in villa?

[MidLife]

does anyone know if there is a general rule as to who pays for breakages in a private holiday villa let? Ds knocked a bedside lamp off table when reaching for his drink and the owner wants to charge us for a replacement, I personally think this is a bit mean when this is supposedly a child-friendly villa and has glass/ceramic decorations all over the place! Nothing in contract.

Not sure about a private villa let. But we stayed in a villa this summer through a company called Exclusive Escapes and I managed to break 3 glasses! Told them and they said it didn't matter at all.

So I'd have thought it should be covered by the villa really.

Not sure if there is a general rule as such, but I would expect to be charged for any breakages in the circumstances.

Child friendly often just means there is a highchair and cot on offer, and not too many sheer drops in the garden.

Did you have to pay a damage/breakage deposit? In all the villas we have rented over the past few years we have had to pay £250.00 deposit, which is supposedly for any breakages. We have always had it returned though even though we have broken glasses/plates etc.
However we have never broken anything as large as a lamp.

Sorry - not huge amounts of help. If there is nothing in the contract about damage I think they are going to struggle to make you pay.

Not sure legally, but I think it perfectly reasonable that you should pay, even if somewhere is supposed to be child friendly it's up to you to move breakables out of the way.

It is usual to pay for breakages - but at the owner's/rep's discretion.

I would normally offer to pay for any breakages in a holiday let although I've offered to pay for glasses etc in the past and been told not to bother.

Of course you should pay, your son has broken something that belongs to someone else, why should they pay?

There would normally be a security deposit paid when renting a private villa which will be returned on satisfactory inspection and inventory check following your departure.

I own a holiday home which I rent out and would expect things like a broken lamp to be paid for. The odd glass is not too much of a problem and the management company will let things like that go but not a lamp. I actually had a guest set fire to my kitchen earlier this year, completely damaging the cooker and burning the cupboards surrounding it. They denied doing it, claimed it was like that on arrival as if my management company who have managed the villa for over 10 years and carry out regular inspections wouldn't have noticed that! It cost me hundreds to get fixed and yet I had stupidly only taken 100 pounds security deposit. I have now increased the security deposit to 200 pounds but will probably increase it next year. A friend of mine rented a luxury villa in Spain this summer and had to pay one thousand pounds security deposit.

Thanks for your replies. I will pay and I would expect to tbh, but this owner really grates me - presented us with a contract to sign on arrival which had never been mentioned before and wanted to hold a passport as security. The house just has so many trinkets and I think why would you put them there if you feel precious about them - it hasn't been very relaxing constantly moving things out of harms way! I would just expect a certain amount of things to be put to wear and tear. Can't wait to see how much this flippin lamp is worth! Oh well just chalk it to experience and won't do private ownership again.

So ... your son broke something and you don't think you should pay? Have I got that right?

I don't think it is acceptable for the owner to suddenly present a contract on your arrival. Any contract should have been entered into at the time the booking was made and the deposit was paid. Also, I would never ask for passport as security, that is the point of the security deposit which I request when the balance is due (10 weeks prior to departure) and which is refunded once the villa has been inspected.

It does seem a bit daft to have lots of little trinkets around the house, that is just asking for trouble. I don't however think that breaking a lamp counts as 'wear and tear'
Please don't be put off renting private villas, not all owners are like that.

We've either paid damage/breakage insurance or a breakage deposit. I think you should pay up, although I would try to find out roughly the value if you can. I would never hand over my passport as security. I don't even think it's legal for someone to ask.

Maybe the owner has had problems with his guests in the past. I think plates, glasses etc are reasonable wear and tear, but not items of furniture, lamps etc. If I was a guest in someone's home I would certainly offer to pay for such a breakage, no difference in a holiday let really, why should they be out of pocket when it was your family that broke the lamp. We normally do a sweep and just move all breakables, sharp knives etc out of the way at the start of the week and put them out again at the end.

I also think the contract on arrival and holding a passport business is unreasonable though, think you'll just have to chalk this one up to experience.

Never had a contract presented on arrival - have rented privately for about 10 years now.
Have always had a security/breakage deposit taken (usually £250) taken when paying balance, and this is returned within 14 days of the end of the rental period.

Many places take a holding fee in case of damages.

If I damaged or boke something at a holiday villa I would expect to have to replace it like for like. If it was something small like a glass or cup I may well just nip out to a supermarket and buy one, something larger like a lamp I would expect to be invoiced for it or lose some of my retainer.

It wouldn't be fair on the owners if they had to replace larger items broken by guests every time.

I would refuse to leave my passport though.