Son damaged window

[absolutelyred]

Hello, please can any one advise me, my son was told to play football in a hall at youth club because it was raining. He was playing with other kids and kicked a ball that smashed a window. They are now saying i need to pay for the window but i have no money, does anyone know the legal position on this? Do i have to pay?? Thanks

I was going to suggest citizens advice bureau as well. They are under pressure at the moment I believe, but would be worth making an appointment.

Who actually owns the building? Is it owned by the youth club or do they rent it out?

Ask them for a copy of their risk assessment regarding the suitableness of the venue for the activity.

Thank you all so very much. I will write to them now about the lack of supervision and that it was an accident and not my responsibility. And i will talk to CAB. if i get anything further. You all are lovely people and have made me feel better with all your help...

This is totally shocking, I work with young people as a volunteer & there is no way a child would be liable for this sort of accidental damage. I would insist on seeing their policies and asking serious questions about what sort of organisation they are. They must have proper insurance for this sort of thing.

I used to work for a charity insurance company that dealt with both charitable ans community organisations. The youth club should really have their own cover for their activities which really should include Public and property Liability (which should always cover third party property damage). Realistically they are probably renting the community centre and they should really have a contract with them that state's their responsibility re. watching the children in their care. I honestly don't see how a ten year old child who was advised to play in that area could be considered responsible for the damage.

As a gesture of goodwill it might be fair to offer a contribution towards the premium (realistically what you can afford) next year as the youth club would likely have an increase in premium and they are largely run by volunteers on a tight budget as it is.

If you speak to them and its something they do not have cover for again I would perhaps point out that your son is 10 and had been told to play there and maintain that this really doesn't make you responsible. Its tough and I don't think LEGALLY you are responsible but it depends on lots if factors such as whether your son was free to come and go as he pleased or if he was expected to be cared for by the staff.

I would ask them about their insurance situation and if they say they don't have it ask for further detail as to how and why given the nature of their service. Hope that helps in some way.

also I suspect they are inadequately insured. ask to see their documents. you are entitled.

letter to the board stating all the risks. state your position is firm and that issues have now been raised about the care of children etc and that you are seeking advice on appropriate next steps from (some national body)

(-a clear threat of legislative interference if they dick with you) push forward on some of these if they dont offer without prejudice compensation.

make a big deal about allowing dangerous play indoors. broken window shards cut through a lot of flesh..

were windows correct strength/shatter protective film.??

their responsibility to make sure!!

They refuse to show me any documents.... the window shattered but most of it stayed in the frame.
I must admit the 'being taken to court' thing worries me more than anything but i cant afford a solicitor...
My son is devastated and hasnt left my side since he is a timid, kind boy who is genuienely horrified by what happened..

Even if it gets as far as court You wont need a solicitor. You can represent yourself (think judge judy)

Stop worrying about it. You left your child in the hands of the youth club leaders so they should have been watching him.

You can now email the CAB for advise.. They helped me immensely (on a different subject) meant no queuing, and response within 24 hours.
Though the window was already broken, they should have made the claim then, not when a 10 year old is playing a unsupervised football game under adult instruction.
I'd fully stand your ground on this not being your sons fault.

Thank you all for your responses, im very grateful and am now going off to write a letter to them asking about their insurance documents, why wasn't my son supervised and refusing liability..... I feel strengthened by your responses...
Thanks again

If it goes to court you won't need a solicitor. It would be small claims court and you represent yourself.

My dads done it and its not as scary as you think, no wigs, etc.

You'd be able to write stuff down beforehand and read it out.

But I would be truly gob smacked if it went that far.

If it did go that far they tend to run on common sense. My argument would be if my 10yo played with a football in the house without telling me and broke a window I'd be cross with them. But if I told them to play football in the living room I couldn't be cross if a window got broken.

I also suspect they don't have the correct insurance. I'm also imagining its ot their building but something like a community hall. So the youth club might be been hassled for money from someone else. However I'm also wondering if its sub let like this then why don't the community hall people have insurance.

If it were me I'd do some digging and contact the people who own the hall. Ask them if they're asking the youth club for money or if they have insurance to cover it.

I said it before, I'll say it again - a 10 year old boy cannot be a defendant in civil court proceedings. There is no contractual or tortious responsibilty on the mother (unless she has signed something saying she'll be liable for any damage caused by her son while at youth club) to make her a defendant in civil proceedings either. This cannot go to Court as there is no one to be the defendant. It costs to start Court proceedings. The value of any claim will not be worth the expense of bringing the claim. OP you have nothing to worry about.

Not to mention before Court there must be negotiation, mediation etc etc. This will NEVER go to Court.

the window had already been cracked previously

So, the window was already broken and in need of replacement?

The window was already cracked? And your son was in their care at the time?

They are being ridiculous. The incident is the responsibility of the adults who were running the youth club, and if they are being hounded by the owners of the hall (if a different organisation) then that other organisation is being ridiculous by (a) expecting anyone to pay when the window was already cracked and (b) asking £300 which is far too much anyway.

You don't need a solicitor. Write them a letter saying that you do not accept any responsibility in this case as the youth club were in loco parentis at the time and the responsible adult made the decision to tell the boys to play football there, and in any case that the window was already cracked and the ball was therefore not the sole cause, so consider yourself and your son to have no moral or legal responsibility to pay for a replacement. They are welcome to present these facts at court if they wish, the court will not find in their favour. Write that you will be keeping meticulous records from now on of all time and resources you spend responding to this unreasonable case, and in the event of any such court case will be submitting such records to allow the court to require them to pay all your costs.

Like NotDead says you can also make life very difficult for them - perhaps suggesting in this letter that the court may be interested to see to what extent their various health and safety, risk assessment and safeguarding procedures were being followed at the time of the incident because if they had been doing their jobs right would this have happened at all?

1. The youth club were responsible for supervising your son; they allowed him to play football indoors and should have appreciated that this carried a risk that something could get broken.
2. The window was already cracked. Hence the ball did not cause the full damage.
3. The club should have insurance for this type of event.
4. £300 is a lot for a broken window and I would question whether they have even had proper quotes to replace it.
5. They cannot take a 10 year old to Court. They cannot take you to Court as you presumably left your child in their care (is that right? is he registered as being able to go there?)

If they had been nice about it I might have offered to help with the costs at least in part but the way they have treated you, to be honest, I would refuse to even speak to them and I would tell them to put everything in writing.

Have these "youth workers" been CRB'd? They sound dodgy harassing and threatening you like that. Are they trying to trouser a few bob for themselves?