Household item broken - what to do?

[AyeWhySWIM]

We have discovered a household electrical item has been broken in our home after being used by someone employed to do work using it today. They admit to using it but deny all knowledge of it being broken. What do I do?

Insurance?

Sorry, being thick, our insurance? Paying the excess will be painful at the moment
Aggravates me that I can't hold them to account or warn others off.

I'm struggling to imagine a situation where this would not be in the normal run of events. Household items do break after all. Do you have reason to think the person concerned was using it in an odd way?

So you'd have someone working in your house and fully expect to come home to find the equipment they'd been using (value approx £300+) was broken beyond repair and not be annoyed about it? Different matter if it had been admitted openly.

You can make a claim in the small claims court for the cost of repair or, if it is irreparable, the value of the item (not the original purchase price - its current value given its condition prior to being broken). However, if you don't have any evidence that it was broken due to this person's negligence you are unlikely to win.

is it broken irrepairably? is it under warranty? was it broken by accident? is it possible to use it then it breaks afterwards?
really, an outside contractor should have their own insurance, an employee perhaps it is the employer who should have insurance?

Sometimes things do break for no apparent reason, it might just be a coincidence that someone else has been using it but it does seem a bit unlikely that they didn't break it. As you have no proof I guess you will need to suck it up.

Things break!! Yes!! Claim on your household insurance if it's that important, it's what it's there for

What were you hoping to be told?

How broken is it? What is it? In what way is it broken and when is the last time you used it and can you be absolutely sure it wasn't broken before she used it?

I mean, if its just stopped working - then that's what things do. However, if it's been dropped or something, then that's different.

It depends what it is.

Hey may have used it but there is no evidence they broke it. It might just have stopped working. A bit like our washing machine recently. Worked one day didn't the next.

Did you give him permission to use the item if you did then the balls in your court I think,the only way is through your own contents insurance as the blokes insurance will not pay out if it does not belong to him,can he not say it belongs to him on his own insurance or was it a favour from a friend sort of job.?

why was it being used? did what you hired them to do require this item to complete the work? if so why not use their own? did they ask permission? more info needed.

think you need to be a bit more explicit. Does the employee/contractor have any liability insurance . Is it really worth the cost of pursuing?

without saying what the item is, and how the damage 'looks' like it occured, i dont think you will be able to get any help/advise here

We're they trained to use the equipment properly? Is there an employment contract that covers this type of thing? Or are they self employed? If they are self employed are they really self employed?? A lot of cleaners, for example, should probably be employees iykwim

What is the damage? Is it damage arising from its use or is it really careless damage?

I've had cleaners for years and things do get broken. I take the view that I would break things if I was doing the cleaning. I wouldn't like it if there were sneaky about it though.

Typo. They not there