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Nurseries

Find nursery advice from other Mumsnetters on our Nursery forum. For more guidance on early years development, sign up for Mumsnet Ages & Stages emails.

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Original poster

Paying for broken window at nurery

153 replies

pauamcg · 25/01/2008 19:03

Hi I would appreciate your views/advice please.

My 4 year old son broke a window at his nursery last week by throwing a train across the room. I believe he was having a bit of a tantrum, but he didn't aim purposely at the window.

When the manager called me to tell me what had happened I questioned whether she expected me to pay for the replacement glass but she said 'No, don't be silly'. When my husband went to pick my son up (before speaking to me) he offered to pay 50% of the cost (mainly because he was embarrassed our son had been naughty) and the manager said 'we'll see'.

Well today we have received an invoice for 50% of the replacement cost.

Do you think I should have to pay this ?
Wouldn't the nursery be able to claim off their insurance ?

Its not really the amount of money & I don't want to fall out with the nursery, its just the principle that I feel that I pay then large enough fees anyway, that I shouldn't really have to pay. my 4 year old was in their care when the accident happened.

My other concern is - shouldn't the window has been fitted with some sort of safety glass so that it shouldn't have broken so easily and put the children at risk ?? Does Ofsted have any guidelines ??

Sorry this has turned out to be a long post, but any views or advice gratefully received.

OP posts:

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LIZS · 25/01/2008 19:09

er you offered to pay and now have a bill ? Whether you should have to pay seems a bit irrelevant. They may well have a high excess on insurance.

Think glass doors etc would be a laminate safety glass so it wouldn't shatter or produce shards, but that may not apply to higher windows.

MAMAZON · 25/01/2008 19:10

i dont think it unreasonable to ask you to pay something towards the replacement window

WanderingTrolley · 25/01/2008 19:16

I think it is unreasonable to ask you to pay for the window BUT as your dh offered to pay 50% I don't they're being unreasonable in this instance.

bran · 25/01/2008 19:20

Why did you offer to pay? There was no reason for you to do that, your son was in their care and they should have been able to supervise him enough so that he couldn't harm himself or others. Obviously accidents will happen occasionally even with the best supervision, but a 4 year old, and by extension you, can't be held responsible unless you were the one supervising him at the time.

However, now that you have offered to pay and they have accepted the offer I think you're going to look a bit foolish if you refuse.

The safety glass thing is a separate issue, and I think it's worth raising with them. It may be that it was safety glass and it only cracked rather than shattered. It would obviously still have to be replaced but it wouldn't have been dangerous.

ineedapoo · 25/01/2008 19:20

you offered !!!!!

ConnorTraceptive · 25/01/2008 19:29

You can't offer to pay half and then retract on that.

cosima · 25/01/2008 19:40

they were wrong to accept, it was your naivete that made you offer to pay. they are professionals running a business and it is their responsibilty. you are not obliged to pay

crokky · 25/01/2008 19:43

Ordinarily you should not have to pay as the nursery is a business with insurance.

However, since your DH offered, you should now pay. Obviously you are not obliged to pay, but your DH offered.

cosima · 25/01/2008 19:46

however you say you don't want to spoil the good relationship you have with the nursery, so it may be better for you to rise above it, pay up and put it down to experience, and the good karma will come back on you.

PortAndLemon · 25/01/2008 19:46

You offered to pay, they said no, your DH went back and more or less insisted on paying half, and NOW you are saying that you object on principle to paying?

micegg · 25/01/2008 19:46

Actually I disagree with the other posters. I don't think you should have to pay. You already pay fees and accidental damage such as this should be expected in a nursery and included when they think about how much they will charge you as part of maintaining the building. I know your DH offered to pay but it was only out of embarrasment and in my opinion the nursery should not have taken that so literally. Its most unprofessional of them to present someone who already pays for their services with a bill. I would have a quiet word with the manager and say your DH offered out of embarrassment as most would but after receivng the bill you feel its inappropriate of the nursery to expect you to pay. If you dont feel able to do this then cough up and tell DH to keep his mouth shut in future!

Fireflyfairy2 · 25/01/2008 19:51

Ordinarily I would say you shouldn't have to pay.. but seeing as your dh offered then you should pay

It's like offering someone something then saying they can't have it!

Aero · 25/01/2008 19:51

I think, having already offered to pay, I'd save face in this situation, pay up and put it down to experience. Should anything else ever happen, just apologise and offer nothing. Their excess is probably more than the cost of replacing the window.

Original poster

pauamcg · 25/01/2008 19:58

Micegg

I think you have hit the nail on the head - That's exactly how I feel

Following the other posts I will probably just pay it, but as you say I didn't think the nursery would take up my husband's offer, especially when I had questioned the manager earlier as to whether she expected me to pay, she was adamant she would never have expected me to & sounded shocked that I thought she might expect me to.

Thanks everyone for your views.

OP posts:

Karen999 · 25/01/2008 20:08

No - dont pay!! They are a nursery ffs and have insurance to cover this kind of thing! So what if your dh offered to pay....they should not have asked him!! Your ds is 4 (way below the age of delictual responsibilty) so if it was me I would tell them to claim their insurance....they will be covered for events like this....its not like this kind of accident could not have been forseen (and this is basically what the law of delict/tort) comes down to!!

hifi · 25/01/2008 20:21

you did offer, but i would in the spurr of the moment. they probably have an excess anyway so would have to pay the whole amount. then again your ds probably didnt mean to break it. wear and tear?

jenkel · 25/01/2008 20:35

Actually I would be quite alarmed that the window broke, I would have hoped that a nursery would have toughend glass of some description and I'm sure that would not have broke just by throwing a toy at it.

You should not have offered to pay but also the nursery should not have taken you up on your offer, agree that its not very professional, but to stop things becoming awkward its probably best to pay.

Karen999 · 25/01/2008 20:41

I would certainly not pay. They should have safeguards in place to ensure that this does not happen. Their negligence is NOT your fault and tbh they should NOT ask you to pay whatsoever!!

Accidents like this are perfectly forseeable and as such their insurance should cover them. If I were you I would ask to see a copy of their policy.

alfiesbabe · 26/01/2008 16:26

I'm sure the nursery will have insurance and should be covered. However I don't agree that the nursery have been 'negligent' as the last post suggests. Exactly what safeguards should a nursery have in place to prevent a 4 year old throwing something across the room in a fit of temper? Unless every child is shadowed at a distance of literally about 6 inches, and staff anticipate that a child is picking something up to throw and not play with and then leap forward and physical restrain the child, you're not going to be able to prevent it. No offence at all to the OP, as you sound entirely reasonable about it, but it pisses me off that some people operate in this culture of blame - it MUST be the nursery's fault because they should have prevented it. If this happened at home while the boy was being looked after by his mum, would you blame her????

Lulumama · 26/01/2008 16:31

you cannot really retract the offer once made, i don;t think. but am surprised nursery did actually accept the offer

they would not expect to be paid for a broken plate or toy , surely?

did the glass shatter and fall out, or is cracked? but in one piece? if it shattered, i'd be wanting to know why they do not have toughened/ safety glass

yama · 26/01/2008 16:34

I wouldn't pay.

I don't think the nursery will fall out with you either. You are a customer.

NatalieJane · 26/01/2008 16:35

Hi-jack

Lulu, you are needed here please

Hi-jack over

As you were

bobbysmum07 · 27/01/2008 12:55

Actually, I'd be more alarmed that a 4 year old child would throw a toy train across the room hard enough to break a window. It's a good job he didn't throw it at another child or else you'd have more than a broken window to contend with.

If I were you I'd show a bit more humility and pay up. The window was broken as a result of your child's appalling behaviour. A four year old should know better, and you should be grateful that the nursery are not asking him to leave.

ChristmasShinySnowflakes · 27/01/2008 13:12

Bobbysmum!

Appalling behaviour?
Ask him to leave?

This is a 4 year old child we are talking about.

VERY unprofessional of them to accept money from you IMO, but then, who is the nursery owned by?

Desiderata · 27/01/2008 13:17

What a crappy post, bobbysmum.

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