17 year old spilled water on Host family Laptop

[Mrsg26]

Wonder if someone can offer advice on what to do in this situation. My daughter is 17 and is auditioning for drama schools at present. As she is under 18 and visiting schools in London ( we live in Scotland) She has had to stay with a host family on her visits. Last night the Host offered my daughter some water but placed the glass on the kitchen table next to her laptop. My daughter picked up the glass but it slipped and some water went on the host’s laptop. The lady told my daughter last night not to worry and she dried it, she said she had a new laptop which was there in the kitchen however today The lady called me whilst my daughter was in her audition and told me it will cost £200 to repair the laptop and the expectation is for me to pay for it to be repaired.

Whilst i totally am sympathetic and sorry for what happened, as is my daughter, she didn't do it intentionally or with any malice and it was a complete accident. Part of me thinks why would she place a glass of water next to expensive equipment, as spillages often happen in kitchens. As an experienced host with lots of children in her home regularly she should be aware of these hazards. This is her business and therefore she should insure against these things.

Whilst I am not against contributing towards the repairs, I just feel that I shouldn’t have to pay for it all as they were both negligent. Any advice from other parents of teens? Thanks

I agree this seems suspicious- the host didn’t want to go through the agency, and it seems like it could be a potential scam if the glass was overly full and placed next to the laptop - particularly as they have a newlaptop.

Whilst I would say you should pay, the lady has done herself no favours by making this a private arrangement. I would guarantee that if this had happened through the original agency then insurance would have been in place. But I would hazard a guess that by making it a private arrangement she makes more money (no agency fee) however I also would guess that she doesn’t actually have her own insurance in place, and is unlikely to be registered as a business.

I'm struggling to see how a few drops of water required the sealed screen to be replaced. Some older macs have the vents on the top and that could be an issue for water spills but as you say - that would cause mobo issues if anything.

This is a host scamming her agency, who put an unrequested full glass of water, wet around the sides next to her old laptop and by the next morning already has a bill for you? I'd definitely be discussing the details with DD, wanting to see any invoices I agreed to pay and asking why her business insurance wasn't covering damage occuring during the course of the business.

I think she is registered as a business, she has to be. She had 4 french students aged 12 staying with her at the same time my daughter was so she has to be insured for these children to be sent over to stay with her.

100%. £200 is a curiously round number.

A 2010 Macbook would hardly be worth repairing! It's performance would likely be very slow, you certainly couldn't give it security updates at that age, either. It would pretty much be a dinosaur. There would be a lot of software you simply couldn't use. Some parts simply aren't available any longer if they wear out. I know because I struggled on with one some time ago and eventually just got a refurbed newer model.

There seems something off with the claim for £200 repairs.

It’s not about what the laptop is worth to sell. It’s about what it costs to get the host back to the position where she has a working laptop with all her data and applications loaded. It’s not surprising that the cheapest option for that is mending the old one. The alternative is buying a second hand one, getting the drives scrubbed, and having all the apps and data transferred across by someone who knows what they’re doing, which would cost a lot more.

I think it’s reasonable for OP to ask her to send her the quotes/ invoice. If she has the exact details of the repair she can even offer to get it fixed if it’s a cheaper price (but she’s far away hence the homestay). But I 100% think she should foot the bill. The fact that it’s old isn’t really relevant to me. It’s still her laptop and it was in working order. She might have lots of old photos saved on there or anything. Old doesn’t mean it’s useless. And sometimes older things can cost more to repair as the parts aren’t as readily available.

Or you could just take the HDD out of the old one and put it in the replacement. It would take 5 minutes.

OP seems to make a lot of assumptions about Host and her “business” … does OP know excess on the insurance? If the damage is replace laptop because water corrodes electronics …. Then £200 very possibly the excess and much cheaper than £800 to replace, or £400 to repair?

Not sure why OP default view is that the host is a scammer.

I listed the price of repair up thread. You cannot, as far as I am aware, buy new 15-year-old LCD screens. Your only option is refurbished or a non-Apple generic LCD, both of which would be no more than £50. It takes around an hour (being very generous) to replace a screen. Say, London rates, the tech charges £45 an hour. That leaves £5 for a replacement screen bezel since they are next to impossible to remove without snapping.

Half what OP is being charged.

A newer screen could easily cost the prices you are quoting, but 15 year old hardware would not know what to do with newer tech. You need the right drivers, etc. You can only replace like with like.

So what is the legal position if a pupil accidentally damages an item at school? Or at Guide camp? I would imagine the provider’s insurance would cover it.
The fee the Host charges should reflect the insurance premium which she will be obliged to hold.

It would depend the extent of the accidental damage. If the damage was caused by the child's misbehaviour or doing something they had been told they shouldn't eg they threw a football inside a classroom which broke a window despite having been told no balls inside, then the school could legitimately go back to the parents.

If, however the teacher/guide leader handed the child the football during an indoor games session and it broke the window due to a mis-kick then the teacher/leader would be the negligent one for not realising this would happen.

I agree. It sounds like a few drips or at most, a splash from the sudden movement of the glass slipping in her hand and the girl steadying it. It's very irresponsible to fill up a glass of water to the brim, leaving it wet around the edges when you know you are handing it to someone working on your precious laptop. The speed the quote was sent to the OP seems a bit suspicious too.

OP,
There is a reddit sub called legaladviceuk. Anyone can start a thread, but you are not allowed to comment or give advice unless you have UK legal experience. I've used it once before and found it very helpful. Worth a try to see where you stand legally?

I agree with this.
And OP also seems to have a very detailed description of how much water was in the glass, how slippery the glass was, how much was spilt.
I would imagine these descriptions would differ quite considerably depending on whether they were given by the 17 year daughter or the host....and whether OP was just trying to justify not paying for the repair.
And yes, the host was wrong to make it a private arrangement, but OP was just as wrong to agree to a private arrangement rather than going through the agency for a placement.

Well then get her to get a written quote from the people who are going to undertake the repairs.

I agree. Water is often spilled on computers, other drinks too. it's easily done if you park a glass next to your computer and forget it's there, it usually drains out. £200 sounds an awful lot for a bit of water.

Because she already had bought a brand new laptop and she showed it to my DD after the water spilled on the old keyboard. she told my daugher not to worry and showed her the new laptop.

I dont go and buy new computers when I have one that works perfectly well sitting there, and the screen replacement is on a very old model. A refurbished apple macbook that old would be cheaper than the screen replacement so that is why I think she may not be entirely truthful about how the screen broke. Not only that, she has since told me she had the laptop repaired and paid for it herself before she left even contacted me yesterday afternoon so of course I am a little sceptical. I implore anyone else to be in that situation and not have some doubts themselves

And Host has her data on the old laptop. Still wants to use it … it has that utility value for her. She wants the old working again, and the new one.

Not your decision.

Just ask her for the receipt and pay her.

She's gone ahead and had it repaired already?? And expects you to pay the full cost of it without having a conversation with you first?

Because she already had bought a brand new laptop and she showed it to my DD after the water spilled on the old keyboard

Water on a keyboard would not damage a screen. It might damage the baseboard if it seeped through, or it could damage the keyboard itself. It could not damage a screen. I can say that with 100% certainty.

Yes, she called me after she paid for the repair and asked for payment

Hmm.
I would reply requesting a full invoice from the repairer that includes:
Description of the fault and its cause.
A break down of specific repair carried out.
Cost of parts.
Cost of labour.

Then agree to split the cost only is it specifically states water damage as the cause.

As an aside, I suspect she isn't meant to have your daughter (or anyone) else there informally/unofficially whilst hosting 4 12 year old girls through the agency!
From a safeguarding perspective that's a nightmare.