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My son smashed a youth club television

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delly0408 | 17:14 Tue 09th Mar 2010 | Family Life
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My Son has just kicked a football at youth club & smashed a brand new 40 " plasma TV. The youth club say that the excess & rise in premiums is not worth the claim on insurance so they want us to pay £500. We are a low income family I cant work due to disability & my husband is my carer. Is there anywhere we could get the help to pay the cost.
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Hi delly,

First of all, good for you for taking this onboard.
Secondly, how did you're son manage to kick the ball at the Plasma TV INSIDE the youth centre, not outside where it should be played?

How old is your son?........Does he work or stil at school?....If he works, get him to pay it.....he did it.

A citizens advice bureau would be an option, as they will know what is available to you, if any, to help you pay the cost.

I've provided you with a link........

http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/

Lastly, the youth club saying that excess and rise in premiums is not worth it......etc......wondering if they do indeed have insurance?.......and if they do, you can ask them that you will pay the excess plus.... say an extra £50 - £80 to cover premium rise.......so with excess, which could be about £50-£150, you are looking at £200 rather than £500.

Best of luck to you, my love, and hope you get it resolved without too much trouble and personal cost to you and your family.

Kind Regards

yogi x
Was he the only one playing football? Did they generally allow the kids to play football in the area, were they being supervised.

Whilst i agree that he should pay for damage that he has caused, you need to consider whether he should be solely responsible for the accident or whether other kids should share the responsibility or indeed whether the club themselves have a partial responsibility for lack of supervision.

I also agree with yogi, if they are expecting you to pay restitution, you should have the option whether it is appropriate for you to pay for a new one or claim through the insurance and pay any additional costs from this or indeed supply a replacement yourselves (you may be able to get a better deal).
Was he in an area where it is prohibited to play ball games i.e is there a sign. Was he warned not to play with a ball?

How old is he?

In a case like a youth club the have to take resonable care over where they put the TV
if they were negligent you may not have to pay. i.e was the TV in a room adjacent to a play area and the door was open.

Was it in a the sweet shop adjacent to a play area?

Are you sure that your boy was 100% to blame.
What youth club, who cant afford insurance, would have a brand new 40" plasma in a room where kids play football.

I agree with yogo, offer to perhaps pay the insurance excess
I would explain to the club that you cannot afford to pay and just how your situation is as regards your family situation.
If your son was misbehaving and the set was broken then he should think about what he can do to try and put things right.Don't know his age of course but could he do a paper round, if he did he could maybe give the club something every week.
I f it was an unfortunate accident pure and simple-----
Could the club not organise a sponsored event, a walk , cycling , swimming or such , and you ensure that your son takes part and gets some sponsors.
It is probable that there have been times at the club when things have been broken previously and can understand the insurance position, but it should not be beyond the wit of the organisers to set about fund raising for a TV, with the help of the youngsters and of course your son.
Would the local pubs have a whip round to help if they knew.?
Put the idea of you paying £500 right out of your head, they cannot get blood out of a stone , so stop worrying yourself sick.
Just explain your position as said, and offer to help in any fund raising if you are well enough to do this, and ensure that your boy takes a big part in what goes on.All the best.
I don't believe that someone who has broken something, due to not taking reasonable care, should get away with it, but that said, any youth club is supposed to be supervised, and one could claim that the failing was thus theirs. Both because of lack of supervision in ensuring football wasn't played near the TV, and because they failed to have the TV in a location where it could not be hit by footballs.

As for not claiming on the insurance, what is the point of getting insurance if they don't intend to use it when appropriate ? That is an excuse, and personally I'd dismiss that idea straight away. They bought insurance for this sort of eventuality, they have no justification to say they are not making a claim but that you have to pick up a larger tab because of that decision.

The Citizen's Advice suggestion is good. It is an excellent place to get information on what you can do, I've used them myself in the past. I'd go along with the suggestions above and offer to pay something towards the damage, but speak to the CA before you do anything else.
After reading the above are you sure he broke it? It doesn't seem a very responsible youth club to me. Avery poor example for any child.
Question Author
Thank you everyone for your support. My son is 17 and is in full time education with an EMA allowance of £30 pw which doesnt go far with a teenager.
There are two stories here ... Youth club say that the ball was in the kitchen to stop the boys playing inside with it. My son claims that they were not told not to play with the ball & in fact the youth worker was telling them to header the ball to each other. There were 4 boys playing but my son was the one who kicked the ball into the TV.
The youth leader has said we can pay in installments but this is still a big problem for us. My son has offered to do some fundraising to help pay but he is very upset that they are claiming he was stopped from playing ball. I know at 17 years old he should be old enough to know better but he is very impulsive due to ADHD.
-- answer removed --
Hi again delly,

You said that the youth worker was telling them to head the ball to each other.......that tells me that they were allowed by a member of the youth club.....i know you said that your son kicked the ball in to the TV, but fact remains they were allowed to play inside...so I think you have a very good case.
Did you go or ring the Citizen's advice bureau a s i suggested and if you did, what did they say?
Other good folk here have put across excellent points , so take some advice there too.
It was an accident so therefore the youth club SHOULD cliam on their insurance and come to an amicable agreement with you. if it is known by the youth worker that your lovely son suffers from ADHD then he should have prevented it.

Please keep us informed of any further developments and if you need any more help or just to discuss something. please just post......but i think the CAB is your best option at this stage.

Good luck, my lovely

yogi xx
The Bank
claim^ ....sorry ...i was typing quickly :0)

Hi EDDIE....is it though?....can see what you mean....but they did'nt kick it at the tv...but were allowed to play there.
I think the Youth club are to blame in part, and should be held acountable for it.
The Bank?......suzi?
Delly,

Just a suggestion.....why dont you post this same question in the "LAW" section?.....see what the good folk there think about it, and who is liable.
....oh, and if you do, dont forget to put in what you mentioned on your reply....that they were allowed to play, sons ADHD etc.
delly----- the youth worker has said you can pay in instalments -- very big of him. I think there is more to this story than you indicated a\t first. now there are 4 boys involved and so on.
Stop beating yourself up on this, make it clear that you cannot afford to pay, tell them that you are not prepared to struggle to meet instalments at the expense if the rest of your family, to get fund raising ,or claim on their insurance.
End of .
PLEASE stop worrying , this is not doing you any good.
When we lived in Germany, our household insurance covered us for claims made against us for damage caused by the children! Although we never made use of it, it was the norm to ask parents to pay for their child's actions and as far as I know there was little acrimony caused.
Accidents will happen where children are concerned but it's unreasonable to expect the injured party to be out of pocket.
cc1------the insurance you describe in Germany seems a good idea.Hoeever in the original post --the person describes their family as one which has a low income due to disability and the responsibilitiesof a carer.
Would think it unlikely for them to have insurance of this type , due to a prohibitive cost, even if it is avaiable in the U.K.
As the details emerged of this sutuation,it transpires there were 4 boys involved , so why should one family be asked to pay.?
If he was booting a football round indoors, then I've not a lot of sympathy. He shouldn't need telling he couldn't play with it. It's common sense.

"I saw a hammer but nobody told me I couldn't throw it around. Now they want me to pay for the window I broke!".
if they let kids play football in the youth club .with a new tv there. then its not your son that has to pay..its the one in charge of them.. as for not claim well i would say why not is it because they would not pay out because you let kids kick the ball in doors were there is a tv ... get my drift

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