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View Full Version : Would you replace lost toy?



Miss freckles
13-11-2014, 03:53 PM
I've just lost a childs toy on the way home from school. She's an after schooler who always brings a toy to play with after school but today she really wanted me to bring it to school with me unfortunately I said yes and now we've lost it.

It was raining and as I put the raincover on the pushchair I moved the toy somewhere safe and I remember the child grabbing it and putting it back she must of not put it back properly and its fallen out the pushchair. I've sent my husband back out to search for it, he did the walk back to the school and in the school to see if it had been handed in but no luck.

The toy is the value of around £8-10 I guess question is would you reimburse and replace the toy or just say sorry?? If I had lost a coat or something I would replace but with a toy I kind of feel that that's not my responsibility I know this child will go crazy if we say we've lost it so I'm hoping she doesn't notice it's missing til her mum collects at 5:30 :panic:

KateA
13-11-2014, 03:59 PM
hi, I would not replace sorry if that sounds harsh . I have policy and make all parents awear that if toys are brought from home I am not responsible for any damages or if items is lost they are brought at own risk . x

FloraDora
13-11-2014, 04:25 PM
Mmm... Difficult one. I think I would replace it as it was my decision to take it out of the house in the first place and my Actions that added to it being lost. I would offer and my parents would probably say don't bother, but the offering would show that I was concerned.

Koala
13-11-2014, 04:41 PM
Any toys that are brought to me are totally at parents own risk, however, if lost away from setting I would feel responsible - I would offer to replace and if the parents said they wanted me to - I would then stipulate that either their toys are left at home or they accept that I will not replace if lost/damaged again.

As a parent I would say don't worry - No! it doesn't matter, these things happen BUT - some folk!!? :panic:

Mouse
13-11-2014, 04:48 PM
I have no problem with children bringing toys from home, but my policy states that I am not responsible for breakages and that no toys will be taken out of the house. If a parent knows a child will kick up a fuss if we can't take the toy out with us I tell them not to send it. On the whole though the children know that we don't leave the house with toys, so it's rarely an issue.

If I did take a toy out and it got lost I would accept responsibility as I had gone against my own policy.

bunyip
13-11-2014, 06:47 PM
Strictly speaking, we are legally responsible for a child in our care and, by logical extension, therefore legally responsible for their actions and any sort of belongings which come with the child. If we choose to accept a toy into our setting, we're effectively accepting that we have a duty of care over it. The disclaimers we all put in our policies don't hold much legal weight (very much like all those "the management refuses to accept responsibility....." signs we see all over the place). Really, we should pay up and claim on our insurance (as if that were worth the claim. :p )

However, such disclaimers do tend to have a bit of a deterrent effect against clients pushing a claim particularly hard. They sort of say, "look, be reasonable, I warned you, and you really shouldn't send it if you lo can't keep hold of it" ..................or something like that.

I suspect my clients know better than to expect me to replace something their child brought and lost/got broken. The bottom line is, they know for a fact they'd lose out on the deal if I replaced the occasional lost item, and in turn charged them for every pair of gloves, wellies, waterproofs, nappies, etc, etc, etc. that I'd forked out for because they forgot to send them. :rolleyes: I suspect a similar scenario applies to a lot of CM - parent relationships in reality. :thumbsup:

CSR2014
13-11-2014, 09:04 PM
I would do whatever you feel is right but try not to let it upset you either way! You are obviously a very caring Childminder so go with your gut feeling!