Don’t cry over spilt milk…it’s breaking the bottle that becomes expensive!

Recently a mother went into one of her local shops with her child who accidentally ran into a display of glass jars knocking over and braking quite a few. The lady in question was asking for advice because the store in question had asked her to pay £90.00 to cover the cost of the damage.

The law is not hard and fast on this and consumers are expected to take reasonable care when shopping, including supervision of any children they have with them. A shop can and probably will ask you to pay for the broken or damaged items however payment of the cost price only should be requested and paid, not the retail price. Very often stores will only request payments if they believe you have been careless or negligent.

On the other hand shops can be guilty of negligence as well, for example, if items are badly stacked, in the wrong position or if a slippery floor has not been correctly cleaned. If any of these have contributed to an accident, you can refuse to pay, or even sue if you're injured.
In practice, the larger shops will probably not ask for reimbursement if it was a genuine mistake, but often smaller ones can’t afford to absorb the loss and will therefore ask for payment. If you are asked to pay, only do so if you think you're responsible and only pay the cost price.

If you refuse to pay, the shop's only recourse is to sue you for the money through the Civil Courts. Remember this is a civil matter, not a criminal one; do not be intimidated by threats to call the police!