Damage and Breakage Policy

Worksop Workspace · Operations · Legal & Compliance · Phase 1 reference

Things will sometimes get knocked, spilled on, or broken. This policy is how Worksop Workspace handles it — fair to the member, fair to the business, and predictable.

1. Principle

Accidents happen. Coffee gets spilled. A laptop slides off a desk. Someone leans back too far. The default position is reasonable — accidents in normal use are not charged for.
Negligence or deliberate damage is charged for. A member who decided to skate down the corridor, who picked a fight, or who broke something because they were "messing about" pays for the repair or replacement.
Be honest and we'll be reasonable. Tell us immediately and we'll work out the right answer. Try to hide it and the relationship breaks down.

This is not legal-jargon — it's how we want to operate. The detail below exists so there's a reference if the conversation gets difficult.

2. What members are liable for

Members (and their guests, where applicable) are liable for:

Deliberate damage to the building, fittings, furniture, equipment, art, or stock.
Negligent damage — careless behaviour that any reasonable person would have foreseen could cause damage. Examples: drinks left on the edge of a desk over a laptop, balancing on chairs, blocking fire doors with stuff that fell and broke, using whiteboard markers on a wall.
Damage caused by their guests. The member is responsible for guests they bring in, including incidental damage.
Loss caused by leaving doors / windows open after a visit where this contributes to weather damage or theft.

3. What members are not charged for

Normal wear and tear — scuffs, fades, light scratches from everyday use.
Accidents in normal use — a cup tipped while reaching, a wobble that broke a glass, a chair arm that cracked under reasonable load.
Equipment failure that the member couldn't have prevented (a printer jam, a screen that died, a coffee machine on the blink).
Damage caused by Worksop Workspace's own staff, contractors, or building issues (leaks, electrical, structural).

If you're not sure which side of the line something falls — tell us. Most of the time the conversation answers itself.

4. What members bring in

Worksop Workspace is not liable for damage to, loss of, or theft of items members bring in (laptops, bags, coats, headphones, valuables). This is set out in the Member Agreement §7.

Where lockers are provided, members are encouraged to use them for valuables.
Members are encouraged to carry their own insurance for high-value items.
If a member's possessions are damaged because of something Worksop Workspace did wrong (a leak from upstairs, a fire we should have prevented), our public liability insurance is the route to make that right. Connor handles the claim end-to-end.

5. How an incident is handled

Step 1 — Tell someone immediately

Find Connor (or whoever is on shift) and tell them. Don't try to clean up a spill that's on electrics, and don't try to repair something yourself. Photo it before moving things.

Step 2 — Make safe

If there's broken glass, water on the floor, sharp edges, or a fire / smoke risk, the priority is safety:

Move people back
Use the absorbent kit from the kitchen for liquid spills
Use the dustpan and brush by reception for solid debris
If anyone is injured — go to the First Aid Policy / SOP-011 first, damage second

Step 3 — Record it

Connor (or staff) records:

Date and time
What was damaged
Who was involved
A short description of how it happened
Photos

This goes in the damage log (a section of the Accident and Incident Report book). For anything where someone was injured, the accident book is also completed in the normal way.

Step 4 — Decide

Connor decides — within 5 working days — whether the incident is "no charge" (accident), "shared cost" (rare middle ground), or "member liable" (negligence / deliberate).

Decisions are based on:

What actually happened (evidence, CCTV if there's a dispute)
Member's history (first time? recurring?)
Cost of repair / replacement vs the goodwill of writing it off

Step 5 — Communicate and invoice

The member is told the decision in writing (email is fine) with the reason. If they're liable:

Repair: the actual repair cost
Replacement: like-for-like new (or used equivalent if the original was used)
We don't profit from the incident — we charge cost.

The member has 7 days to query the decision before an invoice is raised. The invoice is payable within 14 days.

Step 6 — Disagreement

If a member disagrees with the decision, they can use the Complaints Policy. Most disagreements get resolved by a conversation; the formal route exists for the rest.

6. CCTV in disputes

We use CCTV only where there's a genuine dispute over what happened. CCTV is not used to monitor members generally. See CCTV Policy.

7. Insurance recoveries

Where the damage is covered by our contents insurance and is over the excess (£250 at the time of writing), Connor decides whether to claim. Members are kept informed of any claim that names them. If Worksop Workspace recovers on insurance, the member's repayment is reduced by what's recovered (they aren't billed twice).

Damage and breakage policy