Legal problem.....

Bossyboots

sabelu wrote:

There is no possibility of being taken to criminal court as the caution has been issued. Does this mean it cannot be taken through civil proceedings for damages ?

The two are separate and you can still be sued for repayment of the costs of repair.

If you are ordered to pay damages in the magistrates court then you cannot subsequently be sued in the civil courts for the same reparation but if you make no claim for payment through the criminal system you are perfectly entitled to do so through the civil system. As only a caution has been administered the person suffering loss can claim the full damages (which they may not have got through the full criminal system) from you.

kittiwoz

Did it occur to you that the car you damaged might belong to a student or other person having to work hard to pay for it? What if the owner did not have comprehensive insurance and has had to pay themselves to repair the damage you did?

He can't have done £1600 worth of damage to a student's car unless he ran it over with a monster truck! I would assume we're talking fairly minor damge to a flash car resulting in a couple of panels needing beating out and/or respraying. Yeah, clearly damaging other people's property is wrong but there's frankly no point in lambasting the kid and telling him to pay in full. He's clearly the stone from which you cannot draw blood.

I agree you should go to the CAB for advice. While writting a charming letter to the owner sounds like a good idea I would hold off until I had spoken to someone at the CAB. There is a chance it could somehow be misconstrued. If you mention it when you visit the CAB they will be able to tell you whether it's wise or not. Also find out exactly what work they claim needs doing, it could be exagerated. My uncle (the black sheep!) once proudly told my dad how he had got money from some old geezer, who came out of a junction into the side of him, to have a wing replaced and the car resprayed but actually got a mate to beat the panel back out for a fraction of the money. The poor old guy had settled it personally to avoid loosing his no-claims bonus.