I Hit A Dog With My Car - Advice On Court Action

propaintballa

mcjordi wrote: »

mollycat- crawl back under your rock will you.. you and others like you are the precise reason why i havent been on here for ages.

propaintballer- welcome from "jordanH" off ukfn bud... dont worry the majority of the people on mse are a great help.. but you always get one or two complete !!!!!!/

Aha! Hey buddy! Small world! There are Airsofters... UKFNers... Everything on here! :P

propaintballa

DirectDebacle wrote: »

Attempting to approach this from a moneysaving point of view I would ask you to consider this.

You know that the dog was out of control at the time it ran out in front of you and therefore the owner must take some responsibility for the damage caused to your vehicle by his dog.

At the moment you are losing the enjoyment of driving your vehicle and suffering loss as a consequence. Putting the repaired vehicle back on the road asap is in your best interests

For obvious reasons you do not wish to go through your insurers.

You do have the means to repair the vehicle yourself.

I would suggest you do the repairs yourself, keep accurate records of costs of materials and time spent doing the repairs. Make a claim in the county court to include these costs, court fees and an appropriate amount for loss of use of your vehicle as you see fit.

You know the dog owner is not destitute. He owned a dog which had to be paid for. He owns a van and he has somewhere to live and has money to pay for that. He may even have a job. He claims to have the ability to put £100 towards your costs and therefore acknowledges he has some responsibility.

None of the above has been verified. You do not know if he is telling the truth or not.

I would get in touch with him and explain your intentions. This may or may not produce a more acceptable offer. A letter before action usually does.

Around 75% of small claims are settled before the court date.

If it did go to court and you were successful then if the owner were unable to pay immediately, I believe an arrangement could be made by the court e.g. for weekly or monthly payments.

At least this way your vehicle will be back on the road and you will have preserved your NCD. There is a good chance that some, if not all your costs will be returned.

If I were in your position I would be seriously considering this option. Others may well post with an even better one. I do not see why you should lose out any more than is absolutely necessary.

Good luck.

Thanks bud, i'm going to get in contact with him tonight, and see what he says, because i don't really have the time to be faffing with court, i'm also not sure how long these kind of things take in small claims... But i know from family experiences that court is usually a long process!

mollycat

mcjordi wrote: »

mollycat- crawl back under your rock will you.. you and others like you are the precise reason why i havent been on here for ages.

I've no need to defend or justify my opinion to people like you.

Just so your clear this is my point...

OP was involved in an accident where NO ONE was at fault, dog was killed, OP's car was bashed.

Dog owner appeared to be pretty decent, told OP not to worry etc, offered money, but says he can't afford to pay full amount of repair.

Fair enough.

Despite that, OP is considering taking him to court, rather than do the obvious thing and claim on his insurance..

If that was me, i would take it on the chin....!!!! happens, and someone DOESNT always have to be to blame.

Life's full of stuff like this; sometimes you just have to grin and bear it and put your hand in your pocket however unfair it seems.

Im finished with this thread, wont look at it anymore.

I dont welcome abuse from yourself and others, but neither does it faze me.

Bye for now

Dave101t

you should always go through your insurence, you would be claiming against him, not claiming in your own right.
plus, if you were to 'take it on the chin' then be thankful you killed the !!!!!! and the rest is history!

mikey72

mollycat wrote: »

I've no need to defend or justify my opinion to people like you.

Just so your clear this is my point...

OP was involved in an accident where NO ONE was at fault, dog was killed, OP's car was bashed.

Dog owner appeared to be pretty decent, told OP not to worry etc, offered money, but says he can't afford to pay full amount of repair.

Fair enough.

Despite that, OP is considering taking him to court, rather than do the obvious thing and claim on his insurance..

If that was me, i would take it on the chin....!!!! happens, and someone DOESNT always have to be to blame.

Life's full of stuff like this; sometimes you just have to grin and bear it and put your hand in your pocket however unfair it seems.

Im finished with this thread, wont look at it anymore.

I dont welcome abuse from yourself and others, but neither does it faze me.

Bye for now

Fair enough, but in this case the dog owner clearly was to blame, and admitted it.

propaintballa

mollycat wrote: »

I've no need to defend or justify my opinion to people like you.

Just so your clear this is my point...

OP was involved in an accident where NO ONE was at fault, dog was killed, OP's car was bashed.

Dog owner appeared to be pretty decent, told OP not to worry etc, offered money, but says he can't afford to pay full amount of repair.

Fair enough.

Despite that, OP is considering taking him to court, rather than do the obvious thing and claim on his insurance..

If that was me, i would take it on the chin....!!!! happens, and someone DOESNT always have to be to blame.

Life's full of stuff like this; sometimes you just have to grin and bear it and put your hand in your pocket however unfair it seems.

Im finished with this thread, wont look at it anymore.

I dont welcome abuse from yourself and others, but neither does it faze me.

Bye for now

He was at fault, he didn't have his animal under control. I didn't say i AM taking him to court, i'm asking about it in case it's needed, i barely have any money, and why should i pay for something that isn't my fault.

You don't welcome abuse? Practice what you preach. Don't give if you can't take. Would love to meet someone like you on real life. And it's people like you that annoy me when you think everything is hunky dory no matter what. This doesn't make you a better person. You really need to get over your self importance complex... It's irritating over the internet. I couldn't imagine what it would be like face to face.

DirectDebacle

mollycat wrote: »

Maybe you could grow up and face your responsibilities; today you killed a dog because you were driving so fast when it ran out in front of you....would you have been able to stop had it been a child?

Like i say, more important things than your silly piece of dented metal.

These were your points.

These 'what if..' posts are unhelpful and pointless as they do not address the OP question.

'What iffers' tend to choose the most irrelevant and extreme examples they can think of. 'What if it was a child' is by far and away the most popular.

If it had been a child emerging from the undergrowth at the speed of a racing greyhound then the child would most likely have met the same fate as the dog the Op hit. Is that what you want to hear?

'What if it had been a race horse with a child riding it.' Horse, child and Op probably all dead.

'What if it had been the last surviving female giant panda on the planet?

Same as above plus end of a species.

Where do you stop this arrant nonesense.

Might as well post 'if my auntie had balls she'd be my uncle':D

mikey72

DirectDebacle wrote: »

Might as well post 'if my auntie had balls she'd be my uncle':D

Or the coach of a football team.

propaintballa

DirectDebacle wrote: »

These were your points.

These 'what if..' posts are unhelpful and pointless as they do not address the OP question.

'What iffers' tend to choose the most irrelevant and extreme examples they can think of. 'What if it was a child' is by far and away the most popular.

If it had been a child emerging from the undergrowth at the speed of a racing greyhound then the child would most likely have met the same fate as the dog the Op hit. Is that what you want to hear?

'What if it had been a race horse with a child riding it.' Horse ,child and Op probably all dead'

'What if it had been the last surviving female giant panda on the planet?

Same as above plus end of a species.

Where do you stop this arrant nonesense.

Might as well post 'if my auntie had balls she'd be my uncle':D

This is hilarious! :P

sarahg1969

I really don't see the point of the posts from MollyCat and others of her ilk.

The OP has said that the dog owner accepted responsibility. The only matter in issue is how is the OP going to get the dog owner to cough up for repairs.

The OP's speed, the potential presence of mothers and small children, and all the ridicuous 'what ifs' are entirely irrelevant.

The OP just needs to know how to fund the repairs to his car.

OP, I suggest you ask the guy if he has any household insurance that might cover him – he could make some enquiries into that.

Otherwise, it might be worth finding out if he owns his own home, does he run a car, does he work, etc? That way, you may be able to gauge if he can get his hands on some money.

If he has no money, there's probably no point in pursuing him through the court, because you'll get nothing back.