Criminal Damage To My Car Where Do I Stand

dwaders

Hi, Last night my car was damage by 3 males in there early 30's theres dents in the roof and scratches all over, the police arrested all three and now my insurance company is claiming i have to pay the £350 compulsary excess. where do i stand should i contact a solicitor? any info would be much appreciated

dwaders

FlameCloud

Why do you not think you should honour your part of the contract?

hwalkerh

They often have a higher excess for criminal damage as they would struggle to claim money back from anyone

Check you policy details if it is written in that you don't have a case with your insurance company.

dacouch

The police often like to add your losses eg your excess to any court case as it can influence the judge's decision, so let the police know. There is a chance that the judge might award damages to you although bear in mind they will take the offenders situation into account so may allow them to pay you back at a very low monthly amount

bristol_pilot

Yes, you do have to pay your excess. Did you take out the legal protection option on your insurance? You can sue the three offenders, but good luck getting the money back - if thay have no money no job etc they will not be able to pay you any damages that are awarded.

lisyloo

As others have said the men are liable but getting the money from them or persuading your insurer to do so is a different matter.
They are not likely to be upstanding members of the community with good jobs and houses.
More liekly they are unemployed with few assets and you'll have a hard time getting money from them.

No harm in pursuing all avenues, but I think you should set your expectations at a fairly low chance of recovering the money.

Quentin

bristol_pilot wrote: »

Yes, you do have to pay your excess. Did you take out the legal protection option on your insurance? You can sue the three offenders, but good luck getting the money back - if thay have no money no job etc they will not be able to pay you any damages that are awarded.

With "legal protection" the insurer will only fund court action if two criteria are met:

1) A good chance of winning

2) Evidence that when you win, the defendant can pay the amount awarded.

If both criteria aren't met they won't sue (even though it looks cast iron you would win the case)

Crazy_Jamie

Selden wrote: »

If they are prosecuted you may be able to seek a compensation order under s130 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000.

That is not generally something that the OP himself would seek. An application would be made for a compensation order by the prosecutor in (I assume) the Magistrates Court at the point of sentence. If the three are convicted of criminal damage then the OP would be ill advised to pursue anything over and above any order that is made. The reason for that is that the Court will look at the earnings capacity of the three at the point of sentence, and use that to make an appropriate compensation order. Doing anything in addition to that (for example, starting a civil action) is unlikely to yield anything extra.