Money Moral Dilemma: Should neighbour pay as her son smashed the window

juliamarsh

If you cannot get anywhere with the neighbour then do you have legal expenses cover on your car or home insurance as most people do nowadays? If so you could claim on this as it covers you for uninsured losses such as your excess if a claim is not your fault, and they would hopefully claim all the costs back from the neighbour so that there wouldn't be a knock-on effect on your future premiums.

daldal

It depends on whether or not you can afford it and if you can be bothered. I was in a similar situation when my son and another child from the street was throwing stones at each other only my son ran and stood in front of the house, consequently the other child broke the window in our Upvc door. The mother said that if I could prove it was her son she would pay for it. I wrote her a letter with a quote of 300 pounds (this was one of the cheapest I could find) explaining that all the other children involved said it was her son. I never got a reply and had to replace it myself.
In her defence, in the letter I acknowleged that it was an accident and that my son was partly to blame (he was also throwing stones) and that I did not expect her to pay but said that I thought I deserved an appology to at least demonstrate to the child the errors of his ways - like I said, NO REPSONE.

chrissie55

Her kid - her responsibility.

binbagbob

Morally, of course the neighbour should pay, but legally she almost certainly will have no liability.

On this case, the OP would need to show that the child's parent was somehow personally reckless or negligent for allowing him to play in the street AND that the accident was entirely foreseeable.

Like it or not, there is no legal principle that automatically holds parents / guardians responsible for the consequences of the actions of their children. Some might say this is "wrong" or "unfair", but I do not. Imagine a different scenario - mum and dad walking their 7 year old along a pavement on the way to a park. Child's hands are being held by both parents. Suddenly, unexpectedly, and completely out of character, child yanks himself free from his parents' hands and runs across the road, having spotted a schoolfreind on the other side. In so doing, child runs directly in front of a car, causing it to swerve which in turn leads to a multiple pile-up with multiple deaths / serious injuries. Does anyone argue that the parents should be responsbile for compensating the dead / injured?

Ebenezer_Screwj

You are asking two questions here - 1. Should the neighbour pay ? and 2. What should I do ? The answer to Question 1. A definite YES, it is bad and negligent parenting to allow a young child to play on the street, recklessly or not. Regarding Question 2 : You should advise the neighbour that if she does not pay up you will seek a legal remedy, which as a first step will involve the police.

max6981

I also think they should pay the excess. You are not being unreasonable. I had my car window smashed from a child playing a game with a peice of wood and they paid the excess at £5 a week.

davidmcn

I concur with binbagbob - it's the boy who is legally liable, not his mother. Attempting to sue her would be a waste of time and money.

kneelbeforezod

sammyh82 wrote: »

Some of your posts have really made me laugh out loud!!

In todays society nobody that breaks or damages anything needs to pay because the law is on their side!
Do any of you live in the real world?? I know if this happened where I live & I asked me neighbour to pay & she said she couldn't afford it, if I asked her again I'd probably find all my car windows smashed in the next day!! & I wouldn't consider myself living in a 'rough' area

A 'friend' of mine spilt a drink on my brand new laptop last year, I had to pay my insurance £150 excess I asked my friend to pay & I got the same answer, he couldn't afford it, serioulsy what can you do to force someone to pay? nothing!! & the bake them a cake suggestion really made me laugh!! I would imagine if she can't afford to pay back the £50 she's probably someone living off benefits & doesn't pay any of her bills, she's hardly gonna go down to the shop & buy ingredients to bake a cake!!!!

I also had my car stolen last year, the person who did it went to prison, I lost my £500 excess, my insurance went up from £235 to £800 & I had a hire car for 6 weeks which cost me £1000, I paid £75 to take the criminal to civil court following his release from prison & they agreed he should pay me back £30 a month, well that was a year ago & I've not recived a single penny! he has 5 CCJ's against him & he doesn't pay to any of them & he's allowed to get away with it. A friend of mine decided to buy a load of things from a catalogue, run up a huge debt then she declared herself bankrupt & hasn't had to pay a thing back, it is far too easy in this country & it makes me sick that people like me who work hard for a living & WANT good credit & want to live respectably just get damned by the majority of wasters in this country

You will never get that £50 back so I would just forget about it.

Well with a defeatist doormat attitude like that I'm not surprised you get walked over.

My father and I have both undertaken and won a number of small claims actions. Hell, I even got my bank charges back before the door was shut... If i'd sat there moaning how everyone gets away with it that wouldn't have happened.

kneelbeforezod

BNT wrote: »

Why 'may have been an accident'? It says 'accidentally' in the OP.

To my reading the OP says that her neighbour told them it was an accident. Unless the OP witness the whole event unfolding they only have her word for it. Given the neighbour's moral vacuum over responsibility (and their attribution of responsibility = paying) who knows if she was telling the truth - after all, with most parents the sun seems to shine permanently out of their children's backsides

boatman

You would hope the parent would see things the same as you, in which case a painful lesson for the child is in order. Removal of pocket money for a month, a series of jobs for you, this way he loses his freedom for a while and learns a valuable lesson, he would also learn that you are good people and feel shame for what they have done, you get the satisfaction of knowing that although you have lost in the short term you have taught him a lesson which in time he will see the error and understand the consequences of their actions..