Neighbour broke car, won't pay

Tilt

wba31 wrote: »

But you need to prove liability? how do you know the key would not have broken regardless?
When i had well old Nissan Micra's as my cars they would constantly need filling with oil. I leant one to a female friend, left a few litres of oil in the boot, and told her to check every 200 miles. sure enough she didnt, oil light came and she carried on, ending up blowing a hole in the engine. I was replacing the car anyway, but i didnt chase her for money because the engine was on it's way out anyway...

we only know what you've told us, but can your neighbour argue (in a small claims court) that the broken key was wear and tear? and if it hadnt happened to him, it would have happened to you in the first few weeks of january?

Of course you do and that's the risk you have to take. Obviously it would be for the DJ to decide on the evidence that the OP provides. But it seems that it is his only option if his 'friend' will not cough up.

vikingaero

To play Devils Advocate, couldn't the key for what is a 15+ year old car have broken at any time?

Tilt

Actually, I just re-read the OPs firts post and noted that the car has been scrapped. That would make things a little more complicated in working out what the neighbour would owe you.

colino

Sorry to hear about your neighbour problems, but as well as picking your friends a bit better, be more careful with your choice of mechanics too!

maninthestreet

OP, surely it would have been cheaper to pay for a new igntition barrel to be fitted, rather than have to pay out vastly more for a new car?

diable

Any fines or parking tickets been received?

slyracoon

If he was insured to drive it then claim on the insurance he was using.

If he was uninsured then you were comitting a criminal offence by allowing him to drive your car whilst uninsured. You could try small claims but it could then come out that you allowed him to drive whilst uninsured and you could be in trouble.

Hammyman

Steaming33 wrote: »

I got a mechanic onto it, and he said the cost to replace the ignition basically wrote the car off (old n reg almera) so we've sold it for scrap.

Oh dear. A trip to a scrapyard would have got you a replacement for under £20. Any garage would charge you no more than an hours labour to replace it.

In short, the "mechanic" who told you it would be too expensive was probably hoping to con you out of the car.

If I was your neighbour, I'd reimburse you £50 or so but any more than that is you taking the mickey and expecting to be reimbursed the full value of the car for a £50 or so repair is ridiculous and should you decide to take it to county court, you'd lose if you tried to claim more than the cost of the repair.

LandyAndy

vikingaero wrote: »

To play Devils Advocate, couldn't the key for what is a 15+ year old car have broken at any time?

Exactly. What is more likely, neighbour deliberately (or even carelessly) breaks key in lock or old key fails at a random point in time?

Quentin

Suing for the money via the scc is just a waste of your time and money.

There is no breach of contract here, so you have no case to pursue.

You are being totally unfair - the key snapping was an accident waiting to happen.

The villain in all this is as advised, the mechanic who mislead you.