13 year old damaged my car

carolinabirichina

Hi

I hope that this is the right section for my query - in a nutshell - my car was scratched by a 13 year old boy, who admitted the damage and who has been seen by the police and given a reprimand as it was the first time he has been in trouble. The police are not taking the matter any further.

The damage was a 6" scratch covering two panels of the car and the estimate to repair this is in the region of £600. Legally - can I ask his parents to pay this? As the boy is 13 are they responsible for any damage that he does?

If not, then my insurance will take a pounding!

Strider590

Yes, they should have to pay for the damage, the child is below the legal age of responsibility and anything he does falls on the parents.

£600 sounds damn steep, is that a dealership quote? can't you cut out the middle man? (dealership won't do the repair themselves)

Getting sick of kids throwing stones, kicking leather footballs, playing cricket and god knows what else next to my car....... I tell them to buggar off and play next to their parents car, next thing I know im getting abuse from the parent!!!

spiro

In England & Wales the age of criminal responsibility is 10, it is 12 in Scotland. Therefore I believe he can legally be held liable for the damage. I would get two quotes and then contact the parents and see if they will pay. If not if you have any legal cover then get them to pursue it.

People can claim from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) even when the person is that young.

Zoetoes

Yes I would ask the parents to pay, although they may just say no and that might be it!

Just out of interest - how did he do it?

DirectDebacle

zoeleigh wrote: »

Yes I would ask the parents to pay, although they may just say no and that might be it!

Just out of interest - how did he do it?

If they refuse to pay then you can sue the child in the small claims court.

If the parents have legal responsibility for the childs actions then they will be named as co-defendants. Whether a parent is legally liable or not isn't clear cut and advice needs to be taken.

If not, then will the child have the money to pay for the repairs? Not much point in suing someone who has no money, though a judgement can be enforced up to 6 years after it is made.

The CICA will not deal with this as no injury to a person appears to have occurred.

It depends on the childs parents really. If a good decent family they will probably do the right thing.

Zoetoes

DirectDebacle wrote: »

If they refuse to pay then you can sue the child in the small claims court.

If the parents have legal responsibility for the childs actions then they will be named as co-defendants. Whether a parent is legally liable or not isn't clear cut and advice needs to be taken.

If not, then will the child have the money to pay for the repairs? Not much point in suing someone who has no money, though a judgement can be enforced up to 6 years after it is made.

The CICA will not deal with this as no injury to a person appears to have occurred.

It depends on the childs parents really. If a good decent family they will probably do the right thing.

Yes but when you win in the small claims court is it actually enforced or do you just get a 'yes they should pay' then nothing happens still?

I don't know much about small claims so not sure how it works.

DirectDebacle

zoeleigh wrote: »

Yes but when you win in the small claims court is it actually enforced or do you just get a 'yes they should pay' then nothing happens still?

I don't know much about small claims so not sure how it works.

A judge will make the decision. It is not a should pay. It is a must pay and is enforceable. If you have heard stories like 'the bailiffs are coming' it is often to enforce such judgements.

You could also contact your local Victim Support Scheme for free advice. They may well have previous experience of dealing with similar incidents.
http://www.victimsupport.org/

carolinabirichina

Hi again and thanks for your replies - I don't want to say too much about how it was done, just suffice it to say that it was deliberate but no one was hurt.

Unfortunately the parents are not exactly upstanding pillars of the community so I think I will get short shrift when I approach them.

So if i wanted to pursue this legally then i would have to go to court? Would that be the Small claims court?

DirectDebacle

carolinabirichina wrote: »

So if i wanted to pursue this legally then i would have to go to court? Would that be the Small claims court?

Yes. See my previous post. Small claims is reasonably simple and the county court in your area will give helpful (but not legal advice).

Have a good read here:

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/

Before taking court action it is a must that you make all efforts to resolve the issue before embarking on such a course. So you at least need to speak to the parents.

rev_henry

Do you have legal cover with your car (or, if not, home) insurance? If so, use it and ask their advice. Also if the guilty family has home insurance it should actually be covered by this under 3rd party liability or something. So you may be able to use your legal cover to liase with their household insurance company to get the money.

fivetide

vaio wrote: »

don't waste your time and money, you have zero chance of winning a court case against a minor.

You might win ginst the prents but only if you cn prove negligenct nd this mens the little drling hd history of doing such tings in the pst nd the prents were negligent in filing to tke steps to prevent recureance but even then your chnces re still close to zero

Would you like to buy a vowel? :rotfl:

Couldn't resist. Sorry.