Real Life MMD: Should I keep schtum over damaging neighbour's car?

DynamoD09

Come on own up! They may not be bothered but offer to pay! It's your sisters neighbour after all - wouldn't you appreciate it if they did he same to you? I backed into my neighbours Audi and owned up. She never mentioned it again!

Fujiko

elvis86 wrote: »

To all you bitter (I imagine, poor) people who seem to have this weird idea that anyone who can afford anything nice deserves to have it wrecked by others, I ask;

If, once you've managed to get a better job/pay off your DMP/get off benefits/sort out whatever is making you poor (and bitter), you manage to save up and decide to treat yourself to something nice, are you honestly saying that you would fully expect and approve of someone else coming along and wrecking it??

I really can't comprehend your (bitter, jealous) logic, that people with nice things should expect them to be trashed?

Well said, Elvis! We have always had to save up for the things we wanted and have appreciated them all the more for that, and if there are people who do not approve of our choice, that is their problem not our's.
As to who should pay for the damage to the car I would have thought the answer was so obvious as to make the question unnecessary: go to see your neighbour, explain that you are responsible - hyou can't really blame it on a three-year old - and offer to pay for the damage.

JayD

I am always amazed - and saddened - when people ask if they should be honest and do the right thing or not!

Of course you should tell the neighbour and offer to pay for the damage!

If it is hugely expensive, and you have comprehensive insurance, then let them claim against it and you will only have to pay your excess.

But it might not be very expensive, the neighbour may well be able to fix it him/herself, or have friends in the garage business who could do it cheaply.

Either way it is YOUR responsibility to make good the damage that was done and you should face up to it!

JayD

davidt1980 wrote: »

What part do you not agree with? I can break it down for you if you would prefer?

If she is not 100 percent sure it was there beforehand how can she be 100 percent sure it was the nephew?

The Child is NOT hers it is her nephew.
She asked the child to get out of the car.
Surely, It would be her sisters responsilbility to pay for the damage.

.

The driver is responsible - not the child's parents - and she should have parked at a distance which would allow the child to open the door safely. That way there would be no question mark at all as to whether the mark was already there.
If it was, then surely the neighbour will say so when she explains what has happened.

If there was not enough room for the child to open the door fully in order to get out, she should have got out and opened the door to let him out herself - not just tell him to jump out without checking first. After all, she must have been parked quite close for this to have happened. It only takes a minute to check and it is called driving with due care and consideration!

Sambucus_Nigra

davidt1980 wrote: »

The Child is NOT hers it is her nephew.
She asked the child to get out of the car.
Surely, It would be her sisters responsilbility to pay for the damage.

How do you deduce that it's the sister's responsibility to pay for the damage when the child did what the OP asked?

n_hatton

Being as 2 days ago I noticed a deep scrape on my colour coded bumper from one of my neighbours then YES. You should own up. More than likely if the person had approached me about it, left a note etc I might have said don't worry about it. But I will have to spend out to get it repaired and now completely distrust all of my neighbours. There's no way they couldn't have noticed, people should learn to own up and be more honest!

alwe150789

MrCarrot wrote: »

I also have a pristine car and have been on the receiving end of these dents. I can also confirm they cost in the region of £50 to have them removed by a specialist (that's assuming it didn't break the paintwork).

Of course some people say it's only a car and doesn't matter. I wonder if those same people would feel the same if I put a little crack in the corner of their LCD TV screen, or got finger marks all over the photos in their personal photo albumn, etc. We all have things we care about, maybe more or less so than the next person. But if someone damages something we take pride in then they should own up and pay for it.

Im so glad you said this - reading the comments i'm surprised that so many people imply it's the owners fault for having a nice car, or not putting it in the garage!

As for the OP - it's unclear why your nephew arrived in your car, but i think if he was under your care then you should admit to the neighbour - if he was under your sister's care then tell her, and then it's up to her what she does.

I drive a little Ford Fiesta, nothing flash, not even new. But when i arrived back one day to find a large dent in the passenger door i was quite !!!!ed off. Then there was the scratch along the back bumper from the gym carpark. And then right outside my house when i went outside to find the whole back bumper smashed on the ground. It's not nice to find that people dont give a sh*t about your stuff. So be a decent human unlike the majority.

Anja

My sister's son bumped my husband's Porsche with a car door. I never owned up and was quite relieved when he sold it! He thought it had been done in a supermarket car park which is what your neighbour will think too. So don't worry!

horse54101

Can you be sure if you owned up that you wouldn't be ripped off for the repair?!

lindseykim13

Would you be so bothered if it was an old rust bucket? doubt it-our car is covered in plenty of dents others caused, footballs, bikes etc. Twice someone has hit and run our parked car. Once was when someone smashed into the back of it whilst it was parked in town-they weren't honest and had driven off we had to replace the whole bumper at our own cost just before xmas too! I guess i have no faith in honest drivers anymore so i personally wouldn't own up-unless it was major damage but for a tiny door dent which may well have been there before hand for all anyone knows.