Car dented while parked in bays near house -- what to do next...

jase1

Our car has been dented quite badly while parked near house by another car that did not leave any details and drove off.

We're pretty sure we know who it was -- there's blue paint on the dent, and by a strange coincidence a car that regularly parks around here has a sprayed wing on the driver's side and a new headlight. Hmmmmmm.......

Is there anything that can be done about this -- and I'm talking from a criminal perspective here? I'm absolutely livid about this and frankly I consider it to be criminal damage seeing as the person involved has wilfully left us with the bill.

I had thought about confronting the driver and issuing some thinly veiled threats about what I'll do to the person/car when I find out who it is, and letting them know in no uncertain terms what I think of the person in question, but I suspect this will do more harm than good.

No actual evidence (apart from the paint) and no witnesses, so it looks like the piece of filth has got away with it.

Car isn't worth reporting to the insurer (and I suspect the other party knows this) as it's only worth a grand tops. But it's the principle of the thing -- I'd happily tear this person apart with my bare hands to be perfectly honest.

Is there anything that can be done?

paddedjohn

if you have no proof then move on and forget about it, if you get your insurance involved you will end up paying more next year.

sharpy2010

For a car worth just a grand, I wouldn't be so precious about it firstly, but thats just me and only my own opinion.

You could talk to them and say you have cctv evidence recorded from your house by the camera that you train on the car every night, but that you will avoid giving the evidence to the police should sufficient money to pay the bill is forthcoming.

Bit sneaky, and if they are innocent, you'll look a bit stupid, and end up alienating a neighbour, but then again so what.

I'd try this tactic if I was you.

JQ.

sharpy2010 wrote: »

For a car worth just a grand, I wouldn't be so precious about it firstly, but thats just me and only my own opinion.

You could talk to them and say you have cctv evidence recorded from your house by the camera that you train on the car every night, but that you will avoid giving the evidence to the police should sufficient money to pay the bill is forthcoming.

Bit sneaky, and if they are innocent, you'll look a bit stupid, and end up alienating a neighbour, but then again so what.

I'd try this tactic if I was you.

. . . and what if it wasn't that person who did it - I'd be very wary of making completely unfounded accusations.

I'd probably knock on all the doors and ask all the neighbours if they've seen anything, someone might have and has not said anything as they assumed the guilty party would have owned up. Even if nobody has seen anything, the OP can hopefully make the guilty party feel guilty by laying it on thick how upset they are.

AlexisV

Would be best to take photos of the damage and the repairs he's made to his car and then put it all in writing to him that you think he damaged your car and the provide a quote to repair your vehicle.

You'd better be VERY sure it was him though.

If you get no luck, a county court claim would be the easiest route.

pendulum

I second the idea of confronting them, but don't let the anger completely cloud your judgment. I did this when my car had a hoover bag emptied over it. I matched round to the neighbour who I was sure had done it, and made it pretty damn clear I thought it was them (without actually directly accusing them) and how I'd like to get my hands on the person who did it. But after talking to them for a while, I realised they were actually innocent, and on reflection, it wasn't their style. I probably looked a little silly in fact.

Did I regret it? Not for a second. In fact I marched straight round to the next person who I thought had done it (the only other person who would have) and did exactly the same. From that conversation (with his wife; he was in, but too cowardly to come to the door), I knew exactly who had done it.

Edit: The reason I did the above though, is because I didn't want people to think they could come on my driveway and mess with my stuff. I wanted them to know I'd try and hunt them down and WOULD retaliate once I did so! To nip it in the bud so to speak (and so far, it's worked). Your situation is slightly different in that I doubt they damaged your car deliberately, but it's still not on.

Summary: Go round for a chat, you'll probably work out if it was them or not from that.