Son damaged car

foxhunter_2

My 16 year old son damaged a car in the street, he agreed to pay for the damage. The car owner has involved the insurance company and received an estimate of £1500.

Is he or are we responsible for the payment?

If a claim is made will the insurance company try to reclaim their money through the courts?

ilovemycats

He is responsible for the debt, not you. Also, while they can pursue him through the courts there will be issues that arise due to him being a minor (under 18). As in, they can't actually enforce anything.

I'm surprised the Police were not notified as would have been normal practice, in which case he would probably have ended up with a caution.

But there is no way that you are responsible for his actions.

What did he do to the car? £1500 sounds like alot of damage. Unless it's typical *inflated* damage where insurance companies/body shops are concerned. Like for example when you barely tap someone when driving and can't even see a mark yet they replace the bumper and half the chassis on principle.

Quite curious to know what he did?

aj3001

Look for a more "backstreet" repair company, when my car was involved in a crash, the repairer the insurance was going to use said it would cost £1500, but when I took it elsewhere (to pay personally - cash in lieu) it cost £300

And I know someone who had damage to their bumper, BMW wanted £1900, backstreet place took £60!

So go somewhere else and that price should come down quite a bit

rizla01

Ignore it and the Insurance co will pay.

They will make an effort to claim the money back from YOUR SON and if not paid he will end up with a CCJ against him.

Not the end of the world is it?

If you prefer then the payment can be made to avoid this but I didn't.

Or do as #3 suggests, if the owner will accept this.

cpu

I agree with the bumped up insurance costs thing, but if it were my car that had been damaged by someone else, I certainly wouldn't be happy about some back street garage I have never been to before, doing the repairs. You may well find the car owner is not willing to go down this route, but it's always worth approaching them to ask.

If it were my lad and this was a one off careless accident, then I'd not want him left with a CCJ to start his adulthood with and I'd try to reach some sort of agreement with the car owner to sort it all out amicably. On the other hand, if he were a little yob who was generally inconsiderate and unconcerned about other's possessions, then I'd leave him to sort out his own mess.

mattymoo

If your son was riding a bike or acting lawfully when the damage occured then the public liability section of your household contents insurance will deal with the claim from the car driver.

If he maliciously damaged the car then I don't think they will be interested.