Car Keying Court Case Result

jaymoe

In April my car was keyed, twice, by the same person, the second time I managed to catch him on film doing it.
It went to court on Monday and I have today found out the result.

He has been discharged for 24 months and we are being given £100 compensation, and that is all.

He has done £1200 worth of damage to the car and the court has said we are only entitled to £100. My excess on my insurance is £350.

My options are:-

Get my car resprayed for £1200 and for me to pay the remaining £1100
Pay £350 excess and claim off my insurance which means higher premiums for the next five years
Leave the car as it is, scratched.

Can anyone please advise me how this can be the right decision and if there is anything else I can do so the person who keyed my car has to fork out for the full repair as at the moment all I can see is if you can prove you have no money you can do whatever you like.

My car has been keyed and I have to pay more to fix it than the person who caused the damage and that can't be right.
Would small claims be an option?

Any help great fully received as I am very confused.

browneyedbazzi

When the courts award compensation they take into account the offenders ability to pay - not just the damage that was caused - if the offender in this case has little/no income that would explain the low compensation award.

You could go after the guy in small claims, but if he has no means to pay you may simply be wasting your time.

Some insurance companies allow you to claim for vandalism/criminal damage without it affecting your no claims - have you checked if this is the case with your insurer?

jaymoe

I spoke to the insurance company and they basically said they won't be able to go after him for the money, I have vandalism as part of my cover but due to the fact he doesn't work and is on benefits they can't get the money off him.
Was wondering what the small claims could do as the man has been in court over the case so would it be a case of not being allow to try someone for the same case twice.
Really guts me to think this person could do the damage to the car and effectively I have to pay for it.

C_Mababejive

you should still pursue the matter via small claims if only to register a judgement against him. Takes it as far as you can. Send the bailiffs in if you have to. Is there anything to prevent you from publicly naming and shaming him on the web and in your locality? Get onto your local paper and tell them the story.

shaun_from_Africa

Was wondering what the small claims could do as the man has been in court over the case so would it be a case of not being allow to try someone for the same case twice.

Someone can't generally be prosecuted twice in criminal court for the same offence (although there are some exceptions), but that won't be the case here.
He would have been found guilty in a criminal case but if you decide to take action in the Small claims court, this will be a civil case.

However, if you win, there is no guarantee that any compensation order will be paid and if the person who did the damage doesn't have any money, you may well just be wasting time and more money chasing him.

This is a good link for small claims info.
http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/JCO%2FDocuments%2FCJC%2FPublications%2FOther+papers%2FSmall+Claims+Guide+for+web+FINAL.pdf

browneyedbazzi

jaymoe wrote: »

I spoke to the insurance company and they basically said they won't be able to go after him for the money, I have vandalism as part of my cover but due to the fact he doesn't work and is on benefits they can't get the money off him.
Was wondering what the small claims could do as the man has been in court over the case so would it be a case of not being allow to try someone for the same case twice.
Really guts me to think this person could do the damage to the car and effectively I have to pay for it.

Did you ask your insurer if a claim for vandalism will affect your no claims though? It doesn't always, and if it won't on your policy then you'll be much better off getting the re-spray through your insurance and paying the excess (compared to paying for the re-spray yourself) as it won't affect your future insurance premiums.

jaymoe

Shaun thanks for the link. Gonna cost around £190 for a civil claim, am seriously considering it as if he can't afford to pay for the resprayed I can get bailiffs involved. I am just adamant I am not going to be penalised for what he did
I have the evidence of the video clip plus I will get the information from the original case and use all that against him.
Would like to think I can get the money back that away and give him as much grief as he gave me

jaymoe

Browneyed, I got it confirmed from the insurance company that my premium will increase as I will have a claim going against me

Tryingagainandagain

It is likely that if this person has no income/assets for criminal compensation then he won't have enough recoverable value in seized items to pay any debt.

There are also limitations on the types of goods bailiffs can seize.

It's an ongoing frustration for anyone involved in the criminal justice system, but there is no way of getting money from someone who has none.

vaio

try the courts if you want but, given the court looked at his finances and decided the level of fine/compensation, even if you do win then you are really unlikely to actually get any money.

Your claim would end up costing him maybe £2k which is an awful lot of stuff if the bailiffs are collecting put through your local auction house where the goods will sell for maybe 10 or 15% of new cost less fees. So to get your £2k the bailiffs are going to have to collect the thick end of £20k worth of goods. Is he likely to have amount of takeable goods bearing in mind that there is a whole list of "essential" stuff they can't take plus anything that belongs to someone else.

You'll probably do better if he has a job and there is the vengeance aspect of getting him a ccj which will blight his credit record (assuming it's good at the moment) but I'd still not be confident of actually getting your money (plus court & bailiff costs) back.

ValHaller

vaio wrote: »

You'll probably do better if he has a job and there is the vengeance aspect of getting him a ccj which will blight his credit record (assuming it's good at the moment) but I'd still not be confident of actually getting your money (plus court & bailiff costs) back.

For vengeance, just go through the motions of Letter before Action for the moment and go for the CCJ if he gets a job - or at about 5 years on before the debt becomes Statute Barred.