Accused of hitting parked car...advise please

WLC

A dilemma I've never dealt with before. My partner has been accused of damaging someone's car at work, but he's adamant he didn't.

Basically he's been informed through other people at work that someone is accusing him of damaging their car in the work car park (not yet clear if they mean reversing into it or hitting it whilst opening his car door). He hasn't been to work yet since it allegedly happened so details are a little scarce atm (hearing through the grapevine).

My partner is adamant he didn't. But judging by what he's been told, the person accusing him said he was parked next to his car at the time. There is CCTV in the car park, but were not yet sure if the cars were positioned where the CCTV was pointed. Obviously if there is CCTV, case closed.

But my question is what happens if there is no CCTV? How can my partner prove this person is merely fabricating this in order to have someone to blame?

My concern is anyone could have caused this damage, and he's trying to blame my partner as he was parked next to him that day. If he knew my partner had caused the damage, then surely he would have left a note. Otherwise what's to say the damage wasn't previous damage, or damage caused later that day, and he has just reflected back on who was parked next to him at work to blame?

Should my partner provide his insurance details to this person, if he doesn't believe it was him? Surely by providing his insurance details, he is admitting to some kind of involvement in this damage (which he strongly denies!).

Never had this experience before, and I really feel for my partner as I feel he is being stitched up by this person. Any help ASAP would be really helpful. Thanks in advance

Richard53

It's up to the other person to prove it was your partner who did the damage, not your partner to prove his innocence. If the person approaches him, he should just say "I am not aware that I have damaged your car, but if you have evidence or witnesses to support your claim I will gladly discuss it with you." That's assuming no CCTV images to confirm or deny the alleged incident. If there is CCTV, he should request a copy of the relevant files.

He should not divulge his insurance details to the other party. He is under no legal obligation to do so, and if he did it would give the other person more opportunities to make things awkward for him.

Meanwhile, he should check his own car for unexpected bits of paint on his bumpers or door edges. If he finds any, he should do the decent thing.

WLC

Repeated post

WLC

Thanks Richard53. He's checked over his car and there are no apparent marks on his car. So I think you're right, it's not right for my partner to merely take his word for it.

I've advised him on what you said, not to provide insurance details without any evidence that it was him. Although I've heard this chap is aggressive, so I'm hoping he doesn't take this to another level!

My partner is going to review the CCTV if this person is still adamant it is him. Then if it is, he will certainly do the right thing. But without evidence, he is not taking the blame for this, as it could have been anyone. We shall see I guess.

But thank you for advice re:insurance etc. didn't want to do the wrong thing.

Aretnap

If the other guy makes a claim he's obliged to give his insurance details whether or not he thinks that he was involved in the accident - Road Traffic Act s154. It's not an admission of liability. The other guy can get them for £4 from AskMID anyway, so there's no advantage to not giving them.

Your partner should also inform his own insurer (there's doubtless a clause in his policy requiring him to do this, and they won't be happy if the first they know of the incident is when they get a claim from the other guy), making clear that he strenuously denies having caused the accident.

skitler

unless you own the cctv, you could be in breach of the data protection act if you view any material on its recording. you should request a copy from the person/company that owns the cctv, should it be required.

and as stated before the plaintiff has to prove it was you that caused the damage.

take no further action till you hear more.

Caroline_a

I was once accused of this by an awkward neighbour. They came round ranting and raving and reckoning that I'd broken the spoiler on the son's boy racer Escort. I hadn't, in fact I hadn't even been at home when they reckoned I did it - I'd been at a meeting with witnesses.

I gave a statement to the police, case closed.

WLC

Aretnap wrote: »

If the other guy makes a claim he's obliged to give his insurance details whether or not he thinks that he was involved in the accident - Road Traffic Act s154. It's not an admission of liability. The other guy can get them for £4 from AskMID anyway, so there's no advantage to not giving them.

Your partner should also inform his own insurer (there's doubtless a clause in his policy requiring him to do this, and they won't be happy if the first they know of the incident is when they get a claim from the other guy), making clear that he strenuously denies having caused the accident.

If the other person makes a claim? My only issue with this is, a claim for what exactly? Possible old damage that he's trying to pin on an innocent person? I wouldn't give my insurance details to Joe Bloggs on the street, so I don't understand why he's obliged to give them to a 'chancer'?

So does that mean I can pop to Tesco car park tomorrow with my car that has a few old scratches, park next to a random car owner, and then request their insurance details to blame them for my 'old' scratches?

I realise that sounds sarcastic, so I apologise. I don't mean it to be. That's a genuine question

WLC

Caroline_a wrote: »

I was once accused of this by an awkward neighbour. They came round ranting and raving and reckoning that I'd broken the spoiler on the son's boy racer Escort. I hadn't, in fact I hadn't even been at home when they reckoned I did it - I'd been at a meeting with witnesses.

I gave a statement to the police, case closed.

So can I ask, did you just pop to the local station and report it then? I never know what is deemed a police matter nowadays.

Would you recommend asking for a copy of the CCTV and taking this to the station to file a report? The CCTV merely shows my partner reversing into the space next to him.

Richard53

I was advising against giving insurance details because a) there is no suggestion (yet) of a claim being made, merely an accusation heard via a third party, and b) it happened in a works car park, which I assume is private land. Not sure if/how the RTA applies here, but I understood the requirement to exchange details was after an accident, and there's no proof that one of those has happened, other than the third party's allegation. As WLC says, you wouldn't immediately give your details to a random stranger who approached you in Tesco and said you had damaged their car.

I'm no legal expert, so I am happy to be corrected. My advice was more general - if someone approaches you and alleges you have damaged their car, don't make it easier for them to be awkward by giving them a lot of personal stuff that they (may) not be entitled to.

Although I would always advise someone to inform their insurer after even a no-fault accident, in this case you could argue that there is, so far, no accident to report, just an allegation. I could approach a stranger in a pub and accuse them of damaging my car, but you wouldn't expect them to immediately report the conversation to their insurer, would you?

WLC

For some odd reason, it keeps repeating my posts?!