Legal Advice Required - £1300 damage

hippotimmy

Dear mse friends. please read my scenario (yes this did happen) and provide me with your experience or knowledge of this area: - I present the facts and only the facts in this thread:

SCENARIO: On friday 4th february I was making my home from work at approximately 16:30. Stuck in slow moving traffic on a busy single carriage way road in a built up area, i heard a loud noise, it sounded like someone had struck my car. I turned to my left and noticed a man stood next to my car. This man kicked my door, and continued to kick my passengers side door. I left the vehicle to confront the man who then attempted to punch me, and subsequently ran off as members of the public intervened. The police arrested the gentleman and the formalities have been put in place. This man was not aggravated in anyway and it was a total shock. Out of know where he kicked my car.

QUESTION/ISSUE: the quotes i have received from garages range from £780-1300 to either repair or replace the entire door. I have been made aware the judge may not rule that I am eligible for the monies from the person being prosecuted/accused of this crime. For a couple of reasons (he doesn't have the money) - (potential MH issue)

Where do I stand with appealing this? (if it comes to this)
Does anyone know of a compensation scheme I could apply too?

As you are reading this, imagine on your way home tonight, a random member of the public kicked your car, attempted to punch you and then ran off. You've never seen this person before and have no idea why he did it - this is me now facing a bill........

Advise and guidance would be appreciated.

Tim

AdrianC

If the person who caused the damage can't/won't pay, then your next stop is your insurance.

If you only have third-party insurance, then I suspect you'll fall into a gap.
The Motor Insurance Bureau are unlikely to pay because your damage wasn't caused by an uninsured driver.
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority won't pay because you haven't suffered physical or mental injuries.
Given the relatively low value, and - I presume - your car is still roadworthy, I think it'll end up being down to your own pocket to sort the cosmetic damage.

What car is it? A used door in the right colour may be easy to obtain. If not, respraying a used door to the right colour will likely be considerably cheaper.

Billy_Bullocks

hippotimmy wrote: »

Dear mse friends. please read my scenario (yes this did happen) and provide me with your experience or knowledge of this area: - I present the facts and only the facts in this thread:

SCENARIO: On friday 4th february I was making my home from work at approximately 16:30. Stuck in slow moving traffic on a busy single carriage way road in a built up area, i heard a loud noise, it sounded like someone had struck my car. I turned to my left and noticed a man stood next to my car. This man kicked my door, and continued to kick my passengers side door. I left the vehicle to confront the man who then attempted to punch me, and subsequently ran off as members of the public intervened. The police arrested the gentleman and the formalities have been put in place. This man was not aggravated in anyway and it was a total shock. Out of know where he kicked my car.

QUESTION/ISSUE: the quotes i have received from garages range from £780-1300 to either repair or replace the entire door. I have been made aware the judge may not rule that I am eligible for the monies from the person being prosecuted/accused of this crime. For a couple of reasons (he doesn't have the money) - (potential MH issue)

Where do I stand with appealing this? (if it comes to this)
Does anyone know of a compensation scheme I could apply too?

As you are reading this, imagine on your way home tonight, a random member of the public kicked your car, attempted to punch you and then ran off. You've never seen this person before and have no idea why he did it - this is me now facing a bill........

Advise and guidance would be appreciated.

Tim

What's the point in appealing? If he hasn't got the funds to pay, he can't pay it.

Even if he can pay it's likely to be £3 every giro day.

vikingaero

Don't throw money into it with summons. Ask the officer dealing with the matter to add a compensation claim to the charge.

If you know his name then google and Facebook him. You might find he's a business or property owner in which case it will be well worth taking further action.

hippotimmy

the door is fully operational, lock and window. it just seems so injust i did absolutely nothing wrong and may end up with this blooming bill.

its a vauxhall corsa!

hippotimmy

Billy_Bullocks wrote: »

What's the point in appealing? If he hasn't got the funds to pay, he can't pay it.

Even if he can pay it's likely to be £3 every giro day.

I would rather he paid £3 a month for x number of months than pay for it myself.

hippotimmy

Thank you for all your replies. I will come back with the outcome once the case is over with. So frustrating when i'm trying to save that this then comes along!

AdrianC

hippotimmy wrote: »

I would rather he paid £3 a month for x number of months than pay for it myself.

£1,500 at £3/month is 41 years 8 months.

If it's all fully functional, and you've get better uses for the money, then... don't fix it. Leave it. It'll look a bit scruffy. And?

Billy_Bullocks

hippotimmy wrote: »

I would rather he paid £3 a month for x number of months than pay for it myself.

He only needs to make one payment, if it stops after that it's down to you to recover the rest.

Ebe_Scrooge

Putting aside the rights and wrongs of the matter ( sorry, not meaning to be dismissive, you have my total sympathy with the situation ) ...


But if you do end up forking out for it yourself, one option is to source a "new" ( well, used ! ) door from a scrapyard, spray it the right colour, and fit it yourself. It's actually not that difficult to replace a door. For a common car like yours, you should be able to find a door in a scrappy pretty easily - you may even get very lucky and find one that's the right colour. But if you need to spray it, a Vauxhall dealer will be able to sell you a couple of cans of the correct colour. A few years ago I was doing some cosmetic repairs to my old Zafira, and was surprised at how reasonable the paint was, given that main dealers are usually notorious for being expensive

peter_the_piper

As it was kicked in and not squidged by a vehicle its possible the dents may pop out, maybe one of the mobile body companies which suck them out. Not going to be perfect but possibly a compromise.