Should I confront the person who scraped my car?!

[Robin42]

I have just moved into a new house. It is a mixture of on road parking and some people have driveways. I don't have a driveway so it is a case of hoping you can get a spot near your house!

I parked opposite my house last night. And I come out this morning to find my rear light smashed, with plastic on the floor, and a massive scrape across the bottom. I saw a van parked next to my car yesterday (they were on a drive) I was parked on the road next to the drive. I thought "hmm that looks pretty close" and so I knew it was this van who had done it. The person has left no note - but surely they must have heard/felt the impact because it isnt a small scratch!

I have just looked out my window and the van is back and parked on their drive. It feels enraging that this van is back and I will have to see it every day knowing they damahed my car!!! I am scared to knock on their door as I am a small woman, and I will feel very intimidated by this van driver who is most likely Male. Do I leave a note on the van? Do I just get over it and not park near it again? Someone else has parked where I was yesterday so it clearly is a 'parking place' eugh!!!

You don't know that they did it. You just don't.

Can you see any visible dent/scratch on the van? What colour is it and what colour is your car?
I think youd have to tread carefully and cant just accuse them of scraping your car without some evidence.

You don't 'know' it was them. It could have been anyone. So YABU.

Pain in the arse for you though. Sorry.

You can't know they did it just because they were parked close. Where we used to leave people would park right up your bumper but I would never assume it was them if my car was damaged. Why poo oh your own doorstep?

Just knock on the door and be smiley and polite about it, on the assumption they hadn't been aware. If he/ she denies it, say you are quite confident it was the van because of how it was parked close by etc. Be upfront. It's on them, if they don't co-operate then they'll know they are the reason for any awkwardness in future.

The problem is that you have no proof, and not that I'm saying they were right to damage your car but if you thought the can we too close to your car when it was in their drive, it sounds as if you were too close to the driveway entrance which probably restricted their ability to get in and out.

Unfortunately you don’t ‘know’ it was them. As above, is there damage on the van? You’d think if the damage to your car was very noticeable it would have left something on the van too.

I've just been to look and yes there is damage on the van that corresponds with the damage to my car. Their drive way is wide enough for two cars. As I'm new to the area I didnt know a van parked there, and as they have restricted view I wouldnt have parked near where I knew a van would be close. But they had plenty of space and no reason to have hit me like that other than bad parking!!

And someone is parked in the exact place I was yesterday so it must be enough space otherwise they would be continuously hitting cars... or they would put something there to say no parking if it obstructed their ability to get in and out

Unless you have CCTV I think it would be hard to prove (even with the damage on their van). I don't see any harm in questioning the driver, but I'd avoid going at it in an accusing manner since there isn't concrete evidence they did it/the van wasn't already damaged.