My trolly crashed into a car

[SP8849]

So, while putting my son in the car, the trolly accidentally rolled into another car. I was horrified. I normally make sure breaks are on, next to a metal pole ect.

The man claimed I damaged his car, there's a dent the size of a 5p. I offered to rectify my mistake as the decent human I am. I gave him my number& I said I'll pay for the damage. I've been looking& comparing quotes- he knows this. However, he messaged me saying he has someone coming round Wednesday& charging £80. Apparently highly reputable ect. But if I can find someone cheaper, let him know.

I've found someone who will do it for £60- runs his own business ect. I'm going to suggest this to him. I've offered to rectify my mistake& arrange for someone to sort it but I refuse to pay more than I have to. At the end of the day, I could have said the dent wasn't me& got on with life. What should I do?

Etc

@AnneBullen £4000?! That's crazy. If I intentionally pushed the trolley into the car, it would be a totally different story& a lot of damage! The trolly didn't have a break, I secured it but it happened to roll. A complete accident. I do wonder what happened to that OP

@SP8849 no I totally get it, what a horrible man and horrible situation. I’m the same and I tend to wish I’d done things differently after the event. Hopefully it won’t happen again! But I’ve had something similar ish happen and since then I’ve learnt not to accept blame in those scenarios - and if anyone harassed you in such an abusive way again esp with you being pregnant / with a new baby and young child I’d make a complaint of harassment! At the end of the day life happens, people always open their doors into my car (I make a special effort to avoid it happening To other cars) but realistically if they are that precious about their car they always have the option of parking in a quiet corner of the car park etc.
Also echo what other Pp have said and get him to sign something to say he’s accepted the £80 and no further action (then block him!) x

You don’t own the trolley, you can’t tax insure and mot a trolley. He parked the car accepting the terms of the car park (that there is a risk of damage to vehicles) and as it wasn’t another vehicle causing the damage then how can there be insurance claim?

If you are into signs, there's also a fact that no sign can change the law. And there is a law around negligence that might make the OP liable. In which case it's up to them to compensate the owner for any damage so caused.

Whether or not the OP was negligent isn't really clear here. But it's a serious mistake to think that you can wash your hands of responsibility because a sign says so.

This is missing the point of thread entirely but - trolleys have brakes on them!?

I always just try and lean the trolley against my car in whatever way the wind is blowing to stop it rolling or blowing away!?

@ClementineTangerine I'm afraid Aldi's trolleys don't! Accidents happen& I've already stated I'm rectifying my mistake.

I’d go as far as to say you aren’t responsible for what happens to the shops trolleys on their land

You would be wrong.

The signs are, of course, to make it clear that the shop owner has no responsibility for anything that happens to your car on their land. If another car hits yours the shop owner isn't liable. The driver of the other car is liable. They can't point at the signs and deny liability. It won't work.

In exactly the same way, if you are using a shopping trolley and, through your negligence, the trolley comes into contact with a car and damages it, you are liable. Pointing at the signs gets you nowhere.

Just to confirm to everyone, I have paid for the damage, written up a letter which he has agreed that the damage has been repaired ect. Thank you to all the helpful comments- I think some people need to realise accidents do happen. Yes, the trolley rolled into his car, no the trolley didn't have a break. People make mistakes every day, it could have been something so much worse.

To be honest I don't think you really need to pay for it at all. It was an accident and car parks etc have signs up stating clearly that cars are left at owners risk and that is why you have insurance on your car.... however, obviously it's the right thing to do so I would offer the £60 and it's up to him who he uses and if he pays the extra.

SP8849 You might have paid on this occasion, but you seem to be regretting that.
I can't believe all the posters on here saying you shouldn't have paid. You were using the trolley, you let it roll away and hit another car. I would be annoyed if that happened to me, and I would expect you to pay. I look after my car, I take care of it, I would have to get it repaired. Why should I pay for someone else' negligence???

And those signs in the car park? They are saying that the shop has no liability, not that anyone can wander round damaging things left, right, and centre and just get away with it!

Of course accidents happen, nobody is denying that. But when you do have an accident that causes damage to someone else’s property, you pay to have it fixed and vow to be more careful next time.

Not grumble about having paid and wish you didn’t.

Glad you have it sorted. It was nice of you, and despite what pious mn says, it was also unusual, whether it's the right thing to do or not. It sounds like he was pretty nasty and so hopefully that's a line drawn under it now and you can forget about it. Enjoy the last few weeks of your pregnancy.

To be honest I don't think you really need to pay for it at all. It was an accident and car parks etc have signs up stating clearly that cars are left at owners risk and that is why you have insurance on your car..

Shame you didn't read my post where I stated that signs can say what they like - they cannot ever change the law, and that if negligence is involved, then there may be a case for compensation.

But apart from that - seems OK to me.

@ProfessorSlocombe is it negligence if said trolley does not have a brake fitted, and/or the car park is not maintained properly and therefore the trolley rolls away through no fault of the person who has used it?
No.
Some car parks have terrible camber and the trolleys do a bloody runner despite my best efforts including bracing them against my own car when there’s no brake! The signs typically state cars are left at owners risk and there’s a significant difference between carelessly pushing the trolley into someone’s car and the trolley, despite being left in a reasonable, stationary position, rolling into a vehicle/person/building despite no force being applied by the user.

@ProfessorSlocombe is it negligence if said trolley does not have a brake fitted, and/or the car park is not maintained properly and therefore the trolley rolls away through no fault of the person who has used it?

That's what courts are for. In the case you suggest, then if the person using the trolley is aware it has no brakes and the car park is uneven, then it might be argued they should have been aware of the risk of it running free and taken steps to prevent it. However ...

No. is of course a point of view you would be perfectly entitled to put forward to the court in argument against the contrary view that it is.

Until a court rules, it's all moot ... it may be negligence. It may not. But either way the legal position is supremely unchanged by what any sign may (or may not) say.

I've often wondered why so few people take up the law when it seems to be so simple. I guess it must be the dress code.