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Legal matters

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Original poster

Son and his friend caused accidental damage to car

67 replies

ToastedBun · 08/11/2021 10:20

Hi all! So this in my first time here and I'm after a bit of advice. Here's the situation, my son (He's 13) and his friend (Slightly younger) were playing football near a car (I know!), one thing lead to another and they collided with each other, his friend fell over and went into the door of the car, causing damage. Understandably the person who owns the car was not too happy and want's me to cover the damage, which of course I will. Now my question is, my son is getting the blame 100% as his friend says it was him that pushed him, does that make me 100% responsible for all the costs? They were both playing football there, knowing what could happen. Can I legally ask or claim 50% of the costs off the other child's parents? or only offer to pay 50%? As I believe they were both responsible. Any advice or help would be much appreciated.

OP posts:

Beautiful3 · 08/11/2021 10:59

He needs to claim on his car insurance. I'd offer to pay half, if I could afford it. If I couldn't afford it, then I'd pay what I could.

Frankie4me · 08/11/2021 11:02

Did they collide or did your son push him? In one scenario they’re equally at fault IMO and it’s clear it should be 50/50, in the other its probably 90/10%. Depending on the cost, I’d be tempted to say as the other party is not willing to pay, he should claim insurance and see what they want to do. They may not pursue costs given its 2 young teenagers.

The other thing that would impact on my decision is whose supervision they were under - were they at someone’s home, did they just meet at a park etc.

Polmuggle · 08/11/2021 11:07

[quote ToastedBun]@Djifunrsn Yes I haven't actually agreed to pay anything yet as I am still waiting for the estimates on the cost of repair. If the owner went through there insurance wouldn't they just come after me for the cost anyway? tbh I would rather not involve an insurance company as it opens up another can of worms.[/quote]
What can of worms?

JewelleryBox · 08/11/2021 11:08

@MeridasMum where do you park?

Bellringer · 08/11/2021 11:08

Cheaper to get dent fixed without insurance, unless your house insurance covers kids mishaps (some may). See what the owner wants

Original poster

ToastedBun · 08/11/2021 11:13

Thanks all for your responses, I think I'm going to offer to pay half and go from there, assuming its within what I'm capable of paying. Hopefully we will all come away happy. I will update this thread when its all resolved!

OP posts:

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 08/11/2021 11:16

[quote ImUninsultable]@MeridasMum

Because it's the right and decent thing to do. When I break something by accident, I replace it. It's just called being a decent person.

If your kid plays a game in the street instead of in the park and they damage someone else's legally parked property, then you pay to fix it.

I don't actually give a shit about the legal stance or the proper process of telling him to go through his insurance and then come after me in court. I care about doing the decent thing. In this case, that's paying half.[/quote]
If you can afford it though? Say OP hadn't got the funds to offer to pay? Plenty of people are loving hand to mouth. Is this not what insurance is for?

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 08/11/2021 11:16

Living ffs.

trumpisagit · 08/11/2021 11:19

But lets say it was a porsche and the damage was thousands from a boy falling against a car, I am not sure their parent should have to cover the damage.
It was an accident, and I think the children should pay a nominal amount out of their own money, but I am not sure the OP should be coughing up.

yourestandingonmyneck · 08/11/2021 11:19

[quote ImUninsultable]@yourestandingonmyneck

But is it the right and decent thing to do?[/quote]
Well, I don't think it's as simple as that.

Is it right that the OP should have to be pay 100% of the cost when it was also the fault of the other boy?

It also depends how much the repair will cost and whether or not the OP actually has it. If it costs hundreds of pounds that she just simply doesn't have then what would happen?

Also, if it does cost hundreds of pounds, if it is more than the excess then possibly it should be claimed on insurance and ot could then be discussed whether OP (and the other parent could pay the excess).

I have clipped someones wing mirror before by accident. I stopped and arranged to make good. But the cost was around £30. Obviously would not be making an insurance claim for that.

But, at the end of the day, that's why insurance to park on the street is higher. Because accidents like this happen.

I'm not saying that's what the OP should do. Was simply querying why a pp deemed the possibility "ridiculous", because it's not really.

I think the OP sounds like she is being very fair. The other parent does not.

endofagain · 08/11/2021 11:21

Get 3 quotes in writing on headed paper.
Then pay half and get a receipt. Your payment should be by cheque accompanied by a letter stating that the payment is in full and final settlement of your half of the cost.
Keep a photocopy of cheque, quotes, letter and receipt.

Hmumoftw0 · 08/11/2021 11:28

@ToastedBun Make sure the owners signs something to say you have paid your half if you end up going that route, and make sure you get the quote in writing, if it seems a lot ask them to get other quotes!

Original poster

ToastedBun · 08/11/2021 11:31

@endofagain Thanks will do.

OP posts:

TakeYourFinalPosition · 08/11/2021 11:31

Is this not what insurance is for?

It depends from whose point of view you’re looking at things. The car driver can claim from insurance, sure, but their premiums will go up. The insurance can then pursue the OP, if they want to. They don’t have to absorb the cost, especially when it’s clear who was responsible for the damage.

The same would be true if it was a Porsche; although the more expensive the car, the more likely the insurance company would want to recoup costs.

It’s possible that a claim against OP would fail; but I can’t think of any immediately obvious precedent. It wasn’t an emergency… there’s no extenuating circumstances; beyond two kids playing football and pushing each other near a parked car, with what must have been a pretty decent amount of force to cause a large dent to an average car. I’m not even sure “play fighting” would cause that much damage near a car, but it’d be difficult to argue that the risks weren’t known.

Ozanj · 08/11/2021 11:36

If he expects you to get the damage fixed instead of claiming on insurance then he needs to allow you to run point on quotes just as an insurer would expect. He can’t have it both ways.

cheeseismydownfall · 08/11/2021 12:01

In all honesty, if I was the parent of the friend, I would be extremely pissed off at being asked to pay for damage that was caused by your son pushing my son in to a car.

It really depends on whether it genuinely was an accidental collision (where it just happened that it was one boy rather than the other that ended up hitting the car) or whether, as the friend is saying, it was a deliberate push.

Herecomesthesun70 · 08/11/2021 12:07

@MeridasMum

I see both sides and I'm not arguing the the OP should do this; it's merely a point of discussion.

If I park my car in a garage, my insurance is reduced. If I park on my driveway, insurance costs a little more. If I park in the street, it's more expensive again for this exact reason.

I don't know what I would do in the circumstances but I think it's worth consideration.

That's not actually true If you're parked in a garage or drive it increase your insurance as insurers consider you must lived in a nice area with a nicer car so more likely to get it stolen

Herecomesthesun70 · 08/11/2021 12:10

For what's it's worth OP the insurers are unlikely to come after you as they will know that your child is not insured so they won't waste their time.

ThePoliceOfficer · 08/11/2021 12:12

I want to say pay 50/50 but for me it all depends on the push. If your son literally shoved him into the car then I’d not involve other parents but if it was during play/tackling etc then it should be split. and there should defo be a chat about playing responsibly.

SpiderinaWingMirror · 08/11/2021 12:16

I would put it in the hands of your legal liability insurers (probably on your household insurers)
Let them deal with it.

TooMuchPaper · 08/11/2021 12:20

It's up to the car owner to decide who will repair it. I would be going to the usual mechanic/garage I use.

Berthatydfil · 08/11/2021 12:24

You don’t have to pay anything as long as you didn’t tell your child to do this damage or were personally negligent.
Your child doesn’t either unless it is considered criminal damage and requires reporting to the police as your son is over 10.
Accidents happen and that’s what (the car owners) insurance is (partly) for.
I suspect this is the stance of the other child and their parents.

However if you think that morally you want to recompense the car owner.

Then consider up to half based on some proper quotes and also consider getting some quotes yourself. The costs will vary considerably depending on who the owner gets quotes from and bear in mind they may not even decide to use that garage but go elsewhere.

endofagain · 08/11/2021 12:25

Yes, obviously the car owner gets the quotes. I meant that the OP should see those quotes and check their veracity.

Karatema · 08/11/2021 12:31

@Djifunrsn

You need to find out how much needs paying out before you start agreeing to pay. Would/could you pay if the dent costs £2000 to repair?

This needs to go through the insurance company and you/other parent should pay the excess IMO. Some people have a high excess to drive down the insurance cost. Even the excess could be hundreds.

If you go down this route you are admitting liability and the insurer can come after you for the rest!

You may have legal expenses on your house insurance, if you do use it! Phone them for advise. Even if you don't then use your contents insurance and explain to them what's happened. They will advise under the liability part of the policy.

mrsm43s · 08/11/2021 12:34

If your son pushed the other boy into the car, then you (on your son's behalf) are liable 100%.

If they were just mucking around and fell into the car, then I would say you and the other boy's parents are jointly liable for 100% of the repair costs. You need to sort out the payment between yourselves.

The person who is not liable, and who should not be out of pocket is the car owner.

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