What Can I Do?

[mk1_salami]

I'm after a bit of advice, wondering if you can help

I had an incident at work which is causing a lot of grief. I gave a colleague of mine a lift to her car because it was terrible weather - gales and rain etc. I stopped by her car with loads of room for her to get out.

She opened the door and carelessly let go of it causing it to smash into her own car. Now the result is that my door has £260 damage to it, and her wheelarch has a small scuff.

Now at the time of the accident she had said - "oh I'm really sorry I'll pay for it. Sorry sorry sorry etc". Her attitude towards this changed once I got a quote for the door and she offered to pay £50 out of £260.

I said - I don't think thats enough contribution to what is - essentially, damage you have done to my car. Accidental or not.

She now refuses to talk to me about the situation and has made it clear that she won't pay anything towards the repair bill.

I'm loathed to talk about it at work because it'll flare into an argument so I text'd her phone asking her about it.

I've now received a phonecall from her boyfriend threatening me with violence if I ever text her again!

What can I do? Where do I stand with this legally?

[dj_davo]

:censor: legally.

she is an ignorant :censor: and deserves a good slap. and give her boyfriend one while your at it!

it would take for ever in a small claims court - it probably wont be solved legally anyway with the absence of a witness, and if questioned by a legal authority im sure she would deny it.

once again,........... slap the :censor:

[Jimlad]

go round with a brick and hit her car... loads.. lol

seriously tho.. I dunno mate.

Small claims court ?

[mk1_salami]

She is arguing that the wind blew it out of her hands....

Even if this was the case - its still her fault surely?! She should have seen it was blowing a gale and held onto the ****ing door. I've never done that in my life, its just carelessness/stupidity/disrespect for other peoples property.

[JappyBeast]

Wind comes under 'act of god' and you cant claim.

My girlfriends Astra has a nasty dent in it because a roof tile blew off in the night.. the insurance company said its a 'act of god' and she doesnt have a leg to stand on.

[Dame]

This is a difficult one.... It is a pity you don't have any withnesses who saw her admit liability, it would be much easier to sue under those conditions. The problem is that it's your word against hers, and the fact that wind allegedly blew the door makes things more complicated. Do you have any withness who observered her saying that she would pay some money towards the repairs? If so you might stand a chance. You may want to see the citizen's advice bureau about this one. I'm afraid my insurance company deals in personal injuiry, so I don't know the procedure for property damage, as far as I know, there are no win no fee policies for property damage...... Whatever you do, DO NOT USE VIOLENCE to settle this, if you do the chances are that a case will be brought against you, which will only cost you money.

Why not try picking up a secondhand door from a scrappie? Try Club MR2 on 08454582108

[Yarisboy]

There's not a lot you can do m8, not everyone is as decent as you... i'm sure you'd pay the £260 if you battered someone elses door... but people's attitudes change tremendously when money is involved!

Don't bother with a small claims court it'll cost you more in the long run and there's a good chance you could lose.

Same thing happened to my dad and his 4motion bora a year ago, taking a client to a building site and when the passenger opened the door the wind blew it out of his hand and into some scaffolding... cost £300 to fix.

Now realistically you have two options;

1) if you're hard enough go clout her boyfriend and make them pay up, or pay someone to do it for you.

2) take it like a man and cough up for the repair work.

small claims is not the answer.

*disclaimer* yarisboy & TOC do not necesarily condone the violent approach to settling this dispute

[John R]

Her boyfriend has comitted a criminal offence, save the text message.

John.

[Yarisboy]

her boyfriend phoned him, it's wasn't a txt saying 'i'm going to kick ur face in' or suchlike.

and even if he did send a txt to that effect, what do you think the police will do?

i've been smashed in the face in a public area with witnesses before now and the police did very little when they got to the scene.

Waste of time going through the legality route.

if you want eye-for-an-eye revenge just pay the door repair, and 6 months down the line drop a brick on her car or something.

[pizza boy]

That is really crappy. Its a disgrace especially taking into account that you were considerate enough to give her carcass a lift in bad weather. You'd think people will do the decent thing but it is never the case. She could at the very very least pay for 50%. but the fact she got her boyfriend to threaten you, her own work colleague, is just sick.

Speaking of damage..yesterday I watched out my window in work and seen an idiot CEO type in a GS Lexus ramming into my car trying to squeeze into a gap that even an oompa loompas car would have difficulty getting into.. I ran outside I swung his door open ( I dont knock heh) and informed him of his blindness and stupidity at the fact that he couldve parked on the massive space on single yellows across the road (legal after 6pm in Glasgow). He was apologetic and clearly loaded as he proceeded to get his checkbook for the damage he had caused which was...none. I told him all was ok (luckily) but he insisted lol..he musta snorted coke in the Boardroom or something cos he was pointing out non-existant damage . In the end I told him no and just learn to park or get a !Removed! mini.

Man I shoulda taken the money

But anyway..I say get medieval on her and her boyfriend :arrgg-matey: :cacker: :arrgg-matey: :cacker:

[mk1_salami]

Thanks for the advice guys. I know it does suck but it really seems there isn't a lot I can do at the moment. Revenge will come and she'll regret not doing the decent thing. Just unfortunate that I'll have to use my 21st birthday money to repair what the silly bint did to my car instead of buying something special.

[Titto]

The boyfriend has committed an offence by threatening you. Theres nothing to stop you going to a police station with all the details and asking someone there for advice on;

a)what you can do

b)what they can do, if anything - i know i would be struggling, other than to have a word with the parties involved about it. Just cos Yarisboy says hes had a bad experience, doesnt mean we all have does it. I would just go for advice and anything else is a bonus.

Other people have mentioned a small claims court, citizens advice etc...which again, is good advice and needs to be looked into.

Remember that NOTHING will happen quickley.

Is there CCTV at your place of work? If so, get it quickly before it gets taped over - and dont let the security fob you off by saying they havent got it - insist you check yourself, you have a right to do this.

Good luck mate,

Adam

[Yarisboy]

for the amount of money involved ... come on it's really not worth involving the police or court action, neither will be beneficial to you.

and in the small chance that the police do take action against the boyfriend, he's only going to get a slap on the wrist... and as a result do you think he'll.... 1) accept he was wrong to threaten you over such a silly issue or... 2) take things further

I would favour option 2.

if it was £2600 that was at stake then small courts would be a worthwhile possibility, but £260?

shop around for a quote to fix the door it might work out cheaper than that.

If I were you i'd pay to get the door fixed and just make it difficult for her at work etc or then take £260 worth of compensation in some way or another... which I think u already touched on in ur last post ;)

[CraigT]

Sir may I suggest that you pour petrol all over her and set her alight perhaps?

Hohoho! she will be more carfull next time sir I assure you ;)

[ZeroBlade]

this thread kinda caught my eye, and i gotta say i can't believe what she's done!

and as for the small claims court i'm not really sure, u'd be best off going to a local CAB and asking them whats best.

And gettin a 2nd hand door is prolly the best thing to do...

What colours ur car? Its best to ring round places and try and get the same colour even if theres a little price difference. Only prob is u cant find ur car's colour when u need it, bin looking for a wing in the dark blue metallic colour and can't find ne at all!

On that note did u just order a door and wing 2day?

-Z

[GIDDLEPIN]

Try reverse logic!

Go over the top being nice, the longer you keep it up the more it will do her head in waiting for the revenge that might or might not happen

[yaristpot]

She had a a bloke...... let the silly bint get wet.

[dj_davo]

i would certainly print out this entire thread, and take it to her. u never know when she realises how bad she has been, by the amount of feedback we have given here, she may repent.

AND IF YOU (THE DOZY COW, ARE READING THIS NOW AND U DONT PAY UP,............)

WATCH UR F :censor: BACK WENCH!!!!

[ZeroBlade]

hehe, its unforgivable when u mess up some1 elses car the very least u can is pay for the whole repairs.

Say yarisboy u got about £50 spare? buy a sh***y old banger, park it up nxt to her car on a VERY windy day and *accidently* let the door smash in2 her car/window/whatever... say the wind blew it...

note as much as i DON'T condone doind nething tbad to other peoples motors in this case i'll make an exception...

-Z