A neighbor dented/scratched my car, what should I ask as compensation? for Questionland Seattle

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A neighbor dented/scratched my car, what should I ask as compensation?

So two weeks ago another resident in my condo left his parking brake off and his car drifted across the parking lot and crunched into mine. I spotted the damage from far across the parking lot, immediately the next morning (it being the first damage my five-year-old car has sustained).

That evening, I was surprised when the owner of the car that hit mine sought me out in the parking lot to ‘fess up, apologize and say he would stop by my place later to discuss remuneration.

That was over a week ago and he has not shown up yet.
In the interim I scrubbed off the paint marks left by his car and covered scratches with a paint pen that I bought from my dealership. It looks a little better but still I’ve had a few unsolicited, “what happened to your car?!” comments from friends.

Last week I had nearly decided not to get the damage repaired. First of all, everyone in my condo just had a big assessment due and, as he’s an old man, I expect this hurt him even more than it did those of us still drawing paychecks. I had appreciated that he admitted culpability. Finally I figured that my car will probably continue to get dinged here and there just because of where I live, work, drive and park.

I was going to ask him to write a check; a token to offset the reduction in resale value. But now, since he’s apparently decided that the apology was enough, I am starting to feel angry and less generous.

Opinions of how I should go forward? Am I being too nice or too mean? Should I ask that he get my car repaired? Ask for a check? How much should such a check be for? I had the damage looked at; it would be over a thousand to fix it.

Chefgirl asked in Legal 11 months ago | Report

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Have you tried calling him or knocking on his door to see what's up?

Maybe something to consider before unilaterally inferring that "he's apparently decided that the apology was enough" and then punishing him based on that assumption.

Leave him a note if you're not comfortable confronting him in person - give him a polite but firm deadline to respond to you about how he'll make it right. But in person or on phone is probably better. You might learn that

1) He was too ashamed or scared to call; or
2) He's $100K underwater on his condo, broke as a joke not even counting the assessment, he hasn't paid for auto insurance in 6 months and you're #39 on his list of creditors without a snowball's chance in hell of wringing a dime from him; or
3) Oops! He forgot. Here's a check for $1000.

Who knows what his deal is. He is your neighbor, though, right? He came to you first. So why not give him the benefit of the doubt and return the courtesy.

capicola answered in Legal 11 months ago | Report

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I would seriously consider getting your insurance company involved. If his insurance ultimately pays out for the damage, he'll likely pay less for his deductible than if he paid for the repair himself (although his premiums will go up). And if there's no way to otherwise get him to do the right thing, I'm not sure you have any other choice.

Before you do that though, can you speak to him face to face (i.e. do you know where he lives in the building)?

keshmeshi answered in Legal 11 months ago | Report

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The liability insurance shouldn't even have a deductible (or at least will be deductible-free up to the state minimums), so it shouldn't cost him anything out of pocket. Maybe he's worried about a potential premium hike down the road, but I'll bet he's just being lazy and/or thinks that you forgot about it.

You really do need to get his insurance information. The nice thing to do would be to get an estimate done on repairing your car and then let him decide if he wants to pay it out of pocket instead of you putting in a claim. But either way, you need to make sure you get his insurance information.

If he is intentionally avoiding you or isn't cooperating, you'll eventually need to call the cops, but hopefully that shouldn't be necessary.

Jack answered in Legal 11 months ago | Report

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I scraped someone's plastic bumper and paint came off. She got an estimate, including additional body work, and we agreed on a split.

At least he fessed up. I had my car hit two separate times while it was parked including a large dent on the hood and a big dent in the bumper (stupid plastic bumpers!) and neither time did anyone leave a note.

agness answered in Legal 11 months ago | Report

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