Ugh kids damaged car outside the house - parents say take me to court...

The Running Man said:
Its s principle thing now. If he'd reacted reasonably and apologised etc and said he was really hard up etc I could have offered 50/50 or accepted even an apology or promise the kids would be grounded / not allowed to play near my car etc

But to just come out and say, "take me to court"

I mean
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Exactly, I think plenty of people would just waive it if the parent came across and was apologetic and was cross with the kid telling you that he's grounded him or that the kid will be round to say sorry etc... That's the sort of thing where you'd be neighbourly and say "don't worry, it's just a scuff" etc..

Not that I'd condone it but going to court takes effort and perhaps won't work anyway without evidence, some people might be tempted to take a key to one of his cars and do even more damage... much easier so long as he doesn't have any CCTV installed - if someone did just escalate things and take direct action towards a prat like that he'd maybe think twice about just instantly behaving like that towards a stranger. He knows full well that most people wouldn't bother taking him to court, on the other hand he'll be pretty miffed if he's got to get all his door panels and his bonnet repainted.

MassiveJim said:
Get a really old high roof transit van that looks terrible and park it outside his house for 18 months
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I've always wondered about doing that in one of the streets you hear about in the local papers where the residents are ultra territorial about parking - streets close to train stations and airports where they're too tight to get the council to control parking/issue permits but take action themselves when anyone not local parks there... from abuse to damaging cars... could set one up with a load of webcams on it and watch over days as the curtain twitchers react to the monstrosity like monkeys finding something new and strange in their enclosure.
 
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Put sofa on front lawn.

Take off all clothes apart from a wife beater and some boxer shorts.

Sit on sofa.

Insert unlit cigarette in mouth.

Hold bottle of whisky in one hand.

Hold Zippo in other hand.

Gently flick the zippo over and over again and just stare at their house. Try not to blink.
 
I would start the small claims process just so the **** gets a letter informing him thru the post.

Can almost guarantee he will come round and offer to sort it out then.
 
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Hyburnate said:
Yes, you can sue anyone under the age of 18, yet they won't be accountable for the debts till they are over 18.

MoneyClaim Online is a Online Small Claims court, use it fairly often in my line of work, especially in close proximity to Carillion going bust and almost taking other companies with it.

I digress, start a moneyclaim online, it's like £50, name the child/minor as the defendant as follows "<Childs_Name>, a child by <Parents_Name> their litigation friend"

Litigation Friend basically means, as a child can't make decisions themselves, their parent shall, https://www.gov.uk/litigation-friend

As part of MoneyClaim online, you may enter mediation, where you can agree a sum, if not it goes to a hearing.

Yeah it's a tiny amount of effort, but you can probably get it all logged with a witness statement and photos of the damage and a quote for repair in about 30 minutes.

He sounds like scum so I'd do it personally.
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Sounds like a good idea, that.
 
The Running Man said:
Says I've exceeded my number of uses although I only tried to use it once.
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PM me, I'll give it a go for you :)
NoobCannon said:
I would start the small claims process just so the **** gets a letter informing him thru the post.

Can almost guarantee he will come round and offer to sort it out then.
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This is exactly it, a colleague at work got one for a parking fine, it's fairly daunting paperwork.
 
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Get a quote - get it fixed - move on with your life.

If the costs to fix it are hundreds of pounds - then maybe but since there's no pictures of the damage involved, get it fixed if you want - don't bother if you don't want - doesn't sound that bad. Buff it out?

Do you really want to end up in a legal battle with your neighbours/kids - all the relevant costs and hassle involved.

Witness statements/litigation/court/money claim etc - really??

It was an accident by an kid.....Move on with your life.
 
booyaka said:
Get a quote - get it fixed - move on with your life.

If the costs to fix it are hundreds of pounds - then maybe but since there's no pictures of the damage involved, get it fixed if you want - don't bother if you don't want - doesn't sound that bad. Buff it out?

Do you really want to end up in a legal battle with your neighbours/kids - all the relevant costs and hassle involved.

Witness statements/litigation/court/money claim etc - really??

It was an accident by an kid.....Move on with your life.
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The OP's point is that it was more the principle from the parents response of "just take me to court".

I'm sure if he'd been completely apologetic, and even offered to go 50/50, the OP might have just brushed it off as an accident and move on.
 
I'd be worried about this starting an all out war, he's clearly a scumbag, so I bet he wouldn't hesitate making your life a living hell after this.
 
Sounds like he's not a very nice chap at all, and probably as thick as pig ....
As a starting point, go see if his car is fully, taxed, insured and MOT'd. There's likely to be a higher chance that it fails on one of those, and wouldn't it be a real shame if you reported it....
 
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