Car damaged in client car park?
Discussion
I currently work as an auditor for a large-ish accountancy firm in England, this requires me to go out to client sites for periods of time to do my work.
Today, when I arrived at the client my colleague noticed that the back of my car had 3 large scuffs on the rear quarter accompanied by missing paint and a slight dent (I hadn't noticed this as I had finished work the night before at the same place in pitch darkness). I hadn't been anywhere else apart from on my drive and I know it wasn't there previously.
To be blunt; this has really p****ed me off because this has already happened 3 times since I've had the car in March this year, resulting in me shelling out a lot of money to get the car fixed only for it to happen again.
The client is a college, they have a great big car park and I was actually parked in the 'over spill' car park at the time - I went back to have a look today and there was a silver 2002 ford focus with a very suspicious big red scrape on the front (my car is red!!) not only at the right height and place for the scrape but also in the exact space.
I went into reception and after some hunting the receptionist and I managed to find who's the car was - this ends up in me asking the owner (A support teacher working for the school) about the suspicious red paint on her car which resulted in her denying that the incident was her and some irrelevant c**p about this was her sisters old car so that's why it wasn't her?!
I had a colleague with me at the time who has said that he thinks the woman was very suspicious and still believes that it was her which I don't disagree with.
I also got a sample of the red paint off of her car in a small envelope just in case before I made her aware.
And that's where we currently are - I have thought about asking the head of the school or finance manager to have a word with the woman and inform her that I have a paint sample and will be taken forward to the police if not resolved (I know they won't really care but might scare her into telling the truth) - I figure if she still denies it was her then it probably isn't and it is just a HUGE coincidence.
My thoughts are that this could be damaging for the relationship with the client - I'm not too sure on where I stand and I don't want to cause upset with my firm or the client by pursuing this.
Any advice or comments would be massively appreciated because I'm currently at a loss.
This is making me think of selling my pride & joy and just getting an old banger instead
disrespectful scumbags.
Today, when I arrived at the client my colleague noticed that the back of my car had 3 large scuffs on the rear quarter accompanied by missing paint and a slight dent (I hadn't noticed this as I had finished work the night before at the same place in pitch darkness). I hadn't been anywhere else apart from on my drive and I know it wasn't there previously.
To be blunt; this has really p****ed me off because this has already happened 3 times since I've had the car in March this year, resulting in me shelling out a lot of money to get the car fixed only for it to happen again.
The client is a college, they have a great big car park and I was actually parked in the 'over spill' car park at the time - I went back to have a look today and there was a silver 2002 ford focus with a very suspicious big red scrape on the front (my car is red!!) not only at the right height and place for the scrape but also in the exact space.
I went into reception and after some hunting the receptionist and I managed to find who's the car was - this ends up in me asking the owner (A support teacher working for the school) about the suspicious red paint on her car which resulted in her denying that the incident was her and some irrelevant c**p about this was her sisters old car so that's why it wasn't her?!
I had a colleague with me at the time who has said that he thinks the woman was very suspicious and still believes that it was her which I don't disagree with.
I also got a sample of the red paint off of her car in a small envelope just in case before I made her aware.
And that's where we currently are - I have thought about asking the head of the school or finance manager to have a word with the woman and inform her that I have a paint sample and will be taken forward to the police if not resolved (I know they won't really care but might scare her into telling the truth) - I figure if she still denies it was her then it probably isn't and it is just a HUGE coincidence.
My thoughts are that this could be damaging for the relationship with the client - I'm not too sure on where I stand and I don't want to cause upset with my firm or the client by pursuing this.
Any advice or comments would be massively appreciated because I'm currently at a loss.
This is making me think of selling my pride & joy and just getting an old banger instead
disrespectful scumbags.Sadly it will be your word against hers, unless she admits liability then there's not a lot you can really do.
The college won't want to get involved and your employer is unlikely to want to either.
What you can do is look to get a smart repair...and then a dashcam or two (front and rear) that has a motion sensor that will record if you car if knocked in future...
The college won't want to get involved and your employer is unlikely to want to either.
What you can do is look to get a smart repair...and then a dashcam or two (front and rear) that has a motion sensor that will record if you car if knocked in future...
Seesure said:
Sadly it will be your word against hers, unless she admits liability then there's not a lot you can really do.
The college won't want to get involved and your employer is unlikely to want to either.
What you can do is look to get a smart repair...and then a dashcam or two (front and rear) that has a motion sensor that will record if you car if knocked in future...
This. The college won't want to get involved and your employer is unlikely to want to either.
What you can do is look to get a smart repair...and then a dashcam or two (front and rear) that has a motion sensor that will record if you car if knocked in future...
Plod won't be interested. Its a civil issue. No crime committed in their eyes. No injuries.
Echo66 said:
This.
Plod won't be interested. Its a civil issue. No crime committed in their eyes. No injuries.
Not quite, it's leaving the scene of an accident and failing to report an accident within 24 hours. Plod won't be interested. Its a civil issue. No crime committed in their eyes. No injuries.
When someone did a hit&run on my car I called the police just expecting to get a ref number for my insurance company... The police arranged to come out to my house to take details, including the paint colour left on my car, from there they tracked down the only silver car that was caught on cctv leaving the carpark in the time frame... paid them a visit, confirmed matching damaged then spoke to the owner who owned up. Think he got landed with 6 points, £1000 fine and his insurance paid to repair my car. Maybe my outcome is an exception but it's certainly not a civil issue.
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff