Someone vandalised my car. Small claims court?

[t400ble]

Hi all

I'll keep it as short as I can!

Loaned a car I own to a friend.

Car has been damaged by someone. Scratched both sides - long story

He's admitted the crime to the Police, they have not arrested him but suggested he pays me for the damage.

Just out of interest, could I start small claims court proceedings against him should he not pay?

Cheers all!

[dingg]

WTF is he not getting prosecuted for criminal damage??

[ging84]

It is one of the very sort of thing small claims court is for.
However if the threat of a criminal prosecution isn't enough to convince them to pay up pretty sharpish i'm not sure you can expect the courts to be able to get much money out of them particularly quickly

[t400ble]

dingg said:

WTF is he not getting prosecuted for criminal damage??

My thoughts exactly. Just seeing if anyone agrees with me!

[Jasandjules]

Has he admitted it and getting a caution?

[t400ble]

He's admitted it enough for the Police to ask me to give them an estimate of damage and associated costs.

I'd like my money first from him, then press for charges.

[baldy1926]

Has he been given a conditional caution. The condition being to pay back the cost of damage.
This is normally a better out come than court.
Court would be a slap on the wrist and a small fine, any compensation would be payable normally at a pound a week or some other stupid amount.
The conditional caution should have a 3 month time limit to pay the money back if not paid other wise it will be court

[paintman]

If you want to make a complaint & have him dealt with by a criminal court the CPS aren't going to hang around whilst you get your money back before proceeding.
If he goes to court you can apply for a compensation order to be made by the magistrates. If he has no/little money or assets then you may find there will be no order or the order will be for an amount payable in weekly/monthly instalments which might be small.
There is also a risk that if he is offends in the future & gets a custodial sentence the sentence may be increased & your order terminated - personal experience from a assault on duty.

If you then decide you want to sue in the civil court you may find that causes you problems as I can't see a civil court making an additional order if you already have one from the criminal courts.

Edited by paintman on Sunday 7th June 08:25

[gruffalo]

The roof on my Stag was slashed by a kid once who was spotted.

Reported to the police kid fessed up, I needed to get a quote for a replacement and provide it to the police, this was then used by them in court. The court used this as the damages figure and paid me, recovering the cost from the kid/his family.

Get the quote from the best place you know for a proper repair and pass it to the police.

[Riley Blue]

t400ble said:

dingg said:

WTF is he not getting prosecuted for criminal damage??

My thoughts exactly. Just seeing if anyone agrees with me!

Too much paperwork. When the roof of one of our cars was damaged by someone running up the bonnet and jumping on it I immediately called the police as I'd witnessed it. I gave a detailed description of the person who'd done it and of his two mates. The call handler told me it would be recorded, gave me a 'crime number' and told me the case was being closed, all in the same phone call.

[4rephill]

Riley Blue said:

t400ble said:

dingg said:

WTF is he not getting prosecuted for criminal damage??

My thoughts exactly. Just seeing if anyone agrees with me!

Too much paperwork. When the roof of one of our cars was damaged by someone running up the bonnet and jumping on it I immediately called the police as I'd witnessed it. I gave a detailed description of the person who'd done it and of his two mates. The call handler told me it would be recorded, gave me a 'crime number' and told me the case was being closed, all in the same phone call.

Probably because they already knew that, even with your description of the perpetrator, the chances of catching the right person and them admitting to the crime were pretty much nil.

(Unless they catch them immediately after committing the crime [as in: still running away from the crime], then once they have got home changed clothes etc., you'd be amazed at how many people match your detailed description. You would need specific details such as tattoo's or scars to identify a suspect beyond any doubt from a description)


I had My fence kicked apart by some yobs in the early hours of a Saturday morning the other week. I was still up at the time but by the time I'd found My front door key and got outside they'd scarpered down the road.

As I removed the remains of My fence from the road, a Police car pulled up and the officer asked if everything was okay so I explained what had happened. He told Me they were in the area because someone had reported a car being damaged further up the road and he suspected it was probably the same people who had damaged My fence. Two other cars were helping search the area but the yobs were gone.

The officer took My details and told Me it would be reported as a crime in the area so they could justify increasing patrols in the area, and that it would be issued a crime number which I could use to find out any progress on catching them (to which he added: "Don't get your hopes up on that one though as the descriptions we've been given are too vague in reality to catch them!", which was perfectly understandable as there's only so much they can do with so little information).

He then said that if I wanted to get the fence repaired on My household insurance I could quote the crime number to help the claim go through.

The fact of the matter is that the Police deal with these situations everyday and they know what the chances of a successful outcome are most likely to be, based on the information available and the resources available.

[Jasandjules]

t400ble said:

He's admitted it enough for the Police to ask me to give them an estimate of damage and associated costs.

I'd like my money first from him, then press for charges.

Well, I was thinking of S11 of the Civil Evidence Act 1968.... If convicted you can rely upon it for civil proceedings...

Does he even have the money to pay though?

[Bigends]

Jasandjules said:

Well, I was thinking of S11 of the Civil Evidence Act 1968.... If convicted you can rely upon it for civil proceedings...

Does he even have the money to pay though?

You're either having him nicked or want him to pay - shouldnt really have two bites of the cherry. If I was him and you were going to have me arrested I certainly wouldnt pay up front first.