Legal Help Needed

[r32skylin]

Ok so story goes

Saturday night I get pulled over because my headlight was out.

I leave and about 50m down the road some guy is walking in the middle of the road

I go to the other side of the road to miss him and as I drive past this guy kicks my car

Dented the rear quarter panel and scratch the door and quarter panel.

I did a u-turn and got the cops that just pulled me over to nab him.

Did reports etc etc

Got a quote today for $1000 to fix the damage

Now the thing is I know its going to take a very long time to get any money out of him and I'am currently trying to sell the car

I dont have $1000 to fix the damage

So my question is if I sell the car now for less would i be able to get compensation for a loss of value to the car or something similar

[Messiah]

If your asking if you can still claim the $1k even if you dont fix the car but sell for $1k less... then yes

you'd offset the repair cost for the buyer out of your own pocket, you just have to show that you would have been able to get the full price if undamaged. like showing you sold for $1k less than the value of cars in similar undamaged condition.

If you mean claim the $1k for the damage, then more again for the loss of value on the car, then no... thats making a profit.

All of the above said... IANAL.

[Iron Chef]

The million dollar question - do you have insurance?

[RubyRS4]

The million dollar question - do you have insurance?

I had to sell my Stagea with keyed damage down one side. Had insurance but wasn't worth the $400 excess for $600 or repairs. Just sold it for less ... wrote it off ... moved on.

[r32skylin]

I only have third party fire and theft, full comp costs way to much for me

[RubyRS4]

I only have third party fire and theft, full comp costs way to much for me

Now think about the cost of the damage. I like to call it 'piece of mind', not an expense best avoided.

At least you had insurance of some sort. Most people skimp out altogether. I'd just sell it cheaper and try to recover the expense.

[SLED]

insurance or not, you can only claim the cost of repairs regardless of whether you lose $10 or $10,000 in the sale (unless you go to court after the sale).

Just make sure you get a couple of quotes for the repairs and associate them with the police report.

If you get 2 quotes and 1 is twice as much as the other, get a 3rd just in case........too late once the car is sold.

In answer to 'compensation for repairs' as opposed to 'compensation for loss of sale value', you'd have to drag him before a magistrate for the latter..........there may be the odd occasion where a car that can sell for 10K normally may only sell for 5K with just 1K worth of damage........in this instance you'd take him to court for compensation of the difference but would need evidence of previous sales along with the sales receipt of your car (won't work unless you've actually sold your car at a significant loss).

If you can't get any money out of him for repairs either (via a letter or 2) then you may have to take him to court regardless.

Make sure you document everything in the meantime.