Smash in absentia

March 9, 2007 5:33 PM

We think we may have found the guy who hit my car a month ago. What are my options?

There has been a guy who has been lamenting at parties about hitting my car. He has specifically mentioned me by name. This accident happened a little over a month ago. I just want to get my $2,000 back .

posted by Homeskillet Freshy Fresh to work & money (14 comments total)

Take him to court, with affidavits from the people who he has been talking to, or as witnesses?
posted by gramcracker at 5:39 PM on March 9, 2007

Just ask him first. Maybe he'll sheepishly admit to it and you can work it out.

If that doesn't work, then, what gramcracker said.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 5:42 PM on March 9, 2007

Give the name to your insurance company? We've had enough complaints here of people having to convince their insurance company they DIDN'T do something that it makes me think they might just take the name and run with it.
posted by tiamat at 6:46 PM on March 9, 2007

Hit-and-run is a crime. If he doesn't pay up, go talk to the police about him.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 7:17 PM on March 9, 2007

"Hit-and-run is a crime. If he doesn't pay up, go talk to the police about him."

Unless it's on private property, then you're on your own (at least where I live). But if this happened on the street, you can leverage the criminal penalties he might face into some cooperation. Depending on what he knows about hit and run laws, you might be able to do that even if it happened in a parking lot.
posted by jaysus chris at 7:28 PM on March 9, 2007

I know a guy, he's very large, and he's not particularly gentle, who specializes in this sort of thing. He will show up and interview your claim. If the guy who hit your car refuses to make you whole, well, this guy will make him some holes. Capisce?

Actually, call the cops. They may or may not help. If they don't, call a lawyer. If that fails, then, you know, my friend, well, he can .......
posted by caddis at 8:03 PM on March 9, 2007

hit and run is a feloney (in most states afaik). Do what gramcracker said. Get some witnesses, go to the cops and let them take care of it. I really wouldn't take M.C. Lo-Carb!'s suggestion. Why? Because if he wanted to come forward, he could have done it anytime (he knows that it's your car that he hit!).
posted by special-k at 9:26 PM on March 9, 2007

"Unless it's on private property, then you're on your own (at least where I live)"

Yikes, where do you live? You can definitely get nailed for it here in the Bay Area.
posted by drstein at 9:34 PM on March 9, 2007

"Yikes, where do you live?"

It was in Illinois. Someone hits your car in a parking lot, destroying your side mirror, and drives away, the cops could care less. Even if the parking spaces are assigned and the guy's car has your paint all over it. The guy was completely broke, but still an ass about it, so the only justice available was of the criminal kind. Or so I thought.
posted by jaysus chris at 10:42 PM on March 9, 2007

Didn't your insurance cover the cost of repair?
We were hit-and-run last year. Our insurance covered everything, with no deductible. That's part of the coverage you pay for.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:24 AM on March 10, 2007

Hit-and-run is a crime. If he doesn't pay up, go talk to the police about him.

I was the victim of a hit-and-run in the middle of the night -- my car was parked in the street. The police couldn't/wouldn't do anything about it since there were no actual eyewitnesses to the incident itself even though I was positive who the perp was (I had physical evidence and they were seen running into other people's cars that night).

IANAL, but I'm not sure how well it will hold up in court when you bring out people who say they heard him say at parties that he hit your car. His defense will likely be "it was the booze talking".
posted by puritycontrol at 8:31 AM on March 10, 2007

I really hate marking that as the best answer.
posted by Homeskillet Freshy Fresh at 3:45 PM on March 10, 2007

Homeskillet, that really isn't the best answer. take him to small claims court. It's like $40 to file. When you get there, bring all the witnesses. It's a very informal "trial" that's over in 5 minutes. The "it's the booze talking" line doesn't work with everyone, certainly not with me. There's a very high percentage chance a judge would award you your money (personally, I'd go with 95%, but i recognize not everyone would see it as I do). And it's only $40 to file. $40 for a large chance at $2000. It seems easy enough to me.
posted by kingjoeshmoe at 9:50 AM on March 11, 2007

A neighbor of ours once backed out of his driveway and into the side of my wife's car, rendering the driver's side door inoperable. It took us a day or two to match the paint trade to our neighbor's bumper, and we just calmly went to him with this evidence.

He acknowledged it was him, admitted he hoped nothing would be done about it (her car was an already kinda shitty hyundai) and said he regretted his decision to not immediately come to us. He gave us his insurance info, we got the car fixed, and he turned out to be a pretty nice neighbor.

So I'm just saying you might want to see if giving Mr. Hit-and-Run the chance to make it right before you get courts and the po-lice involved. It's not uncommon for people to make poor decisions in haste, then wish they had the opportunity for a do-over.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 8:34 AM on March 12, 2007