Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

So, imagine the scenario:

Panicked child's call to me ..." Errr, my friend's had a problem with her car and can't open the door - can you help??" I arrive at the scene where I meet not only my boy, but the 18yr old's mother and sisters too, and am told that the car had been backed into another car. Both the girl who owned the car and her mother were talking as though it was she who'd been driving, and that she'd been mucking around. I guessed she'd reversed into a post with the door open. I promptly do the white knight thing and forced the door roughly back to where it should be, discussed the pain that she (the 18yr old) must be feeling at having f ucked her nice car up, everybody is nodding sympathetically as we discuss the pros and cons of going through her insurance and the potential costs of the repair ...

Here's what actually happened:

Girl, 18 and the car's owner, agrees to let a 15 year old boy who is desperate to impress any girl in his line of sight, and who knows absolutely everything there is to know about anything worth knowing, to back her car out of a parking space. 15 yr old boy jumps in with glee and promptly throws it in reverse and dumps the clutch before realising that he doesn't know where the brake pedal is. She, 18, is screaming at him through the open door "It's the middle pedal - THE MIDDLE PEDAL!!!!". He, 15, meanwhile looks confused as to why he can't drive like he does on GTAV and doesn't understand why the car is not actually stopping. Car, a very nice and pristine 13 reg Fiat 500, lurches into a space alongside another parked car but as its offside door is still wide open it scrapes down the side of the aforesaid adjacently parked car before being folded almost double against its offside wing.

It also transpires that the mother I was talking to is actually the owner of the shop where my boy works on Saturdays.

Talk about being stitched up like a f ucking kipper ...

Bloody hell, what a mess!

I trust you made sure she left her insurance details with the damaged (innocent) car and explained to the assembled party that a) her insurers may NOT cover for the damage to her and the other car as she permitted an underage driver to move her vehicle on a public highway, and b) she will be lucky to have any insurer willing to risk cover in the future without a BIG excess and premium!

An expensive lesson learnt?

Yup .. I think the next wrangle is going to be who is responsible for the costs as there is doubtless an argument that girly-girl shouldn't really have let the baby-boy drive her car...

It's just a mess that I'd rather not have to deal with at the moment - I've got much better things to do, like work on the '44!

15 year old driver? Call the Police.

I doubt the police would be interested as no one was hurt and the damage was caused by carelessness/stupidity by the 18 yo owner letting a minor park her car rather than deliberate criminal damage albeit by an under-aged (and therefore illegal) driver.

Provided the insurers deal with the third party damage or, if they refuse, the owner and/or parents cough up for the repairs then there should be no need for the law to get involved, however, if they don't then they should expect a visit from the BIB!

I have already somewhat sheepishly admitting to owning the 15 year old boy in this case ...

G

Greg, I am sorry, now I understand your son is directly involved with this accident, and can sympathise with your dilemma (although I personally don't have offspring) but I hope that all parties will be reasonable in this instance for your sake.

Firstly, and from a removed point of view, I hope that the innocent third party is being reassured that all steps are being taken to repair their car either directly or through an insurance claim as soon as possible.

The accident appears to be a misunderstanding between the 18 yo owner/driver and your 15 yo son. Whatever the reason, if she claims on her/her parents insurance there will certainly be a financial penalty (in the short and long term) and they may not wish for their daughters' insurance record to be 'blighted'.

The 'fault', as it is, can reasonably be attributed to both of them and depending on how 'reasonable' you and her parents are, the costs of repair could be split between the two of them/you. If you and her parents are happy to 'lie' about the true facts then an insurance claim could mitigate your loss but I feel somewhat uncomfortable, as a long term 'non-claimer', that this should be passed on to the insurer (and inevitably the insurance paying public in enhanced premiums) and would encourage you to settle this outside the insurance company.

Please accept this advise in the friendly manner it is meant.

BTW, have you told your son that he is now working on Saturdays for 'free' until he pays you off?

Haha .. well, the problem is compounded by the fact that that the 18 yr old girl in question is in fact his boss's daughter !

We all had a chat today - they've got independent quotes for their repairs of around £750.00 ... I've agreed to take £500 - rather Dan's American Holiday savings fund is surrendering £500.00., and I'll take care of the repairs to the other car that was damaged - a Ford Focus whose damage was 'limited' to a broken tail-light and a dent in the OS rear quarter. With my newfound body shop skills I'll be able to know that back into shape in a day ...

I hope he's learned his lesson...

G