Can I get the police involved?

[bcwang]

Long story short, I've received 7 dings on my 04 SVT Cobra on the passenger side, one being very large. I know who did it because we have assigned parking in my apt complex, and at work I park next to a wall on my passenger side (no other driving of this car other than that). Upon letting my neighbor know that I knew about the damage to my car, they called their insurance, and started denying they did it once their insurance told them that without a witness there is no proof. Their insurance won't take care of it because they deny doing it, my insurance won't help because they consider a door ding a "collision" so then I'd have a $1000 deductible instead of $100. The neighbor won't let the insurance come and compare the damage side by side, so the insurance rules in their favor. Right now I'm screwed.

Now since it seems like this is considered "collision" and maybe even a hit and run, since they left no note and didn't try to contact me, can I get the police involved? If the insurance won't look at the evidence, maybe the police can come and write up a report looking at the evidence so that something could be done about it? These people obviously have no morals to flat out deny something that both they and I know happened. So I'm hoping the police officers on this board can chime in to let me know if I can bring the police in on this one.

Thanks a lot!

ps - if it makes any difference, I live in San Jose, if the policy differs from place to place.

 

[Lawfficer]

Call and file and Damage to propetry complaint with your local PD. Each and every time it happens. Then request copies of the narrative and submit it to their ins company and see what happens.

If nothing else, try to have the officer cite them for Damge to Propetry and then show up on the court date and ask for restitution.

 

[FordSVTFan]

Although your insurance company considers this a collision, it is not a "hit and run" and would not be prosecutable.

It would appear to me that someone possibly damaged your car in an act of vandalism. That isnt a collision and should be covered under your comprehensive coverage. But if you are absolutely positive your neighbor is at fault, then you can file in small claims court against them. You will need proof.

They will claim that if you drove it anywhere else beside work, it could have been damaged there. Or that someone damaged your car while it was in its spot, but it wasnt them.

Gather your proof and go to court.

 

[ROADWARRIORSVT]

Your local PD may be able to file a miscellaneous Damages type of report. The vehicles involved either have to be in motion or ready for motion when the damages occurr. If it happened after the vehicle was parked and the occupant opening the door, that wouldn't be considered a collision. Take pics of your damaged door with a yard stick depicting the damage height. Take a pic of your neighbors car door with the yard stick to show any consistant damages to his door. File a claim in small claims court and submit the pics as evidence. Good luck to you.

 

[mswaim]

You'll never get the local authorities to take a collision report, nor will they take a courtesy report since you cannot prove where (in what jurisdiction) the damage occured. Your best bet is to measure up the damage yourself, try and match up some paint transfers and gather statements from any neighbors who might have witnessed one of more of the incidents. Once you have that you can try filing in small claims court, but it will still be tough.

 

[jm@ReischePerf]

That isnt a collision and should be covered under your comprehensive coverage.

That's true, your insurance company is screwing you around. Talk to someone else there or a supervisor so you can get it covered. Most definitely a property damage issue.

 

[BEAVER SNIFFER]

...Your best bet is to measure up the damage yourself, try and match up some paint transfers...

I agree, this would be the evidence you need and prove that they are lying about hitting your vehicle. You could also set up a motion operated camera fixed on the area being damaged. I would only do the camera however if the area of alleged damage is in a public area.

 

[03blkgt]

that seems kinda hard to get evidence, if you know they did it but nobody saw them, the PD wont be able to collect evidence, because there is none?? this seems kind of difficult situation you are in..

 

[Tampa03cobra]

If you can find residual paint on your car that matches your neighbors or vice versa, it would definitely help your case in court. However, you may ask about removing your paint from the other car, since its California, god knows what the laws are there concerning that.

 

[03trubluGT]

Something like this happened to me earlier this month in WalMart.

I was waiting on my wife and this woman pulled into the spot next to my passenger side and just FLUNG her door open. It hit my right front fender and shook my car. She hurridly started walking away with her friend, and by the time I got out and looked (and found the crease), I was so pissed that if I yelled out, I figured that it wouldn't look right. I mean, yelling after a woman in a parking lot (no matter how right you are) just isn't good.

So, I waited for her to come out, and after a while, just left a card on her car.

She called me back and I discussed it with her. She asked me to get an esitmate and send it to her so she could fix it without getting her insurance involved. It was $298 and I mailed it to her. She mailed me back saying that I should just contact her insurance company and provided her policy number.

Her insurance finally contacted me back and accepted responsibilty. I just faxed the estimate yesterday, and am just waiting on the next step.


You're looking at criminal mischeif here in Texas. You could get an officer to make a report, but you need to do it when you discover the damage. It doesn't look good when you call days or weeks later.

Matt

 

[bcwang]

If you can find residual paint on your car that matches your neighbors or vice versa, it would definitely help your case in court. However, you may ask about removing your paint from the other car, since its California, god knows what the laws are there concerning that.

All the transfer is left on my car, they have nothing on their car since the most they will get off me is clearcoat (which won't leave any color evidence), and their door is to the plastic now probably, which is what is being left on my car.

03trubluGT, you're lucky that she owned up to it. My problem is they won't admit it.

I saw them walking to their car yesterday, and I ended up having a dream about them last night. Ahhh, I gotta get this resolved or they're gonna drive me crazy.

 

[jimljr145]

If I were in your shoes, I would call your local police deartment and ask to speak to an officer on duty. Since every state has it's own variations on motor vehicle crashes and property damage and how to go about filing for it, I would ask the opinion of those that will actually go out for it. I would recommend taking lots of pictures of the damage, maybe even of the suspect vehicle, and call the police if the accused vehicle is still there, so an officer can compare the accused vehicle to the damaged one. Good luck..