Legal Question in Personal Injury in California
i had a very small fender bender in which i bumped the rear bumper of my neighbor's car. He claimed that i had scratched the rear bumper and wanted me to pay for the whole thing to be resprayed. On inspection the were a lot of existing scratches on his bumper and I told him I would only pay for the actual damage he claimed i had caused.
Eventually, not wanting to go through my insurance, I made an agreement that I would pay 50% and he would pay 50% of the autobody repairs. He got an estimate of $500 and I gave him a check for $250
Over 3 months later i saw the vehicle in question and the rear bumper obviously has not been repaired. I took photos as proof.
What are my legal rights or recourse of action if I believe that the other party has in fact basically taken the money from me without having any intention of fulfilling the repairs agreed to.
3 Answers from Attorneys
What was the exact agreement you had with him; I presume you did not put it in writing. If it was just I will pay half of what it will cost to repair, that reasonably can be interpreted as meaning that he does not have to have it repaired and you will pay half of what the repair estimate is. You could very well argue that you thought he meant that he would actually repair the car, but he can say that that was not what he meant and if it was, why did you pay him before the repair work was done.
Based upon the classic ship Peerless case, you could argue that there was no meeting of the minds and he has to return the $250. You could sue in Small Claims Court. But you still owe him some money for the damage you caused. If you force him to repair the vehicle, he might argue that he would not have done so if you did not insist so you are liable for the full cost of repair.
It is not worth while to continue to argue about the matter. It is a lesson that the next time you give someone any money make sure you have a clearly worded agreement. $250 is relatively cheap to learn that lesson.
Generally speaking, if you are liable for an accident, you are responsible for the reasonable costs of repairs, plus any loss of use or rental costs during the period of repairs.
It is usually a good idea to get an estimate from several qualified repair facilities so that you are in a position to make a fair determination as to how much it would cost to repair the damages that you caused. However, there is no legal requirement that the repairs actually be performed.
Under any circumstances, it is always important to get any settlement agreement in writing and make sure that any payments made are for full and final settlement of all claims.
It would be tantamount to malicious prosecution for you to file a lawsuit against the party to whom you are liable when you agreed to liability and only paid for a portion of the actual damages sustained.
None you caused the collision, are responsible for the damages caused and agreed to settle. Whether he repaired the damages or not is not relevant. Hope you got a your agreement in writing to protect yourself from a future claim by him.
Check our website out at www.bellilawfirm.com for our credentials.
Hope this helps, good luck and Happy Thanksgiving.
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