Legal Question in Personal Injury in New York

My daughter was confronted by a neighbor this morning accusing her of dinging her car door two nights ago and wanting compensation for the damage.She did not see my daughter cause the ding nor does she have any witnesses. My daughter's car is registered and insured in my name. The neighbor says she came home Weds night and parked next to my daughter. When she came out to her car on Thurs morning she said she found a dent/ding on her rear passenger side door. My daughter's car and my daughter had already left for work at 7:10am. My daughter says she didn't ding any door and isn't even sure she was parked next to the neighbor's car. The neighbor called the Police and they said her recourse was to go to court, Small Claims I am guessing. I spoke to the woman and she said that it must have been my daughter because she was parked next to her car. I told the woman to get an estimate and I would advise her if we should go to court. I don't see what kind of case she has and would like to know how I should prepare for small claims if it comes to that Thanks.


Asked on 9/18/09, 12:26 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Antoinette Wooten The Wooten Legal Consulting, PC

I am sorry to hear that you and your neighbor are at odds with each other over a ding in a door. Unfortunately this is not a matter that our firm would handle and it is not a matter that you would want to waste money paying an attorney to handle. The first thing you should do is report the claim to your insurance company. Your insurance policy covers property damage and if you don't report the claim promptly they are permitted to deny coverage for the claim. They will take a statement from your daughter and the other driver and may come out and take photographs of the damage. As for small claims court, this is likely going to be a he said - she said case, so you would want your daughter to come to court to testify that she did not cause the damage. You may also want to take photographs of your daughter's car to show that there is no damage to her car. If she caused a ding in the neighbor's car door you would expect there to be damage to the edge of your car door also. I wish you luck in defending yourself and your daughter.

Patricia Martin-Gibbons

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Answered on 9/24/09, 11:13 am


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