Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Pennsylvania

Hi, I am sorry to hear what happened to you and your car and agree that it would be unfair to have you pay for the damage caused by something or someone else. If the shopping cart belonged to the store, then they are still responsible for any damage they cause. That is why many stores that have a parking lot for their customers' cars also have a designated area in their parking lots for customers to pick up a cart and then leave it there when they are finished with their shopping and they have an employee systematically go out to the lot and remove their carts from this area and bring them into the store. In fact, I see the employees of Acme supermarket constantly go out to their parking lot and remove the carts from the area that they have designated for the return of the carts.

So, whether or not the store in question wants to admit that the cart was, in fact, in their custody, care, or control, is irrelevant because the fact remains that if the shopping cart was in their parking lot, then it was within their care, custody, and control and the store remains liable. You should sue the store in a Magisterial District Court which now haS a jurisdictional limit of $15,000. You do not need an Attorney to sue and the Court Clerk has the form for a plaintiff to fill out. The filing fee is very small and depends on the amount for which you are suing. The Court Clerk assigns your case a hearing date and then serves the Defendant with the Complaint. If you took pictures of the damage to your car, be sure to bring the photos with you. You should also bring with you any estimates you got for repairing the damage.

Best of luck,

ANDREA G. TILLIS