My wife was used a council-owned car park recently. On returning to her car, she was alerted by a passer-by that it had just been scraped by another car, which was just leaving the car park. She chased after him, brought him back at which point he first denied the incident, then told her it was her fault because she wasn't parked correctly, then tried saying it must have been damaged already, then saying it would polish out.

Fortunately a parking inspector came along and confirmed my wife's parking was fine, then took some pictures of the scene including matching paint residues on the front of the others car. Unfortunately, the passer-by had disappeared, so we don't have a witness statement.

What is our next step? Am assuming that, as not on the highway, it'll be a civil matter. Plan to write, recorded delivery, then if no response to follow through a small claims court, but am aware that such processes may not result in actual recovery of the money.