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A teenager damaged my car and won't give me his name - how do I get him to pay for the damage?

I own a catering trailer and was preparing breakfast for the leavers at a local public school who had hired out a private village sports centre. The school leavers were worse for wear from alcohol and had dragged a table tennis table outside. They decided to bring it back into the club house and the table fell in half damaging the bonnet of my car. The person responsible would not give me his name but I have his phone number. How to I get him to pay for the damage?

Asked on 11 July 2017 by Ben Johnson

Answered by Honest John
You will struggle if he is under the age of 18. It's very hard to get reimbursed for your loss under tort law, especially if negligence cannot be established. Your claim is with the school who contracted you and would be on their public liability insurance, it would then be up to them to try to recoup this loss from the young gent.
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