Friends car window broken - dilemma

[misenthrop]

A friend of mine had her car window broken buy a young lad in the street who was playing football.

It was an accident but she has had to pay out £60 for an insurance excess and will probably lose some no claims bonus because of this broken window.

When she confronted the neighbour they said sorry and all that but said they didn't have any money to pay for the damage.

Who is legally liable for the damage? What do you think Jenifer should do? I know she doesn't want to create a lot of bad feeling but in a way this has already happened.

 

[HDi fun]

The lad who broke the window is legally liable if he's over the age of 14. If not then his parents are liable.

If they have no money then there's little point pursuing them. Even if Jennifer goes to court and wins she'll still need an enforcement order. So the family (which claims to have no money) will agree to pay perhaps £1 a month. Hardly worth it because the bad feeling will be just the same as if she recovered the whole lot.

Assuming the car was parked legally etc. then what she could do is give the neighbours address details to her insurance company and let them sort it out. But it's probable that they'll just leave it alone for the same reasons (ie. no money to give).

It is a difficult situation, I agree. I think I'd just let it go to be honest. Check with her insurers as well - quite often glass damage does not affect No Claims Discount.

As a gesture the neighbours could offer to pay the £60 excess perhaps, given that they cannot afford the whole repair.