Damaged a car in the yard: step-by-step instructions from a lawyer

Damage to a car can be caused not only as a result of an accident. You don’t even have to go anywhere, but go out into the yard where the car is parked and see the damage on it. We will figure out what to do in such a situation.

ATTENTION : our lawyer not only provided you with step-by-step instructions for compensation for damage, but is also ready to take on the solution to the problem, call the law firm “Katsailidi and Partners” in Yekaterinburg right now!!!

Who is responsible for damage to a car in the yard?

Who is responsible if your car is damaged will depend on how your car was damaged.

If damage to a car is caused by hitting another car or opening a car door, then the person who caused damage to another car with his car will be liable.

In the event of harm caused by a person who, for example, scratched the car with equipment when passing by, naturally this person will be responsible to the owner of the damaged car.

When damage to a car is caused due to the actions of a child who, for example, threw a stone at the car, the parents or organizations in which the child is located will be responsible for the child, provided that the child is under 14 years of age. If the child has reached 14 years of age, then, as a general rule, the minor will be held accountable for the damage he caused to the car.

When damage to a car was not caused by human actions, but, for example, snow fell on the car from the roof of a house, or a tree branch fell, then in this case the legal entity will be responsible, namely, the management company will be responsible for the fallen snow, and rather, for the tree everything, administration. In such situations, it will be necessary to clarify who is responsible for removing snow or looking after trees. In some cases, the culprit is the owner of the building.

We are taking measures

Who should you call if the culprit turned out to be conscious and remained waiting for you? Participants report the accident to the traffic police, take photographs of the cars and the scene of the accident. Then fill out the incident notification form.

The notice indicates the exact address of the accident site, date, and number of damaged vehicles. It is necessary to indicate whether the person responsible for the accident was tested for intoxication. You also need to make a note of the material damage caused.

A violation can be recorded using a European protocol. It applies if;

two cars were involved in the accident;
no casualties;
motorists came to a consensus about the incident;
damage was caused in the amount of up to 50,000 rubles;
both participants are insured.

When drawing up a European protocol, participants fill out their parts of the notice, then within 5 working days they need to visit the office of the insurance company to explain the circumstances of the accident and provide documents.

But what to do if the driver scratched the car and fled the scene of the accident?

First you need to fix the damage. The driver must also understand: was the damage to the car intentional? Perhaps the glass was broken to steal a valuable item, or a scratch was made or a headlight was removed.

It is necessary to distinguish the nature of the damage. If a car is scratched in a parking lot by another car, the incident must be reported as an accident.

Without the second participant, the traffic police will transfer the case to the search department, which will search for the culprit (if there were witnesses or the case was recorded by surveillance cameras).

If the car was damaged by thieves or hooligans (they beat the car with a hammer, poured paint on it, broke the glass, scratched it with a nail), you need to dial 02 and call a local police officer or another police officer.

The employee draws up a protocol and a copy is given to the driver. You need to write a statement about hooliganism or theft. If the attacker was recorded by an external surveillance camera, witnesses noticed, they will look for him.

We invite you to read: For what reason may you be called to the tax office?

Begin to investigate the size and location of the damage. There may be traces of paint from another car left in it, which will help in finding the culprit.

If the criminal or the culprit of the accident is found, it is necessary to present documented facts of the offense.

During the above procedures, you need to follow simple steps:

you cannot mention to a traffic police officer that the damage is minor;
do not indicate that you have no claims against anyone;
when receiving a certificate from the traffic police, make sure that all data is correctly indicated in the document, especially the date and location of the incident, details of the damaged vehicle, and a list of damages;
be sure to study the clauses of the insurance contract regarding the deadlines for submitting and the list of documents to the insurance company if an insured event occurs;
make copies of all documents that need to be submitted to the insurance company, as well as an application for notification of an insured event;
ask that all these copies be certified.

Finding the culprit

Let's find out how to find the person who scratched the car:

walk around the parking lot, look carefully, perhaps there are cars with a DVR turned on;
find out the driver’s contact phone number and use the video recording in the future;
there may be cameras on nearby buildings or in the parking lot itself;
Almost every entrance is now equipped with cameras;
Inspect the area of the scratch; paint from another car may have remained on it.

If you know the car number, the search will not be difficult. The owner of the vehicle can be found by number within a few hours.

But finding the owner is half the battle. They often claim that one of the relatives is driving the car, but the owner himself does not know anything. Then witnesses, video recordings, photographs, and a thorough investigation will help.

To find the culprit:

Frequently ask law enforcement officials how the search for the violator is progressing. If you see that employees are inactive, send a complaint to the head of the department or to the prosecutor's office. Negligence is a criminal offense.
Conduct your own search. Place an advertisement on social networks, forums, newspapers. Interview residents of nearby houses and the parking lot guard. Check out your nearest car repair shops.

After the traffic police officers arrive and draw up a report, contact nearby service centers and ask if someone may have contacted them with a request to paint the vehicle.

Sometimes even using this method you can find unscrupulous drivers. According to traffic police statistics, this method helps to find a violator much more effectively on your own than an inspectorate overloaded with cases. If you find the culprit, contact the traffic police and fill out a report.

Statute of limitations

If the culprit left the scene of the accident, the statute of limitations for the violation is 3 months. Afterwards they will not look for him and punish him for what he did.

There is no statute of limitations for compensation for damage to life and health, for moral damage in the event of injuries and death. Penalties are collected from the culprit even if many years have passed.

There is also no deadline for searching for a vehicle. Only the initiator (the traffic police) removes the person from the wanted list. The driver can be stopped at each checkpoint: he will continue to be listed in the wanted database. But they will not be able to bring him to justice.

What to do if your car is damaged in the yard: step-by-step instructions?

If you discover that your car has been damaged in your yard, proceed as follows:

record the damage to your car by taking photographs, you can also film your car and the damage on it
if the car is damaged by another car, that is, there is an accident, then call the traffic police , if the car was damaged by the actions of third parties, then call the police
taking into account the situation, in some cases, you can call a representative of the management company if, for example, a tree fell on a car, snow fell from the roof
contact the insurance company to compensate you for the damage. Compensation for damage is possible under a CASCO policy, and in case of an accident, if the culprit has an MTPL policy, then under an MTPL policy
after identifying the culprit, causing damage to the car, and the impossibility of obtaining compensation from the insurance company, determine the amount of damage caused and send a written claim to the culprit
after the deadline for responding to the claim has expired and in the absence of voluntary compensation for damage on the part of the culprit who caused the harm, file a claim with the culprit in court
obtain a court decision and contact the bailiffs to recover damages from the culprit of the damage that was caused to your car

What should a driver do if he hits someone else's car?

Considering the density with which cars are installed in yards and the lack of free space for passage, it is possible to hit someone else’s vehicle when performing any maneuver. A conflict between motorists is possible even with minor damage. To avoid additional problems, the driver should know how to act correctly in the event of damage to someone else's car.

If the motorist admits his guilt, he needs to do the following:

find the owner of the damaged vehicle;
try to resolve the situation peacefully.

What to do if you hit a parked car?

It is possible that while driving a car, you can accidentally hit a parked car. What to do? It is better to act as follows:

stop your car at the scene of the accident and turn on the emergency lights by putting up a warning triangle
take a photo of the accident scene, car damage, you can also make a video on your phone
if the car creates obstacles for the passage of other cars, then it should be removed from the roadway, provided that the steps to photograph the cars at the scene of the accident have been completed
after this, you should try to find the owner of the damaged car, call the traffic police or negotiate with the victim about compensation for damage by issuing a receipt, or drawing up a European report

Thus, if you are the culprit of damage to a parked car, you should not leave the scene of the accident, but you must follow the above steps.

Recording the event and the presence of damage

If it becomes clear that the car was damaged not as a result of a car collision, but as a result of the actions of unknown persons, then it is necessary to record the fact of what happened and the extent of the damage. To do this, you need to call the police station and make a verbal statement about the damage to your car. Numbers 112 and 02 should always be in memory. It happens that some mobile operators may have a different dialing order for the specified numbers.

After the call, you must wait for the police to arrive. Carrying out operational measures to identify those involved in the damage to the car is their main task upon arrival at the scene. As a general rule, eyewitnesses of the incident are identified, damage to the car and other traces are recorded, and the scene of the incident is inspected. These responsibilities of the police are enshrined in the relevant law “On the Police”.

What to do if your car is damaged in the parking lot?

Not only can your car be damaged, but you can also accidentally cause damage to someone else’s car in the parking lot. If this happened to you, then proceed by analogy when you hit a parked car.

At the same time, there is a greater chance of finding the owner of the car in the parking lot. In order to find the owner of the damaged car, you can try to clarify information about him from the parking security guard, call him over the speakerphone, if this is a parking lot in a shopping center, hit the car wheel so that the alarm goes off.

Specific steps to find the owner will depend on where the parking is located, namely, in front of the store, or whether it is underground parking or paid parking.

In any case, you should not leave the scene of the accident. As a last resort, if you cannot find the owner and you do not have the opportunity to wait for him, then leave your phone number on the damaged car so that they can contact you.

But if you returned to your car in the parking lot and saw that the car was damaged and there was no culprit for the accident, then you should call the traffic police to register the accident.

It is possible that even though the culprit of the accident is not there, the accident has already been registered, then you will be informed about it.

If you are unlucky and there is no culprit, the accident has not been registered, then in addition to calling the traffic police, you should try to find witnesses to the accident, including finding CCTV cameras that could record the situation that occurred, and then inform the traffic police officers that the accident was recorded by a certain camera.

Why you shouldn’t leave the scene of an accident

Since accidental damage to someone else's car in the yard or parking lot is equivalent to a full-fledged accident, your absence at the scene of the accident (and the absence of a note with contact information) will be regarded as fleeing the scene of the accident.

You will come under suspicion even if you did not notice how you hit someone else’s car: ignorance does not excuse you from responsibility: after watching video from surveillance cameras and interviewing witnesses, they will find you, and you will have to prove that your departure is not related to malicious intent.

And they will charge you with fleeing the scene of an accident (Article 12.27 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation), and this is a rather serious offense that is punished very harshly: not counting fines, you face deprivation of your driver’s license for 1.5 years or administrative arrest for up to 15 days. Moreover, only traffic police officers decide whether you ran away or left because you were busy, and a note on the windshield of a damaged car is not an indicator for them.

Remember! For the court, it doesn’t matter whether you fled the scene of the accident, left because you were busy, or simply didn’t notice that you hit someone else’s car. It will be difficult for you to prove your innocence, and you will need a very experienced lawyer to defend your case.

Moreover, if you left the scene of the collision without waiting for the owner of the car or the traffic police, your insurance company may also refuse to compensate you for the damage, and you will have to restore someone else’s damaged car at your own expense.

Therefore, always remain at the scene of the accident, no matter how severe the damage may be to another vehicle in the yard. And the ideal option to avoid legal claims is to stay where you are and call the traffic police yourself, especially if the owner of the car is absent.

How to file a claim for car damage?

A claim for damage to a vehicle is made in free form. The following information should be included in the claim:

indicate the addressee to whom the claim is sent, i.e. for an individual, full name and address, for a legal entity - name and address
indicate from whom the claim is being sent , i.e. your name, address and telephone number for contact
name the document - claim
in the text of the claim, reflect the circumstances under which the damage to the car was discovered, i.e. when, at what time, where, what exactly was damaged in the car, what is the cost of restoration or what damage was caused, how was the amount of damage determined
in the text it would not be superfluous to make references to specific rules of law justifying the legality of the applicant’s demands: 15, 1064 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation
In the pleading part of the claim, indicate your specific requirements , i.e. compensate for damage and/or other claims
if necessary , attach copies of documents to the claim , for example, photos and indicate them in the list of attachments
at the end put the date of signing the claim, signature and transcript of the signature

The claim can be written by hand, but then it is necessary to write in several copies so that one copy of the claim remains in your hands. It will be easier to prepare the claim in printed form and print out several copies.

USEFUL : For more instructions on how to file a claim, see the video and the link on our website

Can the insurer refuse to pay?

The insurance company may refuse to compensate the victim for a number of reasons. Both the owner of compulsory motor liability insurance and the motorist who has taken out a CASCO policy can receive a refusal.

Any refusal must be motivated and documented in writing. The insurer has the right to refuse to provide compensation to the client in the following cases:

at the time of the accident the motorist was drunk (both alcohol and drug intoxication are taken into account);
the driver is not included in the MTPL;
the culprit does not have an insurance policy or its validity has expired;
the motorist does not have a driving license or his license has expired;
the vehicle was faulty, which was confirmed by the results of an automotive technical examination;
the culprit fled the scene of the accident.

If the culprit’s vehicle was in poor technical condition, he will be required to independently pay for repairs to the victim’s car.

If you left leaving a note

If you urgently need to leave, you can leave a note on the car (usually pressed with a wiper) with an apology and a request to call to discuss resolving the conflict. In general, this is a good way out of a situation when you need to leave urgently. But it’s better to do this when the owner of the damaged car is familiar to you. Otherwise, this note can play a cruel joke on you, when an unscrupulous owner will file an accident without you, and you will be declared absconded, and based on the information you provided, they will quickly be found, but will say about the note that he did not see or know anything.

A good proof would be a photograph of the location of the cars, the note itself placed on the car. This way you can prove in court that you left unintentionally, that is, you did not want to hide and evade responsibility, therefore, you do not deserve punishment for hiding.

Insurance payments OSAGO

Insurance payments under compulsory motor liability insurance are much more difficult to obtain than under CASCO insurance. But even if there is a minimal chance of receiving them, it is worth taking advantage of it, especially if the vehicle has serious damage that requires expensive repairs.

Attention! Initially, it is worth calling a traffic inspector or a local police officer, depending on the damage caused, who will draw up a report. If the damage was caused by an individual out of hooligan motives, then it is worth finding him and collecting compensation from him to restore the vehicle.

applications for payment of insurance compensation free of charge in word format

But if the culprit fled the scene, then there is the following procedure:

find witnesses to the incident by interviewing passers-by, residents and car owners standing nearby. You receive testimony or possible information about the identity of the culprit,
advertise in the media and post in places close to the scene of the incident information that they are looking for witnesses to the incident who can report anything,
If there are shops or administrative buildings with outdoor CCTV cameras nearby, try to get a video recording. To do this, you need to apply to the person who owns the cameras,
Look for a vehicle with damage in the area that may be consistent with your damage. Perhaps this will help find the culprit of the accident.

In other words, the victim must take measures to find the person responsible for the damage to the vehicle. After all, as you understand, the police are unlikely to be actively involved in this; in addition to searching for the culprit, they still have a lot to do.

If the culprit of the damage is a pedestrian who is found, compensation for the damage will fall on his shoulders. And if the culprit is the car owner, then there is a chance to receive payment under the MTPL policy.

It often happens that damage caused by another vehicle occurs before your eyes, but the culprit of the accident flees the scene and you cannot detain him. Then it’s worth remembering the car’s license plate number, which will help you find the culprit in the future.

ATTENTION! View the completed sample application for payment of insurance compensation:

In paid parking

Such damage to a car often occurs when the driver of another car, parking in a neighboring space, carelessly opens the doors and hits your car with the already open door.

If, after leaving the car in the parking lot, the driver finds traces of damage, it must be taken into account that, in accordance with the provisions of the Law “On the Protection of Consumer Rights” and the Civil Code, the parking lot administration is responsible for the safety of the parked equipment.

Before concluding an agreement, the parking representative must familiarize the client with the rules of conduct in the parking lot, provide information about the organization, inform how much the services cost, and issue the necessary documentation. After the car is left in the parking lot, the owner must be given documentary evidence of its acceptance, indicating the registration number plate of the car.

The car was damaged by hooligans

Recently, there have often been cases where a vehicle was damaged by hooligans. It is impossible to say unambiguously what damage vehicles more often receive: intentional or not.

If it is clearly visible that the harm caused was clearly caused by a tool (nail, knife, or other), then we can say that it was done intentionally.

statements to the police about property damage for free in word format

In this case, follow these steps:

call the police and call the local police officer. After all, this type of incident does not apply to road transport,
write a statement, which is accepted by the district police officer and begins an investigation,
interview your neighbors, maybe they saw how the incident happened, maybe you can find witnesses via the Internet, or the neighboring cars had a car registrator turned on, the recording from which will help you find the criminal,
check the presence of external video surveillance cameras in the area you are interested in, in order to subsequently request a recording and find the culprit of the damage.

If the vehicle was damaged as a result of disturbing others or because of personal animosity, then it is easiest to identify the culprit. Although children could also cause damage while playing. In this case, the parent or guardian will be responsible for the child.

ATTENTION! View the completed form of a statement to the police about property damage:

What to do if the insurance company does not pay the insurance?

The culprit did not notice the accident

Even if the culprit did not notice the accident, what he did qualifies as leaving the scene of an accident with all the ensuing consequences. It will be very difficult to prove the absence of intent in this case. It is best to use the services of a competent lawyer.

If there is no chance of “salvation”, then all measures must be taken to mitigate the punishment:

make amends for the harm caused to the victim if there is no insurance;
assist law enforcement agencies, declare a confession of guilt and repentance.

These circumstances, as well as the identity of the perpetrator, will be taken into account by the court when assigning punishment.

General operating principle

The most important thing that is required of the driver in such a situation is to call the traffic police and certify that the car is damaged, therefore, if the car is scratched, you should not take a long time to decide who to call to inspect the incident. The car owner must document the results of the damage in a photo. Sometimes it is possible to fill out a European protocol - a special form that does not require the presence of traffic police representatives:

if there was an accident involving two cars;
in the absence of casualties;
a voluntary agreement has been reached between the participants in the incident;
the amount of damage does not exceed fifty thousand rubles;
both parties took out auto insurance.

Having completed such a document, the participants in the accident need to come to the representative office of the auto insurer within five days to draw up the necessary paperwork for compensation for damage.

What if there is no CASCO?

In this case, according to the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, you will definitely have to pay a fine for illegal parking. It is imposed on the party that does not have a compulsory motor liability insurance policy, no matter whether the culprit or the victim. Depending on the situation, the relevant article may be applied.

Table. Punishment of a driver for operating a vehicle without compulsory motor liability insurance.

Alas, many drivers do not have enough money to spend on 2 insurances at once - both OSAGO and CASCO. Therefore, a much more pressing question is: what to do with compulsory motor liability insurance if your car is scratched in the yard? Let us immediately note that state insurance will not allow the injured driver to receive compensation if the offender escaped.

In such a situation, the victim is interested in independently finding the person who caused the damage. What to do and who to call if your car is scratched in the yard?

If you know the address of the city camera that could record the violation, as well as the estimated time of the incident, call the Department of Information Technology - the telephone number of this organization. The operator will record your application and name the number assigned to it - this should then be handed over to the traffic inspector. If the street camera is owned by a private organization, you should contact them - perhaps they will help you.

Please note: it only makes sense to search for a violator using cameras when you left the car for a short time (for example, to visit a supermarket). No one will “watch” the video for hours – and they won’t let you!

Call the traffic police to the scene of the accident.
While waiting for the traffic police, conduct your own mini-investigation - walk around the yard and ask other drivers and ordinary onlookers if they saw who scratched the car. As a rule, people show participation and happily “surrender” the boorish offender. Also observe which of the cars parked in the same yard have DVRs installed. Ask the owners of these vehicles for contact information so you can contact them and view recordings from their surveillance devices.
Draw up a protocol together with traffic police officers and receive a copy. From this moment on, an official investigation into the incident begins, however, your own should not be abandoned. It is not a fact that traffic police officers will make every effort to find the culprit.
Visit nearby service stations and find out if you have recently contacted them for car painting. Examine the scratches first - maybe the paint of the offender’s car remained at the scene of the collision. If you manage to find such evidence, you will narrow the pool of suspects to a minimum.

We invite you to read: Liability for arson of a car under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation

Rest assured: if you persist in the investigation, one of the methods will definitely bear fruit. With the evidence you need to go to the traffic police department - you will be welcomed there with open arms, because in fact you have done their work for the traffic inspectors.

If you left by accident

Some make excuses that they left by accident because they did not notice the contact. But for accidents they beat you desperately. Therefore, most likely, you will have to be punished. The exception is cases when you really left unintentionally, and you can convince the judge of this.

The last phrase is key. In judicial practice, there are not isolated cases when the court came to the conclusion that a person acted unintentionally, for example, he really could not have known about the collision that had occurred. But this was proven by the actions of the man (he returned to the parking lot, suspecting nothing), and the damage included several scratches on the far from fresh bumper.

If you learn about a collision after a long time

Sometimes it happens that a person is stopped by traffic police officers and they say that his car is on the wanted list, since he disappeared for a week (two days, a month, two months) after an accident. This driver, replaying memories in his head, recalls that at the indicated time he was actually in the indicated place, turning around tightly parked cars, but did not think that he damaged any of them. This is a pretty serious situation. In this case, go straight to the subheading “Can you avoid punishment for leaving the scene of an accident?”

A pedestrian scratched his car

If the car is scratched by a pedestrian or children playing in the yard, such an incident is included in the list of CASCO insurance cases and is subject to compensation from those responsible. The basis is a protocol drawn up by called police representatives, in which the circumstances of the incident must be indicated and the offender must appear. If the latter could not be established, this circumstance should also be reflected in the document.

But it is not always advisable to immediately contact the police. If there is a chance to solve the problem through a voluntary agreement with the offender, it should be taken advantage of. If a child scratches someone else's car, you need to contact his parents. The best way out is to come to a mutually beneficial solution to this issue without reporting to law enforcement agencies.

The car was scratched by a dog

If a vehicle is damaged by a dog, then you must provide compelling evidence that the dog caused the damage to your property.

This could be witness testimony, DVR recordings, external surveillance cameras of stores and nearby administrative buildings. If there is no such evidence, you most likely will not receive monetary compensation for the harm caused.