Car damaged by children

[StepMomInGA]

What is the name of your state? Georgia
This past Saturday, we got hit with an ice storm here in GA.
My 9 year old step son, a neighbors 12 year old girl named Sally, and Joey,a 10 year old boy down the street figured it would be nice if they cleaned off the ice on one of our cars. They asked for $$ for doing a such a good deed..

Fast forward to Sunday, I noticed a big dent on my car. Questioned my step son about it and he pointed the blame on Joey. He said Joey kicked the car hard. Step son also said that Sally had kicked the car some, not as hard as Joey, but she still did it. Step son swears he did not kick the car at all. Spoke with Joey's mom, she agreed to pay for half of the damage. Joey said that Sally had also kicked the car too, that is why the boys mom is only covering half. Spoke with Sally's mom, doesn't sound like she's covering any of it. She said that I said it was alright for the kids to get the ice off my car. I would never have allowed them to kick my car, hello! She also said that Sally stated she "tapped" the car with her foot. Not Kicked it.

What legal standing do I Have here. I'd like for Sally's parents to cover 1/4 of the damage too. Would I have any standing in small claims court? Also, my step son and Sally are best friends, so I 'm also facing an ethical dilemma here. I feel if her parents don't help out, I don't want my step son friends with their daughter. My husband and I are only acquaintances with Sally's parents, not good friends. My husband also feels that this may damage the children more that anything by separating their friendship..

Help!

 

[teflon_jones]

You need to decide whether you value the money more, or your son's friendship with this girl. You may be able to win some money from them in small claims court, but is it really worth it? I'm imagining that a dent created by kids this age isn't really very serious, and won't cost more than a couple of hundred $$ to fix. I'd take the money offered by Joey's mom and move on. You'd have a difficult time proving in court that Sally actually created the dent in the car.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

How closely were you supervising the childen when this happened?

 

[StepMomInGA]

The dent is about the size of a foot. (2 of the of the children are bigger than me.. lol!) I knew the children were trying to get the ice off of the car, but I was not able to see them in the driveway when I'm in the house. I checked on them a couple of times and they were doing fine. My husband went outside a bit later and saw them being rough and told them to stop. He did not see them kicking the car though. They are 9, 10 and 12 years old.. they should know better, you know.. It just makes me wonder about the girls parents if they don't help out. They are not taking responsibility for her actions. I know if my children did something like that, I'd own up and help out..

 

[rmet4nzkx]

Are these children bonded ice removal technicians?
You are lucky the one parent is willing to contribute, how do you know which child is responsible for the dent? Who started it? You are overreacting. What if one of the children was hurt while deicing your car?

 

[StepMomInGA]

OMG! The kids were "playing"! I sure though they had more sense that to kick the crap out of my car.

That is Ridiculous that you say I'm over reacting. We've had this car for less than a year. The dent is NOT small by any means. None of the children were hurt and I've got damage on my car. Like I said, if MY child did this to someone elses car.. I'd own up and pay for it!!

I'm going by what my child had said. I trust him! He knows he did wrong. The IDEAL thing would be for each of the parents to contribute 1/3 of the bill.. with us included, since my son took part in getting the ice off the car..

I am lucky the other mom is taking responsibility for her childs actions.. She honestly is lucky too, because I'd have her in small claims court if she wasn't!

 

[rmet4nzkx]

According to your Stepson, he didn't kick the car at all, Joey kicked the car hard and made the dent, you don't know that she kicked and/or dented the car at all and your step son didn't tell you right away, you found the dent. Did you ever consider that your stepson might be trying to keep from getting in trouble by blaming everyone else, it is not as if he came running in the house when it happened. For all you know she may have tried to make them stop and not wanted to get any of them in trouble and if they were more closely supervised, it might not have happened at all. It is a good thing no one got hurt roughhousing out in the ice and snow.

Be happy you are getting some money, if you go to small claims court you will have to prove who did it and who was responsible for supervising them. Oh yeah, that would be you!

 

[StepMomInGA]

Right, my son did not kick the car. Joey said my son did not kick it. Sally also said my son did not kick it. Sally admitted to kicking the car and so did Joey. Believe me, my son is grounded and he is helping me pay for it from HIS allowance.

The ice did not melt until the next day.. How am I or they going to see the dent in the car when it is covered in ice.

What the hell.. Should I just hand cuff myself to my child? He's a 9 year old boy for God sakes. I checked on them 2 times. My husband checked on them once. It's not like I let him run free through the neighborhood. They were in my FRONT YARD!

And no, She did NOT try to get them to stop, SHE TOOK PART IN IT TOO!
Yep, she's a sweet girl. I never would have thought she would do something crazy like that, BUT SHE DID. And I thought my son had better judgement, but he didn't. That's why he's grounded and helping me pay for it! Just like the girls parents should!

Also, I don't think my son could put a dent this big in my car. He is the little one of the bunch weighing in at a BIG 52 lbs! The other 2 kids are bigger than me! I'm a big 5'2" and 105lbs!

 

[teflon_jones]

Children do stupid things, and like I said before, it sounds like there's only a couple of hundred $$$ in damages. You need to get the money from the other mom and move on!

 

[ylen13]

good luck proving it in court. Basically follow other people advice and take the money that one of the parent offering and move on and don't let them clean your car ever again.

edit:you're lucky that one parent offering to pay for the damage as she could have easily refuse to pay.

 

[Lynx 36]

There is no way to prove this in court. What is she going to do make the kids testify? Take the money and move on or turn it into insurance.

 

[djohnson]

Just to put my two cents worth in

I think you are handling it wrong anyway. Not only can you not prove it in court, but wouldn't get very far anyway. You are wanting to blame the girls parents and ruin her friendship with your step son. Because they aren't at your feet begging to give you money to cover for their child doesn't make them bad parents. I think you are in the wrong for taking part of the money from his allowance. I think he should have to work for his portion of the damages. By all three kids being dealt with differently, it promotes lying and trying to get out of trouble, or even having your mom buy you out. It does nothing for them in the future. I think you are wrong, turn it into insurance and go on. It's too late to correct your mistakes now.