Hi,
So to keep things short, my dad accidentally hit a parked vehicle few weeks back during work. And my dad was driving his work mate's car which he is not insured for. So we now have to pay for the damages.
The owner of the damaged vehicle was kind enough to get couple of quotes from different smash repairs because we are wanting to pay it to him in cash. The quote he received was ~$1500.
We don't have any issue with giving him the cash to pay for the repair, but my only concern is, how can we leave some sort of legal document/evidence to ensure that he has received the cash from us. Just in case he pretends that he may have not received anything from us when he actually did in the future.
Thank you in advance.
Paying for the damage cost to another person's vehicle
donedeed on 28/04/2014 - 11:48
Comments
I agree with the above. It would also be prudent in the covering letter to include a sentence to the effect of "by receiving this amount I forfeit any legal remedy that may or may not arise from the accident of [DATE]". I'm sure someone with a bit more experience with settlements could write something more effective.
Basically what I'm hinting at is if the owner of the vehicle finds out later that there's further damage caused by the accident that has not been diagnosed yet, and you've simply paid to cover the previously diagnosed repairs, he may still have grounds to seek further damages from your dad. To avoid this situation, you ensure that the payment is clearly for all damages that have been caused by the accident, rather than those currently identified.
…may as well add a witness and the witness' signature on it.
Yep, I agree with the above - make sure anything signed makes it clear what amount he's given them and for what purpose and releases your father from future claims. They sound like reasonable people so shouldn't be surprised that your dad wants to protect himself. Give both a copy of all the paperwork (take copies of their estimates) and just file it away.
You could purchase a bank cheque - will cost about $10 (I assume, was $8 a few years back when I last got one) and that is as good as cash for them but provides you with evidence of giving them the cash. You get the opportunity to put a note on the cheque to say what it is for, that also helps clarify the purpose and amount of funds provided.
use your smartphone to take a photo of the letter and the recipients drivers licence, together…. validates the signature is his and he was present.
In a motor vehicle accident, two kinds of damage (loss) may be suffered. These are:
- property damage, for example damage to cars, motor cycles, clothing, luggage
- personal injury, for example cuts, bruises, broken bones, shock, death.
In either case, should compensation be offered AND accepted a Deed of Release shall have to be issued and signed by ALL parties. It is important to ensure that you are released not only from the incident, but all future events(property AND personal injury) that are in relation to the incident.
Before you draft or sign a deed of release, you should get legal advice.
here's a good starting point
http://www.lawassist.lawaccess.nsw.gov.au/lawassist/lawassis…we had a similar situation except the bloke hit me he wanted assurance i would use the money for car repairs so i suggested he talk to the panel beater we used he paid 50% on arrival of the car and the other 50% on completion of works we both got a copy of receipt that he paid.
Who cares what he does with the money? If someone causes $x amount of damage to someone's property then he pays for the damage. What the other person does with the money is totally up to them.
For the OP.. It is very important to get a release document signed to protect you from any further claims from the accident.
Or you could go to Officeworks and buy a $3 receipt book. Get the dude to scribble down his details on the back, and make the wording on the receipt: received the sum of $1500 being payment in full for damage done to vehicle [rego number] on such and such a date.
You could just as easily do it on a piece of paper if you were sure you could keep it somewhere safe.
Thanks for all your responses!
I'll definitely be taking on board all of them!
Write a covering letter, take a copy and get the tranferee to sign the copy of the covering letter that he's received the funds from you. Then you can always have that paper trail. Also, if you're able to, best to write a cheque or do a direct deposit, rather than cash, so you're able to have a bank statement line to prove your payment.
Best of luck.