Need Legal Advice/Tips ASAP

[Deadack]

Hello there everyone been a while since i posted but here goes.
I live in a small town in western NSW and, last night (xmas eve) as my girlfriend was driving our VX commodore along one of the streets, some f__K wit decided it would be a funny idea to run on to the road as she was driving passed and deliberatly kick the driverside quarter pannel, door and side skirt in, and smashed the mirror for no obvious reason. We have no association with the the guy what so ever so there is no motive. She pulled up down the road and "politely" asked what the hell, to which he threatened her. She drove home,a little shaken up to say the least and immediately took photos of the damage and soon after reported it to police. they said they would launch an investigation and provided a case number for the insurer. Numereous witnesses also seen the event.

Im just asking what i should do next besides the police investigation. What are the chances of the accused facing some serious charges and being trialed for them and also is he responsible for paying for the damage. i dont see how its fair that i should have to pay the premiums on the insurance if these sorts of ass holes dont have to pay for the damage they cause?

If anyone has some suggestions or tips on how to make this clown be held responsible for what hes done, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[Rusty]

The best legal advice you will get on a forum is to not get legal advice on a forum............

Contact Legal Aid (or whatever your states equivalent is) for genuine legal advice for free!

[Calaber]

To the OP. If you have comprehensive insurance, you can also make a claim, citing the police report event number on your claim. As you have witnesses, even if the police are unable to take any action for any reason, you should be able to have the repairs carried out without forfeiting your no claim bonus or affecting your premiums.

[bogan_vk]

contact legal aid but if the person is caught and found guilty the court can order he pay restitution to you. dont follow the the advice of krisp.

[Lumps of cheese]

Stooping to their level will get you nowhere fast. My advice to the op, forget this thread existed and get some real advice from professionals, not wannabe vigilanties.

[Drawnnite]

She pulled up down the road and "politely" asked what the hell, to which he threatened her. She drove home,a little shaken up to say the least and immediately took photos of the damage and soon after reported it to police. they said they would launch an investigation and provided a case number for the insurer. Numereous witnesses also seen the event.

when you say threaten, was it with a weapon of any kind?
if so go back and report as attempted murder or whatever.. sure that would get them looking at the case more indepth ^.~

[wikky]

Stooping to their level will get you nowhere fast. My advice to the op, forget this thread existed and get some real advice from professionals, not wannabe vigilanties.

Well said. Christ there's some keyboard warriors on here, it makes me laugh.

[Reaper]

To the original poster: If you have the name of the offender, pass it onto the police and your insurance company (+ any other details you may have). That also goes for the names and contact details of as many witnesses you have. IMO your insurance company are the best chance you have. Police are a necessary waste of time

Reaper

[Drewie]

If you have insurance I would just dump it in the insurance companies hands and let them sort it out. I am sure they would get lots of vandalism claims and if the offender is known they will persue it to get their money back.

[Deadack]

Bit of an update, the police actually phoned back on xmas day and said they want to photograph the damage asap for evidence in court....standard procedure perhaps? I no who the guy is, what his name is, where he lives and where he works (joys of a small town) so theres no problem indetifiying him to the police or insurance companies. Anyway if theres a silver lining to this whole mess, the offendent is apprently all ready on a good behaviour bond for a previous incident where he deliberatly lit numerous bush fires around the town so surely that will be taken into account. To be honest to all the readers here, as much as i would like to, im not interested in extracting revenge of some sort, i just want the ass hole to foot the bill for the damages hes caused to my car and to be held accountable for it all.

[rb26dett]

Give all the info you have to the insurance company, you may need to pay your excess to get things started.

[Calaber]

Give all the info you have to the insurance company, you may need to pay your excess to get things started.

Nope, as I said earlier in this thread, if the person responsible for the damage can be identified, your excess and premium should be unaffected.

[ClairBear]

. To be honest to all the readers here, as much as i would like to, im not interested in extracting revenge of some sort, i just want the ass hole to foot the bill for the damages hes caused to my car and to be held accountable for it all.

Good to hear. Just ignore the trolls and vigilantes here and stick to doing things the right way. Keep us informed of how you go.

[acarmody]

Nope, as I said earlier in this thread, if the person responsible for the damage can be identified, your excess and premium should be unaffected.

Actually the OP may have to pay the excess now to start the repairs, but as soon as the police reports is done and the insurance company lay the blame on the douche, then they will refund your money.

[Calaber]

Actually the OP may have to pay the excess now to start the repairs, but as soon as the police reports is done and the insurance company lay the blame on the douche, then they will refund your money.

That hasn't been my experience but perhaps some insurers will require the excess to be paid first. My experience has always been that the repairs were authorised and any excess payable was due at the time of taking delivery of the car after repair. In the interim, the company had been able to satisfy itself as to where the fault lay so that no excess was required from the insured, the insurer paid in full for repairs and then pursued the parties responsible. Even if they were unsuccessful in obtaining payment from the party at fault, the insured did not have to pay any excess.

[acarmody]

That hasn't been my experience but perhaps some insurers will require the excess to be paid first. My experience has always been that the repairs were authorised and any excess payable was due at the time of taking delivery of the car after repair. In the interim, the company had been able to satisfy itself as to where the fault lay so that no excess was required from the insured, the insurer paid in full for repairs and then pursued the parties responsible. Even if they were unsuccessful in obtaining payment from the party at fault, the insured did not have to pay any excess.

I suppose it would really come down to the insurer.

I once had a light pole fall on my car in a private carpark, it happened during a storm but the pole was fully rusted out on the bottom where it broke. I needed my car so I paid my $1500 excess and started the repairs. The other insurance company was claiming act of God because of storm, while my insurance was battling for negligence due to poles condition. 3 months later my insurer one and I got my money back.

[ClairBear]

Would the OP be entitled to compensation from the Victims of Crime Levy should the person who attacked his car be prosecuted?

[paynetrainvy]

If the cops don't do anything you can still take him to court in a civil action for damages. Don't listen to these idiots telling you to take revenge cause you'll end up in the lock up with assult charges against your name. Not worth it

[edals]

To the original poster: If you have the name of the offender, pass it onto the police and your insurance company (+ any other details you may have). That also goes for the names and contact details of as many witnesses you have. IMO your insurance company are the best chance you have. Police are a necessary waste of time

Reaper

Hey Reaper, Police are not a waste of time, Its lack of time they have. I Was listening in on the Police radio and a callout was made for a stolen wheelie bin, i mean WTF is that lol, The cop was just going you have got to be kidding, but because of it he had to do that job before proceeding on to jobs. Its things like these that chew up coppers time & be much better spent investigating real deal crimes. OMG Call the media local mans wheelie bin stolen! LOL
Be surprised just how much shit they have to deal with, Lack of Police units & having to deal with shit really dont help :-(

But to the Op, Just Proceed Legally, Its really not worth sinking to there level, As much as we would like to all do it, you end up being worse off.
As said, Provide every single detailing you can get, and fingers crossed you win all ways and worse out come for him :-)

[dirt drifter]

hmm, the op is from a small country town and the bloke who trashed his car is already on a bond for previous mischief.

my advice to the op is.. wait for someone else to smack the crap out of the bloke who trashed your car, saves u the trouble of doing it yourself, we know he's a vandalizing firebug at the least so i'm sure there would be a heap of people around town who want his head on a platter.

i doubt the cops/justice system will do bugger all to this maggot. slap on the wrist at the most

[Reaper]

Hey Reaper, Police are not a waste of time, Its lack of time they have. I Was listening in on the Police radio and a callout was made for a stolen wheelie bin, i mean WTF is that lol, The cop was just going you have got to be kidding, but because of it he had to do that job before proceeding on to jobs. Its things like these that chew up coppers time & be much better spent investigating real deal crimes. OMG Call the media local mans wheelie bin stolen! LOL
Be surprised just how much shit they have to deal with, Lack of Police units & having to deal with shit really dont help :-(

Meh - In the several experiences I have had with them, they have been either dis-interested or more interested in making it hard for the victim(s). At least one of the times involved a death very recently. Very very poor attitude imo.

Great to see the OP isn't going the vigilante route though.

Reaper

[Deadack]

I seem to find out more disturbing information every day lol. Turns out the ass hole who damaged my car, got off the previous charges for lighting fires around the town by pleading "insanity".....so when or rather if he goes to court, he simply says "a voice in my head told me to kick the side of the car in" and there goes the case out the window.

[calais24/7]

Sorry to hear about that mate, not the sort of thing you want to happen especially around this time of the year. Don't hold your hopes up to high becuase nornally with these sorts of things they only get a slap on the wrist. (yes i know its a big generalisation and no i dont have proof for all of you who wana argue, save your breath ) and to everyone complaning about keyboard warriors saying take revenge, either im blind or no one has even mentioned it.

[acarmody]

I seem to find out more disturbing information every day lol. Turns out the ass hole who damaged my car, got off the previous charges for lighting fires around the town by pleading "insanity".....so when or rather if he goes to court, he simply says "a voice in my head told me to kick the side of the car in" and there goes the case out the window. Just a little info on the "Accused", his name is Michael Manttan. i think the funniest thing is, earlier this year he recived the Young Citizen of the Year award for his efforts with the SES.....before he ran around parading his insanity case. They really thought about that one.

NOT HAPPY

Pleading insanity if successful will protect you from criminal charges. It does not protect you from civil cases, or from insurance claims.

You can still claim through you insurance company for the repairs, they will still claim the money back from this wanker.

[Kikki]

By stating his name you do realise you can cause a huge negative effect on any possible court cases or trials? Might wish to edit that one out.

Thing is, there a few different types of "law" this can be judged on, so any outcome is completely up to the judge on the day, hopefully the insurance play nice and sort you out.