car registration, tracing.

[saintpeter48]

my car was keyed and i saw the offender doing it, i confronted him but he denied it, i took his car reg and reported it to police with little luck. they will not give me his name or address for obvious reasons. i want to bring a private presecution against this person in the small claims court but how do i go about finding out where he lives. this is the second time that a car of mine has been damaged by him, first time he left a hand written note saying that if i continue to park in this certain place, near school, he would not be responsible for any further damage. help please, thanks.

[voltr4m4x]

You can trace the person by means of contacting the DVLA at Swansea, but there is a fee payable.

[Ethel]

It only costs a few pounds from the DVLA.

It's going to be very difficult to get satisfaction in the Small Claims' Court. He will deny he did it. You will say he did.

He will get witnesses or alibis to say he didn't.

You will do the same to say he did.

Even if you win, you will have a very hard time getting the money if he chooses not to pay. You will have to pay to get the judgment enforced, and that is not guaranteed to be successful.

Do you still have the note? Can you prove he wrote it?

[saintpeter48]

i still have the note, comparing handwriting might be a problem. he told me that his wife wrote the note and that i should not park near these school gates, i parked there at 7-30 in the evening, thats when i saw him scratch my car, he was waiting to collect his daughter from the school prom, he didn't think that anyone saw him but i luckily was looking out of my window, his face was white as a ghost when i went and confronted him, a picture of guilt, but proving it is not easy.

[tufty7]

I would be very much tempted to sort this guy out , like for like tooth for tooth........

[Postdog]

Isn't this what you pay insurance for?

When my car was systematically vandalised some years back, the police couldn't do anything because the perp was a nutter (literally). However my insurance company requested info in attempt to recover costs. they got the info, dunno about the costs.

[TEAK36]

Saintpeter48,

I think you are onto a loser here.

My car was keyed in our local Tesco's car park. I actually cought the guy doing it, and when I confronted him he just jumped in his car and drove off. I made a note of the car make/model and registration number and then reported it to the Police.

After about a week, the Police came back to me and said the driver had denied keying my car, and because I had no witnesses, there was not much I could do.

As already mentioned by Ethel, you could try the Small Claims route, but it may be more hassle than it's worth.

I wish you the best of luck though.