Discuss liability and compensation

Questioner

In October 2017 my son was 'chilling' with friends in the parental home of one of those friends. Drugs were used and under the influence of ... my son apparently caused damage in the bathroom, among other things. Because my son apparently 'passed out' the police were called. They arrived shortly afterwards. The officers contacted the owner of the house. The officers said that my son would be taken to the police station because his condition required it. The owner was also asked if he wanted to file a report, but he did not think it was necessary. In March I received an invoice from my son with an accompanying letter. The homeowner had repaired the vandalism etc. and made an invoice for the total costs of €3025.12 and VAT €635.70. Or if my son would just transfer it. My wife contacted what the intention was. Again it was said that my son had caused the damage and these were the costs. We then asked for proof, photos or something like that. Certainly also considering the size of the bill. But unfortunately there were none made. Because that bill was also presented to me more than 3 months after the incident, I could only inform the insurance company then. After investigation, they concluded that there were 2 different versions of the story and because the owner (own handyman company) had caused the damage first and only then came forward with liability, they could not draw up a damage report. As a result, the insurance did not pay out. After 2 months of silence, my son received a registered letter yesterday from ARAG legal assistance, which represented the interests of the homeowner. She requests and legally requires on behalf of her client that my son is credited with the amount of €3660.39 within 3 weeks after the letter appears. The rest of the letter is fairly standard and therefore known to you. What should I do with this, the owner of the house told the officer who arrived on the scene that he did not want to file a report, then I think the bathroom is being renovated. There is no physical evidence of the actual damage. And my son is only held liable via an invoice 3 months after the incident. How can I best respond to this on behalf of my son? a father

Lawyer

The owner of the house should have held your son liable, which I think was done later by the legal expenses insurer. Even if it is established that your son caused this damage, by means of evidence (!), the owner still had a duty to mitigate damage, especially because he runs a construction company himself. Your insurer therefore has good arguments and your son can reject the claim for liability by stating that there is no evidence for this, referring to his own building or contents insurer. It is also possible that the owner abused the possibility of claiming damage in order to repair more than strictly necessary. That is also fraud. If necessary, I can assist you in drafting a letter of defense.

Lawyer

It is not entirely clear whether it has been established that your son was involved in the vandalism. Because the police were there and there are apparently witnesses who can testify against your son, I assume so. What is also unclear is whether your son was the only one involved in the vandalism. You write that he was with friends. It is possible that there was a case of group liability and that his friends are also responsible for this. Under the law, damages can be claimed under the law up to 5 years after liability arose. If and when liability is established, it is also established that your son will have to compensate for the damage. The question that now arises is how high that damage is and how it can be determined. Damage can be determined both concretely and abstractly under the law. An abstract damage calculation is made in advance. A concrete damage calculation is available when the damage has been repaired and the invoices can be submitted. Damage consists in principle of the actual, demonstrable costs (based on invoices from third parties) that must be made to achieve repair. If the repair is carried out by the homeowner himself, there are no costs of persons involved, only of purchased materials. It is customary to deduct the normal depreciation costs from the material costs. If items have been replaced that were already depreciated, the owner cannot claim these as the new price. You write that you have a third-party liability insurance and that it does not want to pay out. In my opinion, your insurer may not refuse to help you. According to the usual policy conditions, your insurer may take over the discussion from you. I therefore advise you to hand over the matter to your third-party liability insurer and request that they take over the handling. If your WA insurer refuses this, I believe you have a claim on your WA insurer. Your WA insurer must indemnify you for the payment of the final damages, even if the case is brought before the court.