into a parked car during a church camping trip. He was not being reckless, they were just using the golf cart to move camping equipment from the site to the vehicles. He tried to park the cart but ended up causing about $1800 in damage to one of the cars. They want us to pay for the damage and I am wondering how much we are liable for. Here are the factors- - My son is 14 and does not know how to drive a car. - This was on someone else's property and someone else's golf cart. - We did not know that he would have access to the golf cart and we hadn't given any permission to let him drive the cart. - Supposedly, the kids weren't supposed to drive the cart without an adult right there, but my son claims that he did not know that and the adults were admittedly unclear on the rule as well. - Again, he did not willfully cause the damage it was an accident by all accounts. So, I don't know how much we should pay. I was surprised that he was given access to the golf cart and a little peeved. He could have been hurt if it had been a different kind of accident and in that case I would be pretty pissed at the people that gave him access. Another issue is that this is our church and we appreciate these kinds of church activities for our children so we want to be as diplomatic as possible. Any advice?
How drunk was he when he wrecked it? Your son- his accident- your responsibility = pay up your homeowners insurance may help but that's probably not worth dealing with
Why should he have to pay when he had no clue his son was going to be driving a golfcart? Not only that, he stated that if kids were going to be driving those carts, adults would be with them. Someone dropped the ball. I would probably give something but not pay for that whole bill.
If this was someone else's child and YOUR car, what would you tell them?? All of those reasons you pointed out still don't take away responsibility from your son at the end. Sure, adults SHOULD have been there to supervise, but at 14, your son is hardly a little boy anymore. Driving a golf cart is NOT that complicated, and they don't really go all that fast, unless you're flooring it (and why would he be flooring it around parked cars anyways?). I'm a little surprised he was ABLE to do $1800 in one, frankly. I think you should at least approach the owner with an offer that covers a substantial amount ($500-$1000??). Morally, it's the correct thing to do, and it's also the most fair.
Tell the owner of the vehicle to use their uninsured motorits property damage to fix the damages. You should pay the UMPD deductible for them.. not sure what that amount is in Texas maybe two-three hundred bucks? Or you could pay for it out of pocket but $1,800 seems kinda steep.
That's bad math. Change the - to +. I would pay up. He's gotta be responsible for his actions. If your way of teaching him is to not pay, than how would he look at it. Like rtsy said, he now owes you $1800.
I'm pretty sure that's the obligation of ANY parent of a minor. You're telling me that if your 14 year old son broke the windows out of my house, I don't have the right to take legal recourse against YOU since you're the father?? Are you going to tell me you "didn't know your son would break my windows out?" Accident or not, the parent is ultimately the one responsible for the actions of the child (until they are 18).
This doesn't sound like a bad deal here. They probably don't want to use their insurance because their rates will go up. Or they could be using it anyways and trying to pocket money... Gotta watch those Church folks...
First, intent to cause the damage is unimportant. You are talking about a question of liability here, and you may have to end up in court if you really don't want to pay. And if your relationship to your church is important, then you should pay and not create any enmity. However, the legal question of liability remains, and unless this is spelled out clearly somewhere, then it may only be resolved in court. Who owned the golf cart? Who was responsible for placing a child behind the wheel of the vehicle? Is the golf cart insured, and if so, does it also have any liability coverage? Would that coverage cover a child driver? Ultimately, you can probably wind up settling with an insurance company over the debt through whoever was responsible for placing the child behind the wheel of the vehicle, which clearly was negligent. However, again, you are probably talking about suing your church or someone in it, and you have to decide whether this is worth the $1800 to you. Also, this is a teaching moment for you and your son - do you want to teach him to try to weasel out of the consequences for what he ultimately did? Or do you want to teach him that the right thing to do is step up and accept responsibility for damage he caused, however accidentally? Make him cut grass all summer and any other chores you have for him to do, and keep a very clear tally, let him earn it back, you will both be better for it. And he will be extremely unlikely to cause any damage like that again. That's my recommendation anyway.
Can't compare the two.... Two different things... Not to mention someone should have been watching these kids. Like I said, I would give something but I wouldn't be paying $1,800 for the whole thing. That's just crazy especially if they have insurance.
Should tell the owner of the car to claim on his insurance and you pay the deductible that way you don't pay as much and he gets his car fixed there's no way out of not paying it.
She tried to put it on her auto insurance and they said that they would have to sue the homeowner insurance of the property owner which is the lady's mother. When it first happened we had agreed to pay the $1000 deductible and have our son work it off around the house for us. He has been really good this whole time and is willing to work to pay off and he feels bad about the accident. I just hate to put so much on him when I think that they should not have given him access to the cart in the first place. You're right that I don't want to teach him a lesson to try and not take responsibility for an accident that he caused.
