[dfisher]

My husband was involoved in a 4 wheeler accident at a friends house in which he hit a neighbors car port post. The people who lived there at the time say that he hit their car instead. They did not file a police report at the time of the accident, and keep harassing us over the phone that we need to pay them for the damages done to their car. They only seem to be calling late at night and on my husbands work cell phone. It has been over a month and they keep threatening us that they are going to take us to civil court. They don't live in the house anymore where the accident happened because they got evicted, and all the cars have been moved.Can they file a claim without any proof, and are we liable to pay them if they don't have police report.

[ballengerb1]

I would suspect that they just see this as an opportunity to get some cash out of you. They can file a claim and try to sue you but that doesn't mean they will prevail in court. If they do sue, sue them back for a frivolous complaint.

[Justice Matters]

To answer your questions:

Can they file a claim without any proof?

Yes. It is not the job of court staff to judge the merits of a claim when filed. To win, however, a plaintiff must be able to prove their case on a balance of probabilities. In the absence of evidence a defendant may argue that a plaintiff has not proven their case and may even go so far as to suggest that an adverse inference should be drawn from the lack of evidence (ie. No evidence was produced because no evidence ever existed).


Are we liable to pay them if they dont have police report?

A police report is not a requirement for proving a claim. Even if there was a police report all it would prove was that someone took the time to file a complaint. It is not, in and of itself, proof of the actual allegation. The best evidence for the event is eye-witness testimony. The best evidence for any alleged damages are photographs and a repair bill or estimate.

We agree with ballengerb1 that this appears to be an attempt to improperly extract money from you, however, it may not be necessary or appropriate to countersue them since most courts will automatically award a successful defendant costs against an unsuccessful plaintiff.

[Fr_Chuck]

As for that ( you should have called the police to protect your interest)

So at this point you don't have a police report to prove you did NOT hit their car. If they have car damage, they take a photo of that to the court and say this is the damage, ( hey it would look like pretty good evidnece to the judge that you did it, if the damage looks like it could have been done by a 4 wheeler.

So in small claims court what happens each side tells the judge their side of the story and the judge rules on who he believes is telling the truth.

If the owner of the home had repair work or damage to the carport brace, then his repair would be proof of your story.

But as for as the phone calls, if they continue you can laugh at them and tell them sue. You can file harassment charges against them if they are calling a lot , and it is too late at night