Collecting for Car Damage After a Broken Promise to Pay

Attorney Answer

You still have a claim, and the strongest parts of it are not his promise. They are the video and the deadline. Texas gives you two years for damage to a vehicle, about half of which is already gone, and workplace camera systems usually overwrite themselves long before that. Getting a copy of the footage is the most urgent thing on this list.

On the deadline: Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a) allows two years from the day the cause of action accrues, and in Texas that period covers property damage as well as personal injury. A year in, you have room, but not a lot, and the evidence decays much faster than the clock runs.

On the law he was subject to: your car was parked and you were not with it, so this was a collision with an unattended vehicle. Tex. Transp. Code § 550.024(a) provides: "The operator of a vehicle that collides with and damages an unattended vehicle shall immediately stop and: (1) locate the operator or owner of the unattended vehicle and give that person the name and address of the operator and the owner of the vehicle that struck the unattended vehicle; or (2) leave in a conspicuous place in, or securely attach in a plainly visible way to, the unattended vehicle a written notice giving the name and address of the operator and the owner of the vehicle that struck the unattended vehicle and a statement of the circumstances of the collision." The section carries a criminal penalty, graded by the amount of damage. Whether that duty reaches a collision on private property is a question a lawyer would need to look at, because the traffic laws are written primarily for highways. Either way, the fact that he did not leave notice and had to be tracked down through a mutual acquaintance is useful context, and it does not depend on the criminal side at all.

On his promise: a person who agrees to pay for damage they caused has not replaced the underlying claim, and a broken promise does not extend it. That is why the claim for the damage itself, and the two-year period that goes with it, remain the thing to work with. The absence of a police report changes nothing. Texas does not require a driver to file their own crash report, and a claim has never depended on one existing.

What you can do

1. Ask your employer in writing today for a copy of the footage, and ask specifically that it be preserved. Give the date and the approximate time window. Most systems overwrite within days or weeks, and after a year it may already be gone, which is why the request goes first.

2. Save every text message, call log entry and voicemail in which he acknowledged hitting the car or agreed to pay. Screenshot them and email the screenshots to yourself so they are dated and outside your phone.

3. Get a written repair estimate from a body shop, with photographs. "About $800" is a number you remember; an estimate is a number you can prove.

4. Write down what you know about his vehicle and his identity: the make, model and color, the license plate if you have it, his phone number, and how you came to have it.

5. Send him a short written demand, by text or letter, attaching the estimate and setting a date. Keep a copy. Whether or not he pays, it shows he was asked.

6. If you can find out who insures him, open a claim with that insurer and give it the estimate and the footage.

7. Ask a local lawyer about bringing a claim in justice court for an amount this size, and about what it takes to collect from an individual. Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003(a) allows two years from the day the cause of action accrues for damage to property. When that period started, and how a later promise to pay affects the analysis, depends on your facts, and no page can date it for you. Given that roughly a year has already passed, have a Texas attorney look at your dates soon rather than after the next attempt to get him to pay.