Valet parking is a luxury that can save you time and help you avoid the endless frustration associated with finding a parking space at a busy establishment. Unfortunately, it can also cost you thousands of dollars in car repairs if you happen to get a valet who's careless with your vehicle and damages it. Establishing liability for the accident can be challenging, however, for a variety of reasons. Here's more information about this problem.

The Valet's Employer is Liable, But…

In general, the valet's employer will be liable for any damage employees do to vehicles while those vehicles are in their care. The trouble is you have to jump through a few hoops in order to pin the blame on the valet service. In particular, vicarious liability laws require you to show the employee was acting within the scope of his or her employment when he or she caused your vehicle to be damaged. This means proving the following:

• The person was employed by the company at the time of the incident
• The employee was at the workplace and working his or her scheduled hours
• The incident occurred while the employee was acting in his or her authorized capacity

While proving these elements may seem straightforward on the surface, the circumstances of an accident involving valets and vehicles don't always lend themselves to easy interpretation. For instance, if the valet takes your vehicle drag racing around town instead of parking it in the lot as required by his or her job, the company that employs the person could argue the individual was operating outside of his or her capacity as a valet. It would be up to the courts to decide if vicarious liability laws covered this type of duty deviation.

Another Possible Liable Party

How the accident occurred will also determine who will ultimately be held liable for the damage to your vehicle. It's entirely possible the valet was extremely careful with your car or truck. However, another person may have been driving recklessly and crashed into the valet as he or she was parking your vehicle.

In this case, you would have to go after the driver of the other vehicle for compensation since that person actually caused the accident. The only way the valet might be held liable in this situation is if he or she knew an accident was going to occur but did nothing to avoid it. For instance, consider if the valet notices a car swerving as it moves down the street. If the valet has an opportunity to move your vehicle out of harm's way and doesn't do so, then the valet could possibly be held partially responsible for the crash under comparative negligence laws.

Challenges with Collecting Compensation

The immediate problem you'll face when trying to establish liability for damage done to your vehicle by a valet is getting the truth of what happened to the vehicle from the person who drove it or the company he or she works for. It's not unusual for a valet or the company who employs the person to lie about the damage and deny he or she did anything to the vehicle. It would be incumbent upon you to prove the valet was, in fact, responsible for the accident, which could be difficult if there are no witnesses or video cameras around.

For instance, a man had his door damaged by a valet who was driving another vehicle at the time of the accident. The hotel the valet worked for denied liability for the incident at first. However, surveillance video caught the accident on tape, and the hotel filed a claim for the accident with its insurance provider after reviewing the footage. Unfortunately, the hotel's insurance provider told the victim it would not cover the accident, and the case appears to still be ongoing. However, it's highly likely the hotel would not have filed a claim with the insurance company in the first place if there hadn't been video evidence of the valet's negligence.

Holding a valet company responsible for an accident or damage caused to your vehicle can be challenging. Contact an attorney, such as those at The Jaklitsch Law Group for assistance with building a viable case against the liable party so you can collect what you're owed.