Yesterday i was driving through a parking lot travelling approximately 10 km/h when all of a sudden i heard a loud crash and looked to my right and i was backed into on my passenger side directly on the tire. The other driver did not see me coming and backed into me causing around $1000 in damage to my vehicle and none to theirs.
I am wondering if we go through insurance, who the insurance company would hold accountable for the accident?
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They are totally at fault. No question. When you are backing up you never have the right of way, the path has to be clear.
Insurance companies know this.Their insurance will pay your claim.
Unfortunately, I did the same thing they did.My insurance paid.
I don’t know who gave me a thumbs down – probably just a cretin trying to annoy me but the fact is you never have the right of way when backing up it’s the law everywhere.
Usually whoever the police said was at fault…
Using the terminology “He/She hit me” is important too. Good luck with it.
Just remember, insurance companies are horrible to deal with when you are not their customer. If you have collision coverage I’d run it through my own insurance company and let them fight it out with the other guys insurance.
It depends on where you live and what the regulations are with your insurance carrier, but generally its always partially your fault.
Even if you know 100% it was not your mistake, insurance companies generally argue that something was wrong with you.
Otherwise, if you filed a police report, it’d probably state what the officer perceived to have happened, and most likely the other guy will get the “higher blame.”
If what you say is true, most insurance companies would find both parties at fault to be honest with you. You could have been more attentive and done something to avoid the situation and they could have been more attentive and done something to prevent the situation. I see these situations all the time.
The collision was the fault of the person backing out of the parking space. It is the same on the thoroughfare in a parking lot as it is on the road. The person going forward in the thoroughfare has the right of way.
I agree Timbuk4, never does someone going backward have the right of way anywhere.
The person backing out of the parking space has the greater duty to make sure the way was clear, therefore it will be the other driver’s fault.
Parking lots are accidents waiting to happen.
Most likely they will put fault on both of you, but the majority will be on the person backing up. There is a misconception that since you are driving thu the parking lot, you have the right of way, but you still have a duty to look for cars backing up, since that is what people do when they park their car and leave.
You state you were driving 10 km/h, but the other person could argue that since they did not see you, you were driving like 25 km/h, so driving too fast. They could argue that since this is a parking lot, you could have seen the other persons back up lights and stopped, honked etc and you were not looking out for other cars, since you stated, you heard the crash and saw her to your right. When someone is backing, it is sometimes almost impossible to see anything till you start to back up. Since I have a car, and if I am parked next to a SUV or truck, cant see to either side in many cases to see if oncoming traffic.
My guess is that this will be decided at 70/30 or 80/20 since this is a parking lot. Very few adjusters will pay out at 100% in parking lot accidents, so expect them to put some fault on you.
good luck
Parking lot accidents tend to be rated 50-50 by most insurance companies unless there is over-whelming evidence, and several impartial witnesses, such as the Pope and the Dalai Lama that one driver exhibited gross negligence. This one would be a tough sell, he can say he didn’t see you until the last minute because you were speeding, you can say he didn’t look, it is likely going to be a saw-off.
Good luck, maybe you will be one of the rare exceptions.