A car one (with pic!) WWYD??

[Kubricklayer]

Yesterday afternoon I was at a drive thru. Ordered my food and was told to wait in one of the bays, so I parked in the only available bay right in the corner of the car park.

Received my food and promptly went to leave. I put the car in reverse, looked in my rear view mirror, saw there was nothing there and started reversing.

Almost immediately there was a coming together of me and a van which was in the perpendicular row of spaces (see pic). Not much damage to either vehicle. Light scuff on my rear wheel arch and bit of paint off the front of his works van.

2 questions:

1. Who was at fault?
2. Should I report to my insuance?

For 1) I think it was a genuine 50:50 accident. His van was so big it was over the front of the space and about a foot from the side of my car. So as I'm reversing I'd have no way of telling he was moving forward. Equally given the close proximity he'd probably not easily see my reverse lights were on.

For 2) I know someone who can fix it for £150, so I'd rather do that than say to my insurance. But the guy was really pissed off calling me a stupid f*king cnt and a halfwit etc so I'm concerned I don't say anything, he tries to claim off me and how the insurance company will view that?.

Appreciate any advice.

The drive thru employee said they could identify both vehicles but as we were in the far corner of the car park we were in their cameras blind spot for seeing the specific incident.

I'm not against telliny my insurance. I've been driving for 23 years and this scuff is the first incident I've had in all that time. My insurance was £440 last year so even if it doubled I'd take it on the chin. (Actually anyone estimate what the increase would be on a small scuff for a 40yo with 20+ no claims?)

I just thought pragmatically. I could get a friend to do it for £150. Or do it officially through Hyundia who'd probably charge £900 or something silly. I'd still pay my £150 excess and my insurance would fork out £750. So in my head it's better for everyone if I didn't report it surely?

Sorry, I think if you were reversing and he wasn’t then you’re at fault.
Also, lol at you thinking he wouldn’t have called a woman those names 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Where was the impact?
If it was towards the front of your car I think it would be more obvious he hit you but if you hit the front of his then it would suggest it is your fault.
Either way ther ewas no need for him to be an aggressive wanker about it, these things happen and its why I always reverse into a space even if its a bit harder to do so.
He may well not take it further

Men who call women cunts have issues. No one died yet he is so worked up he calls you a cunt 10 times. Extreme.

Thanks for the advice. I say I think he drove forward but if I was talking to insurers I wouldve say he did move forward whilst I was reversing. I reversed directly backwards and his van would have to be significantly out of his space of car and van to contact. I only said think because it happened so quickly I was almost like 'how'd that happen? One mimute I check my mirrors, next second we bump'.

Possibility he was on his phone and not looking?

Just want to say that's the best diagram I've seen on here 👍

This is the reason I never reverse out of a parking space. Why don't people just reverse IN to a space.
Sorry, your at fault imo

If you don't want your insurance company to fix it, then you can report the accident to them on the basis of 'notification/for info only' (I did this when someone pulled out in front of me, and their insurance company dealt with me direct) - then if the van driver comes back with a claim at a later date, your insurance company are already aware and there's no queries from them about why they weren't told at the time. Tell them he left without giving you any contact details, but the drive-through have the number plate if they want to follow up.

Wow. Thanks to all those complimenting the diagram. I would say I genuinely have the artistic capabilities of a 6 year old, so these comments have given me an unexpected lift! 😁

ALWAYS reverse into a space. ALWAYS.

That said, there is no excuse for him being an utter arse.

Fair enough. I do almost always reverse into a space. The only time (with exception to yesterdat) I don't is if I'm someone where there's a heavy presence of traffic and I know upon leaving there will be nobody around. For example, parking in an indutrial estate at 7pm on a saturday night, going to the cinema and coming out at 11pm and the place is dead.

Still a lesson. Nobody is above continual improvement. 😀

As someone else has said you can tell your insurance without opening a claim and they will then only open a claim if his insurance contacts and requests it. You can say that you were reversing and he drove slightly into the side of your car and there was little damage to either vehicle and you will sort your own repair to avoid claiming unnecessarily. They will contact you if he then does make a claim. The only risk you run with using a friend is that if he does claim you will have the same impact on insurance plus the money you’ve paid for your own repair. So may be worth waiting a bit to see if he claims before paying out of pocket.

Just tell your insurance. Given his is a work van and he seems to be of the opinion that 'a stupid cunt reversed into me' that's likely what he'll tell the work office and so they'll probably rightly put it to their insurance. You don't want to be arguing with their insurance, you want your insurance doing that. So I would tell your insurance, but say that he drove into your side while you were reversing in a carpark, don't rush to get it fixed, you'll need the evidence of where the mark is to show that he was moving into your side, not you reversing into his front.

It depends where the damage is. An insurane company would be able to tell who was at fault from the nature of the damage. So two questions:
Was the main damage to the rear of your car or the side?

Was the main damage to the rear of the van or the side?

Yes I know you were reversing but he was facing forward and pulled out.

If he had called me c**t repeatedly and acted aggressively towards me I would e gunning for him. I wouldn’t care about getting him in trouble. Absolutely no need for that behaviour ever never mind over damaged paintwork.

Yes, that’s unfortunately an example of what they call “male privilege”. Absolutely no idea how some men treat and talk to women. That’s not your fault though OP, just how it is!

I am sorry you were on the receiving end of his terrible attitude and I expect if you were a woman he would not have been any better behaved, perhaps worse, as women are easier to intimidate.

I drive a very big car (not by choice!), and I hate parking it because of its size, but I ALWAYS reverse park it because it’s so much safer when leaving the parking space.

While I agree that he should have seen your intention to reverse, you also should look in your wing mirrors, not just your rear view mirror.

In reality, it's a 50:50 thing - you could have both done something better.

In the eyes of insurance companies, however, you will be deemed more at fault because you were carrying out the more "dangerous" manoeuvre.

I know two people that had accidents that were, using common sense, entirely the fault of the other driver, but were held 50:50 just because they were manoeuvring out of parking spaces.

In my non-expert opinion I’m guessing whether it’s 50/50 or not depends on if he was moving at the time or stationary. If he was stationary and you were reversing straight i’m guessing liability will be with you as I suppose you should’ve seen the positioning of his vehicle over the bay and turned your wheel accordingly.

But, regardless, report to insurance and let them do the legwork. It’s not worth you getting into a back and forth with the other driver if you already know he is aggressive.

I doubt the van driver is insured if he didn't swap any details or take photos.

Is your no claims protected?

I would follow @Daisypopp88 advice and contact your insurance company.

But although I know that is what you should always do, a while ago I had a scrape with someone in a works van. We were on a narrow road I know well, I knew the space was too tight so I stopped, expecting him to reverse back slightly where the road was wider, but he carried on and scraped my wheel arch. So it was his fault, but as in your case it was scuffs. We agreed not to bother with with insurance / repairs, as the scuffs could be polished out. Admittedly he was rather more pleasant than your guy though!

Just wondering why so many people are saying always reverse into a space. For the OP to have reversed in to this space she would have had to have turned around in the 'road' area of the car park, to get in to a position to reverse into the corner and then manoeuvre in to what I am assuming was quite a tight space? All sorts of potential dings can happen during that.

Also, in a supermarket car park, you have to drive in forwards or there will be a high chance you won't be able to access your boot for all the shopping.

I can see there is sometimes a slight advantage and it's a bit less likely for dings to happen by reversing in and driving forward out but it's minimal, you've still got to reverse in.

It's a tricky one here as I think it's pretty much always the reversers fault, but it does sound like he drove in to the side of you wile you were already moving. Interesting one. I think one for the insurers and hopefully the restaurant will have CCTV.

I would get your car fixed for £150
He can claim off your insurance if he wants to - you won't pay excess , although it will affect your premiums.

Please don't be tempted to settle this without involving your insurance company. It will affect your premiums, but you need to report this to your insurance company and let them decide liability. It sounds like the other driver is a very unpleasant bully who probably cannot be trusted. Report it now and avoid any unpleasantness later on.