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Original poster

Car accident in car park, advice needed please.

26 replies

SalaciousCrumb · 12/07/2015 18:37

Hi I hope someone can give me some advice.

I reversed out of my space in a car park, into the aisle, and as I moved forwards another car had reversed from his space on the opposite side of the aisle and was right in front of me. He had finished reversing and I hit his car.

I was a bit shaken and as I hit him in the back, I said it was my fault (I know, I shouldn't have done so). I was thinking if you hit someone from behind it's always that driver's fault. Wasn't thinking straight. We exchanged phone numbers, insurance companies, and I remember him saying the insurance companies can sort it out. This was a couple of weeks ago. I contacted my insurance company that evening, reported it, and they said the accident would be the other driver's fault, and not to worry that I had said it was my fault, people say all sorts of things at the scene of an accident.

However, the other driver rang me yesterday and said he was waiting for me to contact him as I had admitted responsibility. There was no agreement between us for me to do that, insurance companies only mentioned. I told him the insurance company said they think it's his fault, and he asked 'are you denying responsibility?' I said I shouldn't have said it was my fault, and I was a bit shaken at the time. He said it will be paid for from my insurance and he will contact me again with a quote.

I don't think he will want to claim through his insurance; I remember him saying his other car was a write off due to something else that was similar. On reflection, I don't think it was my fault, as I was already on the aisle and he reversed, even though I hit him. I think it's either 50/50 or his fault.

I know everybody says never admit fault, I could kick myself. Does this mean he has a strong case to argue? When he rings back I want to tell him it's in the hands of my insurance company and I am not prepared to enter into any further conversation.

Thanks in advance!

OP posts:
TequilaMockinBird · 12/07/2015 18:43

If he had finished reversing and you drove forward into his car then I'm sorry to say that I think it's your fault.

I know that's not what you want to hear but IMO you should have looked and therefore seen him before you accelerated forwards.

LordEmsworth · 12/07/2015 18:46

I am a bit surprised that if his car was stationary and yours was moving, your insurance company can possibly argue that it was his fault... I would expect that the moving car would always be at fault. But whether you said it or not doesn't change the facts of what happened - I really wouldn't worry about it.

Either way though, you don't have to talk to him at all, let the insurance handle it - that's what you pay your premiums for. Don't let him bully you!

Original poster
SalaciousCrumb · 12/07/2015 20:36

Thanks for replies. My insurance company said as I was already established he should have seen me and not reversed. I just want it out of the way, I am overreacting and feel anxious about it, knotted stomach, probably one more thing on top of family illness to think about. I need some perspective.

Just out of interest, if he wants to claim from my insurance, believing me to be at fault, does he just deal with my insurance company, and if they are saying he is to blame, what happens then?

Thanks.

OP posts:
sanfairyanne · 12/07/2015 22:05

how did you manage to drive forwards and not notice his car was there?? i would be really really annoyed if someone did that and then tried to claim it was my fault. more importantly, what if it had been a pedestrian?

on the insurance thing, you have declared it now so probably no point trying to get it sorted privately. direct him to your insurers if he phones again. it is no longer an issue for you two - let the insurance companies fight it out.

SoupDragon · 12/07/2015 22:11

Tbh, I think it sounds like your fault. He did not reverse in front of you, you drove into him.

SoupDragon · 12/07/2015 22:13

From your script ion it sounds like you reversed out and when you then went to drive forward, you drove into him when he had stopped to drive forward. You must both have been reversing out at pretty much the same time.

gaslamp · 12/07/2015 22:15

Just refer him to your insurance company and don't speak to him again

FuckingLiability · 12/07/2015 22:16

Hand it over to your insurance, it's what you pay them for. If he contacts you again, tell him to speak to his insurance company.

From what you've said, it sounds like you were at fault, I'm afraid.

Original poster
SalaciousCrumb · 12/07/2015 23:04

Sanfairyanne not my judgement, my insurance company said that. Yes, pretty serious if a pedestrian happened to be standing in front of me just as I had reversed out, it's pretty much as SoupDragon has described it. Not had an accident in 10 years. It happened in a matter of seconds.

If it's my fault then so be it.

OP posts:
zipzap · 12/07/2015 23:16

I would speak to your insurance company to update them and ask what they want to do - if you have the other man's insurance details then you should be able to give them to your insurer for them to chase I'd have thought, along with the man's details for them to speak to him.

It might be that as you said it was your fault he has jumped on it and is thinking that he can get away with not telling his insurers - if he's already had one car written off like this then he might be worried about his insurance going up again (some of the no claims stuff you can get away with one or two claims before discounts start to be wiped out) or it might be a scam that he's done before and he did it on purpose hoping that you would write off his car so he could have a new one as it worked for him before... I'd think that his insurers would look closely at a second claim that is very similar to the first and although he was still at the time, he had effectively created the situation (as your insurers are arguing) by reversing at the same time you were - it was just a fluke of timing that he had paused when you backed into him, he might have seen that you were coming and slammed his brakes on so he could say he was stopped for example... A few moments different and he could have been driving into you instead.

Have you contacted the car park where the accident took place to see if there is any cctv footage of the accident that could give a better idea of what happened and show the relative timings to see how the blame should be aportioned between you?

SoupDragon · 13/07/2015 07:06

Leave it for your insurance company to deal with. It's part of what you pay them for after all. If he phones again, tell him that you have passed it on to your insurance company. I don't think you need to deal with the other driver at all - the only reason is if you wanted to pay for a minor repair yourself but this is not the case as you have already informed your insurance company.

sanfairyanne · 13/07/2015 07:14

from his point of view, he started a manoever at the same time as you, perhaps saw you so stopped or perhaps just stopped to look in the direction he was going to move his car and you drove into him. now his car might be written off if it is old, costing him a lot extra out of his own pocket. and you are denying liability, even tho you drove into him.poor guy Sad

TinyManticore · 13/07/2015 07:20

You need to let your insurance company sort it out, it's why you pay them. I don't know legally whose fault it is, but he shouldn't be phoning you and harassing you about it.

SewSlapdash · 13/07/2015 07:36

Something similar happened to me. I gave a description of the accident (including diagrams) to the insurance company and they sorted it out. I think it basically went knock for knock in the end. It wasn't a big deal. Don't speak to him again, just let the insurance deal with it. It hasn't affected my premium very much at all.

SoupDragon · 13/07/2015 07:41

and you are denying liability

No she isn't. Her insurance company said they didn't think it was her fault. It is up to them and the other insurance company to decide.

The other driver shouldn't be harassing her and talking about sending her quotes.

SophiePendragon · 13/07/2015 07:48

I am finding it hard to picture exactly what happened in my head. Do you mean you reversed out of your space, having checked it was clear, then switched quickly from looking in your rear view mirror to driving forwards without checking if someone was now in front of your car?

I can sort of relate to that. Perhaps the guy ought to have realised you were manoeuvring and given you enough time and space to do so.

I have no idea who is at fault but I would be blocking his number and refusing to speak to him as there is no point now it is with the insurance companies. He sounds like he is being contacted by his and realised he might not get off the hook, and wants to bully you into sorting it in person instead when it was his idea to let the two companies sort it initially.

I don't think who is at fault is the issue any more - it is now is behaviour, and it's illogical so do what makes sense and stick with what you have already initiated. Ignore him.

VivaLeBeaver · 13/07/2015 07:55

It does sound like it was your fault but let your insurance company decide. Just tell them the facts and leave it to them.

bloodyteenagers · 13/07/2015 07:58

Why would you contact him directly?
Your insurance company contacts his and they deal with it.
Contact your company, get an update and tell them that he is now going to send quotes directly to you. And since when has this been a thing? Quotes normally go through companies.
You might be surprised to hear that he doesn't have a claim

Turquoiseblue · 13/07/2015 08:01

Let the insurance deal with it.
My aunt was involved in a Collision and the other driver admitted responsibility at the scene. However a few weeks later going through the insurance company they then said they weren't at fault, similar to your situation (we were guessing at advice from re insurance company). It was settled between the insurance company- that s why you pay premiums and they have assessors !
Leave it to them. It didn't matter on the end who said they were responsible in my aunts case. She was upset after thinking it would be easily sewn up.
Othe thought is is there CCTV in the car park ? Or were there any witnesses - security guard etc ?

PurpleWithRed · 13/07/2015 08:07

This is the kind of thing you pay your insurance company to deal with. If you want to go through your insurance company then they will investigate the accident to see who was at fault as they are the ones who will be paying for the damage.

Do what you said - no conversations about whose fault it was, refer him to your insurance company and tell him not to contact you again.

LokiDokey · 13/07/2015 14:58

I think you'll end up at fault here.

Last month I encountered a particularly angry lady who almost hit me changing lanes half way around a roundabout. I slammed on and peeped to warn her she was about to hit me (she'd been standstill halfway around the roundabout and must have decided to go another way, pulling into the moving lane without looking).

She was all fingers up and shouting which I ignored. As we came off the roundabout she slammed on her brakes with her fingers up and I hit her (lightly I add as I wasn't going that fast). Now, I had perfect dashcam footage and could prove her pulling out and purposely slamming on for no reason (nothing in front of her), it even showed her waving the V's, but because I'd hit her up the rear it was still my fault. I had 3 witnesses in a bus stop to her behaviour who all testified to my insurance that it was entirely her aggressive driving that I hit her. My insurance weren't interested at all. My only comfort from this is she hasn't claimed at all for her damage, presumably as she'd have to give a reason why she braked which I could instantly disprove. Her shiny new 15 plate car has a lovely cracked rear bumper now. Hopefully she'll learn her lesson, especially given she had a small child in the back.

Someone once reversed into DH on a one way street as well, the point of impact was the rear. Again, he was found at fault (annoyingly).

Unless you have a really proactive insurance company and some good evidence that it wasn't your fault I think you're going to struggle here.

Original poster
SalaciousCrumb · 13/07/2015 15:07

Thanks for replies all. Just phoned insurance company and they said he can ring them and to give him their number.

OP posts:
SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 13/07/2015 15:12

I would just echo the advice given to leave it all to your insurance company.

There was no need for the other driver to contact you directly, unless you had agreed to pay for his damage/repairs yourself, rather than claiming on your insurance.

If he contacts again, just tell him that his claim is in the hands of your insurers.

I had a car accident recently (totally different circumstances admittedly), and the other parties' insurer (for the person at fault), were the only people I needed to speak to to complete my claim. Oh, and the Police, but that's because it was a larger accident involving two written off cars & blocking a road in rush hour Sad.

It does sound as though you were at fault though, sorry. If you are driving forward any distance at any speed you should be able to see a car or other object in front of you really. I would be very surprised if you could claim a 50/50 responsibility if his car had already finished reversing when the impact occurred. i.e. if he didn't reverse into you.

Try not to worry too much about it though, accidents happen Flowers.

SantasLittleMonkeyButler · 13/07/2015 15:13

x-posts.

CainInThePunting · 13/07/2015 15:23

He is trying to get money from you without going through the insurance claim, as you have already exchanged insurance details you do not need to (and should not) speak to him again.
Echo leaving it to your ensurers.