wife was driving down an aisle/lane in a parking lot. On her right were two adjacent rows of 'head-in' parking spaces so that drivers in my wife's aisle could park head-in, and cars driving one aisle over would also park head in so that both parked cars would face each other. Basically a double row of parking spaces on her right.

As my wife was in her aisle, my wife was about to pass an empty spot. She wasn't turning into it. The car which had been parked in the next row drove forward through the empty spot between two parked cars in order to turn R into the aisle my wife was driving in, and hit my wife's car on the side creating a small front fender dent and minor damage to the door.

Drivers exchanged info rather than call and wait for the police, so there's no police report. It seems clear to me that it was the other driver's fault.

We got a quote to fix for $1100. (Surprisingly cheap actually). The other driver has offered to pay us $700. I feel he should pay the full amount. My wife feels she's partly to blame since the other car was turning into her lane in front of her (even though he hit her on the side) and should have seen/anticipated it.

Should my wife have been able to see the car driving between two parked cars turning into her lane (and we pay about 40 %) ?

Or should we insist that he pay 100% ?

 

You're fortunate that the other party has offered to pay anything at all since the party has no legal obligation to do so in your case. I'd be upset for a while but eventually get over it after accepting the $700.

 

Hands down they should pay 100%. They were entering the lane of traffic. When you say that they exchanged info hopefully that included insurance info. If you have their insurance info report it to your insurance and let them deal with it. Don't give that estimate in with it.

 

Yes they should pay 100%. However the fight to get the other $400 may cost more than it's worth.

 

Since you said $1100 seemed low go to the most expensive shop in town & let them price it.

 

unfortunately, wife did not get other driver's insurance info. Just name, address, phone, e-mail and business card.

 

Your kinda SOL then I'd say

 

Always call the police for a accident report!

 

If the other driver got your insurance info, they may have started to get theirs fixed. With no insurance card offered, they may not have any and may drag you on and on waiting for money you will never see. I suggest you try to get the 700 ASAP. Even if you had called the police, you were on private property. In Missouri they won't help much. Next time insist on an insurance card.

 

Depends on the state you're in and the insurance laws governing it. I.e. Contributory negligence, comparative negligence, no fault..

In some states, if one party 'contributed' any negligence or a percentage of, they receive nothing. Some can be deemed a percentage at fault and owe such amount(comparative).

Laws vary state to state and can vary as to negligence and amount 'at fault' or owed.

 

#1 she should have gotten the other drivers insurance. What is your deductible? If its more than $400 then take the $700. Police generally will not respond to parking lot accidents as its private property, so either way you would not have a police report. As the other driver ran into the side of her car, its automatically their fault.

 

From what I read, it is definitely the other drivers' fault, similar to driving down the street and someone pulls out of a driveway and hits you.

 

You should turn all of this over to your insurance company. This is why you have insurance.

Your wife should have gotten insurance info from the other driver, but what if he had refused to provide it? Did she jot down the car's license number? She has his contact info. Give that to your insurance company.

The fact that the dent is in your car indicates that he hit you, which means that he is at fault. Doesn't matter what your wife should or should not have done.

The bottom line is, you should not be negotiating with this guy at all. It's not up to him top offer some arbitrary amount. It is up to him to make you whole. Again, this is why you have insurance. They will pursue him, taking him to court if necessary, to recover the loss.

The police are likely irrelevant. The accident took place in a parking lot, which is private property. Unless there were injuries, if you had called them, they probably would have just told you to exchange insurance info and be on your way.

 

^^^This. I might add, check and see if there may be some security footage.
You have to hurry on that though. They reset every so many hours or days.

 

I'll offer an opinion since I am by profession a commercial auto/liability claim adjuster, licensed in numerous states throughout the US - accident is the other party's fault 100% by reason of pulling through a parking spot to access a travel aisle which your wife already occupied with right-of-way. Police do not typically respond to or write reports for private property events unless injuries and/or serious damages are asserted. She ideally should have gotten the insurance info, if any - or at least copied/photographed the vehicle, its registration and license plate info for a background check to be performed later if needed but not necessarily a deal-breaker that she may not have. Your insurance company won't likely take the other party to court based on the relatively minimal damages they'd be subrogated to (meaning subject to recover on your behalf), but you can certainly file in small claims court instead to hopefully secure a judgment for the appropriate damages. Note the court can't force the other party to pay even if judgment is rendered in your favor, but if they didn't pay you could keep a judgment filed within the court which would follow them around and adversely affect their credit until formally satisfied. You don't have to take the $700 if damages are legitimately higher but if that's all they have or all they're offering, your options are unfortunately somewhat limited as to pursuing more. Best bet - if possible, find out if they have insurance and chase their company for your claim - as long as the other party doesn't thereafter dispute what happened, the other carrier would appraise your damages and cut you a check for repairs by the shop of your choice. If possible, check with the store where accident occurred to see if any surveillance cameras caught the event - if so, try to obtain a recording for proof of the occurrence. Good luck - I see this stuff all the time and only half of it ends the way you want it to

 

Law in all states, any accident you must provide copy of your insurance to other driver. If driver will not then the police get involved. We live in a no fault state (MI), so your on your own here. You can sue other driver for deductible but not always successful.
Mother in law just had an accident here two weeks, traded paint, cops said if less than $1,000 damage they don't even come out.

 

^this. having personal experience for an accident in a parking lot, it was private property, no police involved, no accident report, zip, zilch, nada. Know the laws of your state.

all information, including insurance information should have been exchanged when the incident occurred. good luck. expect the worst, but hope for the best.

 

Our insurance has a $500.00 deductible on all of our personal cars. From what I understand $500.00 is not bad since guys I know have upwards of 1k to lower their yearly premiums.
I would grab the $700.00 and call it good myself since it happened on private property.
If photo's we not taken of both vehicles plus proper information exchanged then buddy could just opt out on not paying and reverse the act making it your wife's fault with no photo's/witnesses/DL/or insurance info.
I have heard stories of these incidents happening where the at fault party pursued a small claim and received the judgement in their favour. ( When you have employees your hear just about everything over the years)
I would just take the $700.00 and move on if it were me.
All the best .

 

The insurance companies try that nonsense no fault clause all the time banking average people don't know what it really means. They want you to believe it has to do with collision so they can use that not to pay you out. No Fault is for Medical Injuries sustained in the accident only. Any agent or company that tells you different is lying. Tell them this when they try to sell you that s@#t sandwich. If they insist you are wrong, which they will most definitely say, ask to speak to a supervisor and when the supervisor tells you the same tell them you want a company letterhead stating this with their signature on it. If it's the truth you will get your letter if not you will get excuses. Stick to your guns on this issue always. They bank on the general public's lack of knowledge. If it is 100% not your fault you have no deductible. If you fight hard you can usually get between 85-90% no fault. But brace yourself you are in for a rough battle. Never allow them to have an edge. They will play every situation against you. It's the agent's job to keep your money.

As far as the "under $1000 in damage" and PD not coming out, who authorizes them to be insurance adjusters. As a civil servant I can assure you that is not in there job description as a peace officer. Call it in and don't tell them how much damage there is. If the dispatcher asks tell them it looks like the car is a total. Unless you are an adjuster, it's not your responsibility to provide PD with an estimate. However unfortunate it can be at times, in this country it's not a crime to be stupid so that's the time to play dumb and clueless. I can't tell you how many ridiculous calls I've been on in the last 20 years, only that it's in the high 100's.

I feel your pain, but don't allow insurance companies to get over on you or feel guilty for minor police assistance. You pay your taxes and they are there to serve. I'm a huge advocate for police and in no way do I suggest wasting there time but this is part of their job as public servants.

 

Was the purpose here to avoid an ins. claim? If not, turn it over to your ins co, let them pay for the repair and go after the other guy.

Why pay the ins premium year-after-year and not use it when needed?

 

Bummer!

I hope you can get it straightened out.