Hi all,

My girlfriend was involved in a car accident today and I have been trying to help her with the insurance. I honestly am quite ignorant when it comes to insurance claims etc. but I do not believe that she is at fault.

The incident happened in a very large apartment complex that has 20 buildings and quite a bit of road. She was going 15 mph in a 5mph and a corporate van pulled out of a parking spot at a high rate of speed. He reversed into the driver side door and the momentum was great enough to knock her into the rear bumper of a truck that was to the right of her which in turn destroyed the front end of her car. No airbags went off, and there is no damage to the frame. She only has liability insurance and I am not aware of how that works since I have always had full coverage.

I am assuming that the other driver is at fault and his insurance will need to pay for the damage to her car and the truck (extremely minimal damage). However, she is in need of a rental car, repairs, etc. Will they supply her with a rental car after that? I also talked with the tow truck driver for a short moment and we both agreed that even though she was going over the speed limit he will be at fault since he backed into her. Do you guys think that is true?

Thanks, and my apologies for the questions if they seem quite stupid. I have been googling everything and I wanted to talk to her insurance agent, but I haven't had the ability to.

 

Make sure you get her to file a police report!
Also any pictures surely would help this situation,....make sure she doesnt EVER admit to going over the speed limit, they(the vans insurance) might use it against her claiming if she was going slower she would have seen the reverse lights.
She had the right of way no matter how they look at it though so that is in her favor. The insurance will pay for a rental if and when they realize their client is at fault. The car in which she was pushed in to will probably get involved and they will most likely see it the way it happened, as you state here and then there will be two claims going towards the van. They wont like that and will probably cause some delays.

This same type of thing happened to me right at the university,...kid pulled out of the 7-11 as i was going north on Virginia St, he hit me, denied all fault, but after filing the police report, and them looking at where it happened, how he was at a stop and had to wait for cross traffic he was 100% at fault. I got everything taken care of and still curse when I hear his name on the radio for UNR football(stupid jock) LOL

 

If she gets a rental now, one of two things will happen. If the van insurance accepts liability they should cover it from the date you obtained a rental. You do run the risk of them denying the claim and you are this stuck with the rental bill

 

Did you admit to going over?
Regardless she still had the right away.

 

Police report is the first step. Calling her insurance is 2nd. She'll need to get the damage appraised by a licenses facility and then she can get a rental car once her car is in the shop. As for who is at fault or even if anyone is at fault is State particular. No need to mention rate of speed if possible; that could swing fault 50-50. Don't lie on report, use low estimate speed. Prepare for other driver to lie, so get facts straight.

 

If she was not cited for speeding, keep your mouth shut about that.

 

Also depends if your state has a no-fault clause