Madfish

What a crappy night!

Just nipped to my local sainsbury's and the carpark was quite busy.

Looking for a space I spot one and stop the car to reverse into it.

As i'm stopped the car parked to the right of me reverses out of their bay and hits my back quarter panel!!

We do the usual data exchange and she, at the time, admits responsibilty but since getting home and talking with her husband now wants to settle through the insurance companies.

I'm worried about a few things...

1) with it being a private car park where does insurance stand?

2) If she decides to deny fault what happens then?

3) the damage doesn't seem to bad at first look, there is a small 4 inch long dent on the rear quarter (right on the arch edge) and there is a little chip off the paint on the wheel. My biggest concern is suspension damage and the cost of repair!

As far as I can tell it drove home without any obvious problems and no pulling in either direction. The back wheel seemed to turn true and there are no weird noises.

The bump was at very slow speed 2-3mph, i'm just hoping that the back suspension isn't bent/damaged.

The 3rd party is now requesting insurance details but i'm worried i'm going to get stung here and loose no claims and have a hike in insurance premium (even though it deffinately was not my fault)

Any advice appreciated guys...

Thanks,
Mark

Sorry if this post seems a little ragged, i'm still fuming, upset and devastated

Chinook

You should have nothing to worry about, even with insurance companies getting involved, providing you can prove it was her fault. The best way is with independant witnesses - you didn't say if you had any - either to her admitting liability or to the the sequence of events.

martin j

In case of an accident I always try to get a note accepting liability at the time signed and dated, I take it you have nothing like this?

Madfish

No witnesses that would stop unfortunately and I didn't get anything other than the insurance and contact details of the 3rd party...

Hopefully the 3rd party is gonna play fair and admit fault with their insurance...

Can anyone recommend a good bookshop in teesside to get a quote for repairs? Is it worth getting the geo checked and keeping the receipt for the work just to check if anything is bent?

Petron

Did you take any photo's? A picture paints a thousand words and all that

Madfish

Nope...

Dan Hale

CCTV in the car park?

Nick Graves

Sorry to hear it.

Hopefully they'll be decent.

Chinook

CCTV is a good suggestion, I had an RTA 10 years ago and private security kindly offered the CCTV of the incident - didn't need it, but it was a good lever.

punchdrunk

It seems that you would prefer that she just gave you a wad of cash and apologised for denting your car.

She is taking the right course of action in leaving it in the hands of her insurers and you should too else she can report you to the Police.

There's not really much more you can do other than stating what you deem to be the facts and hope the case is settled in your favour.

Good luck