Car park scrape - where do I stand legally?

50Twuncle

OddballJamie wrote: »

Any chance you could clarify what you meant by illegal?

I am assuming that the OP believes that there is some kind of law that prevents people from 'overlap' parking ...........
Which is something that I tend to do - to try to put off drivers from parking too close to me and opening their doors on my paintwork !!
It generally works - but maybe the OP thought that he could squeeze in - in any case !
Surprised that he failed to hear the graunching of bodywork being ripped off....
(just joking)

JoCornet

By "illegal" I meant "contravening parking regulations" - in other words overlapping the lines, or parking in a non-designated space. One of the dictionary definitions of "illegal" is "prohibited by official rules".

It's hardly relevant anyway, is it, bearing in mind that I specifically stated that nobody was illegally parked. The spaces are very narrow, and there is a fence on the opposite side that makes manoeuvring difficult. When I parked, the space next to me was empty. I realise I should have waited for the other driver to move, and I have said that already.

Retrogamer

smjxm09 wrote: »

It would be worth pointing out that even if the other party was not at fault his premium would still go up even it it was protected.

Retrogamer wrote: »

That depends on the insurance company. Not all will "load" a policy due to a non fault claim, only some.

21Twinkle wrote: »

IMPORTANT POINT :
This was NOT a "NON-FAULT" claim

It's a non fault claim for the third party which my response was to.

50Twuncle

Retrogamer wrote: »

It's a non fault claim for the third party which my response was to.

We know - we were only messing around! !
PS welcome to the forum

Chippie

To be honest, if in this situation I would definitely have tapped on the other guy's window and asked him politely to move his car. He must have been quite an ignoramus anyway to just sit in his car watching you struggle to get out without offering to move to make things easier for you. But that's what some people are like nowadays I guess, "I'm alright Jack"!

oldhand

Surprised his solicitor hasnt sent the letter to you yet,you know the one begins,"my client has suffered a whiplash injury and is seeking damages".............;)

Gavin83

Contact your insurance company, it's not worth the hassle. Your already aware he's taken it to an expensive repairer, he can also ask for hire car costs or loss of wages and theres nothing stopping him suing you for whiplash in a few months time. This could cost thousands.

You also won't be able to get your insurance company involved once the costs mount up as you'll have broken the policy conditions. If they find out they'll cancel your policy anyway, potentially adding many more thousands onto your bill.

Potentially (and I say potentially) over the course of your driving you could lost out by a five figure sum easily just because you didn't go through the insurance company.

If you hit another car go through the insurance, it saves a lot of potential hassle for everyone.

GwylimT

Have you considered the added cost for a courtesy car while the car is being repaired? You cannot tell the extent of damage from a photo, you cannot tell how deep it is and you cannot tell if the bumper needs replacing.

Small bangs can damage the clips, sometimes they can be repaired, other times they can't and so the whole bumper needs replacing, a small hit can cause the head light clips to break at certain angles. The 107 has a screw bumper and so the fixings should be okay, but if the bumper is unable to gain its original appearance without filling it will likely be cheaper to just replace the whole bumper.

You have no say, it is entirely up to the other driver as to whether or not they wish to settle privately or go through their insurance.