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Parked car opened their door in to my moving car as I drove past. Who's at fault?

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Comments

  • wrightk
    wrightk Posts: 975 Forumite
    if the damage is just to the door,cant you go to your local scrapyard/breakers for an identical door and get someone local to fit it/diy.get the other party to pay for this

    there are several breakers in my area who will remove the door while you wait.the choice of parts/panels and vehicles are quite staggering and you can haggle the price down
    Even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day, and for once I'm inclined to believe Withnail is right. We are indeed drifting into the arena of the unwell.
  • Altarf
    Altarf Posts: 2,916 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 12 September 2015 at 4:49PM
    AdrianC wrote: »
    Straightforward 50/50 if it goes to insurance.

    Straightforward 0/100 if it went to insurance.
    samphe wrote: »
    As I was driving along slowly as I had just come around a corner, a passenger in a parked car opened their door in to my car door

    Nothing to do with the driver or the car insurance of the car where the door was opened, as the damage was caused by the passenger.

    The insurance company of the car that the passenger was in, could therefore tell the OP's insurance company to do one.

    I await standard (incorrect) responses of -

    "blah blah blah" involving that is not how insurance works
    "blah blah blah" invoking moral responsibility of driver of the car the passenger was in
    "blah blah blah" stating of course it is the responsibility of the driver's insurance company
    "blah blah blah" involving some fantasy about how it is the driver's fault the passenger opened the door
  • Car_54
    Car_54 Posts: 9,024 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Altarf wrote: »
    Straightforward 0/100 if it went to insurance.



    Nothing to do with the driver or the car insurance of the car where the door was opened, as the damage was caused by the passenger.

    The insurance company of the car that the passenger was in, could therefore tell the OP's insurance company to do one.

    I await standard (incorrect) responses of -

    "blah blah blah" involving that is not how insurance works
    "blah blah blah" invoking moral responsibility of driver of the car the passenger was in
    "blah blah blah" stating of course it is the responsibility of the driver's insurance company
    "blah blah blah" involving some fantasy about how it is the driver's fault the passenger opened the door

    I'm sorry if this post falls into one of your three categories, but ....

    Third party insurance is defined in the Road Traffic Act 1984 thus: "The policy must insure such person, persons or classes of persons as may be specified in the policy in respect of any liability which may be incurred by him or them in respect of the death of or bodily injury to any person or damage to property caused by, or arising out of, the use of the vehicle on a road or other public place ..."

    So the deciding factor is the use of the vehicle, not whether it was the driver or passenger at fault.
  • Altarf
    Altarf Posts: 2,916 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 19 December 2025 at 8:30PM
    [quote=[Deleted User];69148268]I'm sorry if this post falls into one of your three categories, but ....

    Third party insurance is defined in the Road Traffic Act 1984 thus: "The policy must insure such person, persons or classes of persons as may be specified in the policy in respect of any liability which may be incurred by him or them in respect of the death of or bodily injury to any person or damage to property caused by, or arising out of, the use of the vehicle on a road or other public place ..."

    So the deciding factor is the use of the vehicle, not whether it was the driver or passenger at fault.[/QUOTE]

    It falls into both categories one and three (and there were four categories, not three).

    Try reading what you quoted "The policy must insure such person, persons or classes of persons as may be specified in the policy in respect of any liability which may be incurred by him"

    If there is any liability, it is due to the negligence of the passenger not the driver. As there is no liability for the driver, the policy does not not apply.
  • prowla
    prowla Posts: 14,272 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Altarf wrote: »
    "The policy must insure such person, persons or classes of persons as may be specified in the policy in respect of any liability which may be incurred by him"...
    ..."or them" is what it states.
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