Accident in Supermarket Car Park, whose fault?

custardy

cybervic wrote: »

Hi,
I am wondering if I could pick some brain here about what to do next please.

I was in the Morrisons' supermarket car park and trying to park in a designated parking space. There was kerb at front end of parking space, and on the edge of the kerb there are rubber covers installed along the edge of the kerb. The rubber cover in the parking space I was going in was loose and tiled above the group, it then went under my car as I drove forward, and caught my front bumper from underneath, then the whole front bumper was ripped off when I was reversing backward.


The first time I contacted Morrisons' insurance team, they rejected my claim and said it was my fault that I drove too far into the parking space. I wrote back, asking them that 1. how far is "too far", 2. Most car parked the same way I did (with photograph proofs), why is there no warning sign if I park too far, and 3. point out that the rubber protection cover is supposed to be fixed by nails and stay right on the ground.

They reply me without any reference to any of my questions and just said the liability is in dispute but they will contribute 50% towards the damage as a good will gesture.

I feel whole heartily it is their negligence because it is almost impossible for any driver to spot that loose rubber cover whilst parking and there was no warning sign or any sorts too. However, I would like to get some objective views please before keep pressing them to cover 100% damage.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Here are some photographs to help understand my description of the event.
https://ibb.co/bQyt8v
https://ibb.co/mfpY8v
https://ibb.co/f1dh1F

So a visual check wouldnt show the fault?
So out with standard maintenance,Morrisons count be aware of the issue?
How do you know it was sitting high before you parked, if you couldnt see the issue? It didnt go 'under' your car,you drove over it.
For all you know it got his by another driver that day.
I think you have done very well to get 50%!

facade

Take their offer.
Driving forwards until the wheels hit the kerb is very common, judging by how many cars I hear scraping the bottom of their spoiler off when reversing, but is a bad idea as it can sometimes end in tears as you have found out.

Usually, the car is a bit lower at the front when reversing, as the back end goes up, so they only catch on the way out, possibly the lip of your bumper/spoiler engaged the lip of their kerb protector and you pulled both off together.

Car_54

AndyMc..... wrote: »

And your point is?

The OP has demonstrated another reason why you shouldn't do it.

Aylesbury_Duck

cybervic wrote: »

Thanks everyone for the fast reply.

I wonder if the some clarifications would make any difference on the general views here.

1. I use this car park regularly and never had this problem when parking near the kerb so I would say that I know my car ground clearance well enough to say that it should not cause any problem. But you don't know your car's clearance was the same. Lower tyre pressures or a shift to your bumper caused by a bump over a pothole for example could have lowered your car enough for the problem to occur

2. I did not spot the raised rubber cover before I parked but I always move very slow when parking to avoid any damage. I am sure their CCTV can verify that I drove in very slowly. I don't see speed being a factor. You drove in slowly but still suffered damage. The cause here is clearance, not impact speed.

3. I stopped the car going forward the moment I heard a tiny strange noise (not loud because I moved in very slow.) Did you get out and check what the problem was, or did you reverse at this point and pull the bumper off?

4. The loose rubber cover was cover with dirt/muck on both side, and the way it discoloured around the nail hole and would suggest that I didn't just pull it out. I have some photographs.Probably a little over-forensic for a relatively minor incident. You didn't spot the cover being raised when you pulled in, which suggests to me that it's possible that your car was the one which pulled it up.

5. If the cover wasn't raised, there would have been 1"-2" ground clearance, I also have the photographs to verify this.

6. The car did not have any prior impact, it had a new radiator 3 month prior this and the bumper was completely fine.


And Yes, it felt like I was in one of those bizarre comedy.

No, I'm afraid it doesn't change my original view. I'd accept the 50% which I think is fair in the circumstances.

EssexExile

They don't make'em like they used to. I did a similar thing with my Vauxhall Carlton many years ago. I just pushed the bumper back into place & carried on motoring for many more years.

Strider590

cybervic wrote: »

What they've done there is set out a path for people to access the boot of their car, unfortunately only a couple of drivers whose car is photographed here, can actually reverse a car into a parking space.

The rear bumper on most cars is higher than the front too.

Retrogamer

As others have mentioned i would take their offer as it's very generous.

If the rubber part was loose prior to you driving in there, then it wouldn't have been able to rip your bumper off. It would have got dragged back with the bumper, or simple tipped over and went under it.

It appears that the rubber part was firmly in place but perhaps for some reason slightly higher than the other parts. You drove in, clipped it and it's caught on your bumper whilst trying to reverse off. In reversing off you tore off the bumper and tore the rubber part from the tarmac.

You should ensure the area you are driving in is clear before doing so. I would imagine a lot of people would deem it negligent to drive into a stationary object at slow speed which results ind amage to both the car and the object.

photome

I am a bit confused, when we're the cable ties added, before or after the incident. If before then I assume your bumper wasn't secured properly to start with, or did you have the cable ties in the car ready for such an incident.

As others have said there must have been a scrape as you drove in. If you had stopped at that point and reversed , I don't think you would have pulled your bumper off.

I think 50% is fair

cybervic

Each rubber cover had 5 nails fixed to the ground, and it was a Taxi driver who happened to be taking his break there helped me out with cable tying the bumper back and pointed out to me that the 2 nail holes on the rubber cover were not new compare to the other 2 nail holes that looked like a new rip.
All the bumper screws were still on the car, it was the plastic and rubber bits all around the inside of bumper that were teared so it was a clear sign of rip damage, bumper cosmetic is fine from outside.

Thanks for the input though, I really appreciate it!!!

I'll just take the offer even though I still feel a bit bitter. I did get off the car and could not see any obvious strange things so I went in and reversed. I could have sworn it looked completely normal when I drove in but it would be just my words and no proof. I guess that's just life. I hope they won't write off my car as I just spend some good money on expansive parts last year.

rtho782

I would take the offer.

Although, I have a Passat B5.5 myself (2004) and the bumper is really easy to attach/remove. It's just held on by a few bolts/screws. You could reattach it really cheaply/easily yourself.