Who's fault is this?

Shade_2

Hi everyone. This may be a long post so please bear with me. I need to ask experienced drivers for their opinion on this (or anyone else). Basically I've been driving for nearly 2 years now & I'm very careful, no accidents, always check mirrors etc. Anyway yesterday I was turning down my entry but found it blocked by a large lorry. Luckily I had only just turned into the entry so I could easily back up. Naturally I was going slow and looking over my blind spots & checking mirrors. I do this like 2nd nature because its a very busy road. To the right of the entry is about 5 parking bays for neighbours and 3 houses then a row of shops so is quite busy. To the left of the entry is a curved kerd, double yellow lines & a row of houses with no parking bays until half way down the road. Anyway back to the point (sorry for rambling) as I was reversing back I took notice of what was going on around me and I let 2 cars pass me on the road behind before I continued reversing back. I did not see any cars parked to left of me or any on-coming traffic. I looked forward a minute to make sure the lorry wasn't coming towards me and then continued reversing and heard a bang. I thought I hit the Kerb so I pulled up on the bays and my neighbour came to me.


Neighbour said she was apparently sitting in her car parked to the left on the entry (as I already stated this was clear & if she had parked there her car would of overlapped the entry slightly due to a lampost on the left side & it wouldn't of been a straight back reverse, instead I would of had to carefully reverse around the obstruction with eyes firmly glued out of back window) and thought I had seen her. I was very suprised & adament with her that she was not parked there & I didn't see her. She showed me the dent on her car & I offered to pay out of pocket & gave her the number of a guy who will sort it out for her. I didn't want to lose my NCB so this was all I could do. When I got home I was thinking about what had happened & I don't think she was parked at the time. My mum was with me & she said it was all clear & the neighbour wasn't parked & there was no other cars around apart from the ones in the bay. I've looked at my car & there's a very small dent (pea-sized) on my right rear bumper & the damage on my neighbours car is on the left side, under her light but above the bumper - also a dent but fist size.

Once again Im sorry this is so long but there's no one I can ask about this. I think that while I was reversing the neighbour must of came behind me & turned into the entry - hence my bumping her left side & not seeing her. Does this sound possible? Whose fault does this sound like?

Mac2308

It sounds like your neighbour is taking the P. Probably a previous bump she's had and looking for a scapegoat to pay for it. Does she have any witnesses?

Inactive

We only have one side of a two sided story, if your neighbour was stationary and you were moving, it is your fault.

jonathon

Inactive wrote: »

We only have one side of a two sided story, if your neighbour was stationary and you were moving, it is your fault.

agreed allways the moving cars fault

LittleTinker

Your fault, sorry.

Even if she wasnt there when you started, she was there when you hit her.

Hintza

Whoever is to blame you would be advised to just pay up. You don't really want a claim against your insurance at this stage in your driving career. Try and sort it out as amicably as possible. If you get too pushy they will just go through insurance.

JimmyTheWig

Trouble is, you've as good as admitted it to her. Unfortunately I think it's just one of those things.

Shade_2

Hi all & thank you for your help. My neighbour came round earlier & I've told her I'll take responsibility for the damage. We were talking about how it happened & she said she came from my left side & said it was both our faults & she didn't see me reversing just like I didn't see her. But to keep the peace I'll pay up even though its completely different to what she told me in the begining.

There is one more thing though. The mechanic I know gave me a "mates rate" quote for her damage but she wants her bumper replaced when it isn't necessary. Do I have to replace her bumper because she wants me to? She also wants me to give her the money for the damage but I don't know her very well (only in passing really & because she lives a few doors down from me) so I would prefer to give the money directly to the mechanic. What do you think? Thank you again.

natalie1974

IMO if the bumper isn't damaged or any damage been caused to it by your "actions" then tell her to go jump ! Also tell her you will be paying the mechanic directly as this way it will ensure that the work is carried out , chances are she would just take the cash and drive with the dent .
I accidently clipped a wing mirror a few months ago , stopped and gave the guy my details , the only damage was a tiny crack in the plastic , he text me later on saying I owed him £120 for a mirror casing from the main dealer . Told him BIL owns a garage and I was more than prepared to get him a Citroen (real thing) wing mirror but for less than half that price and have it fitted for him , guess what , never heard from him again !

Mad-Frog

If her bumper hasn't been damaged by your car then no you do not have to replace it.

I agree with the above poster pay the mechanic directly, don't give the money to her

jonathon

2 weeks ago some one reversed in to me he wanted to pay for the damage which was fine with me. I didnt shop around i went to ford and got a quote £364 for which he has paid me
If he wasnt happy with this then we could have gone through the insurance and i would have had a curtesy car.
so i think you have 2 choices pay up or go through the insurance who will replace the bumper.so yes if the bumper is at all damaged then you will have to replace it.