Auto Insurance Claims: auto accident insurance claim, drivers viewpoint, accident insurance

Question

accident scene I have a question about my boyfriend's recent auto accident and how he can defend himself against another driver's claim that he is at fault for the accident.

My boyfriend’s vehicle was backing slowly out of a parking space. He had looked all around and no vehicle or pedestrian was in sight and continued to look as he was in reverse. There was another vehicle parked in a space behind his vehicle. The driver was backed into the space rather than pulling straight in. This caused that vehicle and the driver’s viewpoint to be facing the rear of my boyfriend’s vehicle with clear view of him in reverse. The other driver neglected the fact that my boyfriend was in the process of backing up, seemingly became impatient and pulled out of his parking space and attempted to swerve around my boyfriend’s vehicle. Upon doing this the driver became too close to the rear bumper of my boyfriend’s vehicle and the vehicles collided. The driver asked about insurance. Meanwhile I started taking pictures of the damage on both vehicles and the location of the cars in the parking lot at the point of impact. He saw us taking pictures, got in his car and left the scene before my boyfriend could collect information.

Now he has made a claim with my boyfriend’s insurance that my boyfriend is at fault and must pay for his damage.
My boyfriend explained the scenario to his insurance company and they said even though the other driver was negligent and hit him, that it is my boyfriend’s fault regardless because he was in reverse and the other driver wasn’t. My boyfriend doesn’t want to be charged as being at fault and have to pay for the other driver's negligence. The police were not called so there isn’t a report. This has all occurred in the state of New York if that helps. I will attach the pictures taken of the scene as well.     
Is there any way to dispute my boyfriend being found as at fault by the insurance company before they pay out the claim to the other driver?

Answer
Hi Melissa,

Parking lot accidents are some of the most difficult to determine liability. However, based on your description of events and the photo, I would say that the liability decision should be 50/50. This means that each driver contributed 50% to toccurance of the collision. Wihout any ndependent witnessess that is about as good as you can hope for. Unfortunately, it mans that both drivers will be considered at fault and will still have a rate increase. Your boyfriend just needs to argue this point to his insurance adjuster. In the end, the final decision is up to the adjuster.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh