Auto Insurance Claims: Recycling van backed into me at a stop; whos at fault?, certified mail, manual car

Question
QUESTION: I was driving today and went on a one-way street. That street leads to another one-way street and is single-lane. I was following a recycling van closely. The passenger (employee) told me he saw I was behind them.

At the stop, the truck went to turn, but didn't turn enough. I moved to the stop, and stopped there, but the truck started to go back. I tried to get to reverse speed (manual car) but wasn't fast enough, and noticed there was a car behind me. They hit me and destroyed my hood.

I had to run to talk to them and get them to sign formal legal paper; I submitted the claim to my insurer, but only have liability insurance (old car).

I am curious as to who's at fault. I was wondering what I should do. I told my story and submitted every thing to my insurer and now it is working with theirs to solve the problem.

What can I do? Thank you.

ANSWER: It sounds to me like it was the other party's fault, as your car was stopped when the truck hit yours. Since your insurance company has no liability in this loss, I am not sure how much help they can be in this matter. In light of that, you need to send a demand letter to the owner of the truck that hit your car. Send the letter by certified mail and give the other party 10 days to either notify their insurer or pay the claim themselves. In the meantime, get an estimate for the cost to repair your car so you know what it will take.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you for your reply! I am certain to rate you 10/10. The driver claimed that 1)I was following him too closely (even though I was immobilized at stop, and got evidence to back it up) 2)He did not see me. For a while it seemed like he was right, that I should have moved backwards (I tried, but there were another car). He basically wrote down:

"I put on my flashers (not true, he put them after) and waited a good 2-3 seconds, but he did not move (weird, he said he did not see me???)"

In all cases thanks again, I am hoping for a resolution with the party's insurance company...

Answer
Again, your car was stopped and presumably in the proper lane when it was hit. So you are in the clear. It was not your responsibility to move your car out of his way, regardless of whether he could see you. And since you could not move backwards at the time, you are in the right.