Auto Insurance Claims: parking lot accident, scion xb, parking lot accident

Question
Hi,                                                                        I was involved in a accident at a parking lot. I was stationed in a parking spot ready to pull out I had put my car in reverse then I slowly started to back out. I looked to my left then i looked to my right and i seen a red truck coming towards me. I stopped at that moment which i had only moved a foot from my original position. Two seconds later the truck hit me the truck was making a left turn from the direction he was coming from, he backed out and got out of the truck as I got out of my car too. He said that he did not see me when making the turn (it was 8:30 in the morning) but when I seen the damage to my car he had caused a whole lot of damage. He was at least going 15 to 20 MPH he strait hit me dead center of my rear. My car was still in the parking spot I took pictures and u could see that my rear bumper was rite where the lines on the floor begin. (I have a 2009 scion XB)once again I came to a complete stop right before he hit me.there was a tree that was in the parking lot that was strait behind me i counted how many feet it was between the tree and my car and it was about 25 feet so he had plenty of room to make that turn. Now he's insurance are not taking liability because they say i was at fault because i was pulling out. I was still in the parking spot when he hit me even though i backed up about a foot. I'm I at fault?  

Answer
It is very difficult to determine who is at fault in this instance, particularly on a remote basis. However, be advised that the liability carrier for the other party is adverse to your interests and has no legal duty to you whatsoever. As such, they will routinely dismiss liability claims like yours, particularly ones in which the fault is clouded by issues such as the fact you were backing out of a parking space. This is true regardless of whether you were stopped or in motion at the moment of impact. If there were no witnesses, it's your word against his.

The best course for you is to submit it to your company and let them battle it out with the other party's insurer. They may make a settlement between the two companies in which the fault is shared on a percentage basis, such as 60/40 or 80/20.