Auto Insurance Claims: AUTO LIABILITY, parking lot accidents, paint damage

Question
Three weeks ago, I was in a parking lot.  I pulled out of the space (straight in parking) and was parallel to my spot facing the direction down the aisle, drove about 2 feet and stopped my car to help my daughter in the passenger seat with something and put the car in park.  Meanwhile, the car parked directly opposite from where I was originally parked proceeded to pull out and turn down the opposite way down the aisle and hit the corner of my left rear bumper with the corner of her left rear bumper.  The driver was a young girl about 18 with a guy in the passenger seat.  We both got out of the car and she kept apologizing that she didn't see me. The damage to my car was so minimal and nothing that I felt could not be rubbed out but her car had a dent and paint damage. Neither of us felt a police report was necessary and were both in a hurry so we exchanged phone numbers in case my husband wanted to speak to her.  Now the girl has "changed" her story to her father who put a claim into his insurance and apparently claims "we backed into each other" We never bothered to even call our insurance company since we weren't putting in any claim and it wasn't my fault.  Now her insurance company is harassing us for our insurance info and we are arguing that my car was in park and she hit me!  The agent says that if I don't give him my insurance info, their collection department is going to go after me for liabilty and I am to reimburse them for the damage.  How can they put a claim against me or expect my insurance to pay for something that wasn't my fault!  It has boiled down to her word against mine.  How can I protect myself?  Will I get into trouble and be liable for damage for not calling my insurance 3 wks ago when it happened?  Will my insurance company be liable because I never called them?  I am fuming furious because my car was in park and she changed her entire story.

Answer
Hi Sara,

Parking lot accidents can be some of the most difficult to determine liability or to defend, especially when it is just your word against theirs.

You should contact your insurance company to report the incident. Provide them with as much detail as possible. Explain to them that you did not report earlier due to the very minimal nature of the damage to your car and the fact that you thought it was cut & dry the other persons fault.

Your insurance company will also contact the other driver for a statement of what happened. They will then contact her insurance company to discuss liability and will handle any required settlement. It is possible due to the different stories and the fact that there are no independent winesses, that liability will be determined to be 50/50. I know that will be upsetting to you but in this case you may not have a choice.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh