Auto Insurance Claims: Insurence Claim, insurance expert, claim settlement

Question
Hello Jane,
Recently my vehicle was hit by another driver in a parking lot. I was not the one driving the car at the time it was my fiances great uncle. My car was also holding both my fiance and her grandma, a total of three people in the car. My car was backing out of a parking space in a Lowes parking lot when the driver(fiances great uncle) noticed another vehicle backing up at the same time, so he proceeded to stop the my car, but the other driver continued to back up, failing to notice my car he hit the drivers side rear door. I have already talked to his(other drivers) insurance company and filed a claim. However the other drivers insurance company said that they received both statements from both drivers and concluded that it was a mutual accident and that both parties were at fault so they will not be paying for the damages on my car. My only problem is that all three people that were in my car at the time all state that my car was fully stopped when the other driver hit my car, so how would I go about getting the insurance to fix the damages on my car?
Thanks
Edward

Answer
Hello Edward,

Unfortunately, it's your passengers vs their insured.  Obviously the other driver's insurance company has chosen to "believe" it's insured.

In a perfect world, where the facts are obvious, an insurance company should believe its insured. In cases where facts are not so obvious, a thorough impartial investigation must take place.

Witness statements are not sufficient, particularly because passengers will invariably agree with the driver.  In your case, a thorough review of the physical evidence should support whether or not your vehicle was moving at the time of impact.  Unfortunately, however, in too many instances adjusters either do not review damage photos, do not order damage photos, or do not understand damage photos.

How can you go about getting the insurance to repair your damages?  It is very unlikely that you can.  Flawed or not, liability decisions are almost always final.  Rarely are they altered - no matter how hard you try.

You don't mention what state you reside in.  Some states have comparative - or shared -negligence, meaning that in this situation you would be eligible for a portion of your damages.
If you don't reside in one of those states, there's really nothing you can aside from filing a Collision claim with your carrier.

Sorry for the disappointing news.
Jane