Auto Insurance Claims: Door accident, parking lot accident, side fender

Question
Hi Richard,

 I was recently in an accident that involved my driver side door being pulled out of it hinges although the door remained attached. I opened my door into another parking space not oncoming traffic as i was entering the car and still in the process of loading myself into the vehicle when the accident took place.

 This had happened in a school parking lot and the adjacent space to my driver side was also taken by the vehicle which eventually hit my door. I was parked in my spot backwards while the other driver was parked forwards as she was backing out she turned and had caught the door eventually doing $2000 worth of damage, which requires a new door. while she had moderately damaged her front left side fender but nothing too serious and she had acknowledged that she was at fault.

 The two of us are both in high school and relatively been driving for about a year now so we both traded info and went to our parents to figure things out as we were unsure of what to do. WE DID NOT GET THE POLICE INVOLVED. A few weeks later and her insurance is claiming that i am at fault and now my mother wants to sue her for the damages. I also have a friend who was in my vehicle with me and his statement is practically the same as mine so therefore i have a witness. Would we have a good chance at winning in court or would we lose by a technicality?

Answer
Hi Kurt,

I have to assume that you have spoke to the other persons insurance company and dispite your side of the story thay are still finding you at fault. If this is not the case then you need to contact the other insurance company and give them your side of the story.

If the case goes to court you will have to PROVE your case. Your witness may help a little but since they are a friend that was in your car, their statements will have less weight than if they were a passerby that you did not know who saw what happened.

Since this was a parking lot accident, the likely result is that it will be determined that you are each 50% at fault. You should have made sure your door was closed to let the other car back out without interferance and the other car should have made sure they could back out without hitting anything.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh