Auto Insurance Claims: Auto Accident, auto accident, parking space

Question
My daughter was backing from a school parking space after given the "go ahead" by another driver.  As soon as my daughter was backing out the other driver moved her car into her path due to another car behind her "crowding" her, thusly resulting in a small dent in her drivers side door.  The accident was not turned into police, now the other driver expects my daughter to pay for repairs ($618.00); estimates were at non-dealer body shops and appear inflated.  My daughter's car received no damage that I can see and given the circumstances, I feel both drivers were at fault; I think both should pay 1/2 of the needed repairs......am I wrong in this assumption?

Answer
Hi Greg,

You are not wrong. If your story is acurate they should both pay half. You will need to call the other person and pose this to them. If they agree you should have them sign a release form in exchange for the payment so they can not come back later for more money. However, you should be willing to negotiate the percentages. If this is reported to your insurance company the other driver will likey say they they did not waive your daughter on. In which case your daughter would be 100% at fault and your rates would go up for the next 3 years. In the worst case you should be willing to pay the entire $618.00 just to keep the claim from being filed.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh