A car reversed into our car at a junction - will it be 50/50 liability?
My 19 year old son was coming to a junction off our estate and the car in front of him turned left. My son then pulled up to the junction and the car in front, then on the main road, reversed into him as he started to turn left. After they swapped details, my husband phoned the driver of the other vehicle to get his version. He admitted to my husband that he went the wrong way and decided to reverse to go the other way, but he is not admitting any responsibility. He's had repairs for his car quoted at £2500, the car is about six years old with a dented bumper. My son's car sustained worse damage. My son is now worried about his insurance if he's blamed fully for this.
Asked on 5 September 2017 by Dianne Jones
Answered by
Honest John
Does your son have a dash cam in his car? If not, you may struggle because the the insurers may see it as 50/50 liability. It also depends on the road position of your son's vehicle. If he was at the junction behind the double hatched white line, the responsibility is on the other party to ensure the road that he's just emerged from is safe to reverse back into. It would then be 100 per cent his fault. If your son has crossed the double hatched white line, he now has an equal responsibility to ensure his path is safe to proceed, and should not proceed until he has checked both directions completely.
It does sound as if your son may be a victim of a "vexatious" claim, possibly fraudulent. Make your insurer aware of this and ask them to contact the other party's insurer to request they provide their client's explanation of events. If he advised he was reversing, it should be clear to his insurers he was at fault. If has not, you have a battle on your hands. It would then be up to your son to prove his version of events. I suggest you draw a detailed plan for your insurer to explain what happened to assist them.
It does sound as if your son may be a victim of a "vexatious" claim, possibly fraudulent. Make your insurer aware of this and ask them to contact the other party's insurer to request they provide their client's explanation of events. If he advised he was reversing, it should be clear to his insurers he was at fault. If has not, you have a battle on your hands. It would then be up to your son to prove his version of events. I suggest you draw a detailed plan for your insurer to explain what happened to assist them.
We give you the low down on how to save on insurance, little-known tricks and tips, what insurance groups mean and how to use insurance aggregators to beat insurers.
Insurance group finder and how to save on insuranceSimilar questions
A post van pulled out in front of me whilst I was driving my coach. I had to stop abruptly, but it was in a narrow road. When she then proceeded to pass me, she scraped the side of my coach. Repairs have...
I parked (engine off) in a lay-by to the side of a main road to drop off my passenger, who's 77 years old. I turned to the side to say goodbye, when he shouted to look out and I saw a car reversing at...
My son (just turned 18) passed his driving test in February of this year. We put him on the car insurance in June. Yesterday the police came round and said that there had been an incident in the local...
.jpg)
