Considering your proffesion I would have to completely disregard your advice. A claim adjuster's job is to save as much money as possible to the company as possible. In my experience at the expense off the customer in almost all instances. People should remember what insurance bussiness are there for. To make proffit as much of it as possible.

Similar baised advice would be a police officer advising someone facing a misdemeanor that consulting a lawyer would do noting "since he clearly was in the wrong." Maybe or maybe not but at least an effort should be made.

At the very least he should consult with a lawyer and see what he faces. When I got rear ended at no fault on the damage property issue, they wanted to give me 7,000 for the SC300 and take it from me leaving me with no car. At this time blue book value for car was around 11,000, a lawyer raised that figure to 10,000 even and I got to fix the car.

Anyways Brian..
There are certain things that still remain unclear, perhaps by policy you are somewhat responsible for not being aware of your surroundings when backing up. Me personally although Disagree with flipside on no lawyer advice, I agree with him (and Romin) on this one and probably so would most likely a judge or mediator.

However its entirely possible that other factors could be an issue perhaps you could prove that the other party was also in the wrong and perhaps more in the wrong then you were. We know that he was going the wrong way, but was he speeding as well? Was he paying attention while driving? And even if you had looked would it been possible for you to detect him? Or was your view obstructed? This are questions that could prove to be a factor perhaps you and a good lawyer could get into the bottom of this.

However at this point you should try to do damage control. Damage was done when you openly admitted you didnt look to the side the other car was coming from. The insurance company will use this against you. I would try to not to repeat this statement again if at all possible, and now that you have gotten your answer I would consider editing your first post and possibly asking this thread to be deleted. Last thing you need is this admission in writting.

Just remember that it can't hurt to speak to a lawyer about this situation.

 

Regarding the pedestrian analogy, that's right.. i could've hit a person. No matter how slow i was going, it could've ended badly if it were a person and not a car.

But that's exactly what it was... it was a car and not a person. The other party was heading in the WRONG direction. I understand that I'm supposed to be aware of my surrounding before pulling out of a spot, and I was. There were NO CARS coming from the entrance way/correct direction of travel, no vehicles were pulling out of any other spot... I was in the clear for pulling out.

The other party was traveling in the wrong direction which is the main cause of this accident. I know I am not at fault here. I pulled out of that spot with a clear from the entrance and any other things that would get in my way of entering the lane of travel.

The other driver was in the wrong because of his decision and negligence to travel in the wrong way. And looking at the spot he hit my car, he must have seen my car coming out before we hit. Remember, both our rear bumpers made contact. The right portion of his rear bumper hit the right portion of my rear bumper. And to understand this further, when I'm pulling out my car, I pulled out only a couple feet. That would leave my car still in the drive thru lane where we made contact, MEANING he was coming the wrong direction down the drive thru lane.

The argument that my insurance is trying to make to me, which is that I was negligent in pulling out of my spot, does NOT apply. If you're looking at the direction that cars should have been coming, I was in the clear because there were no cars. No other cars were pulling out that would have gotten in the way of my own reverse. I was complelely in the CLEAR TO PULL OUT.

The other funny thing about this is, my insurance company is telling me that the photos that they took of the accident site have no ONE WAY markings whatsoever. But I have photos that say that there are one way markings on the asphalt AND I have the word of the McDonald's manager and employees stating that BY LAW IT IS A ONE WAY.

My insurance is trying to tell me that IT IS NOT A ONE WAY. Are we looking at the same parking lot? I started laughing on the phone when I heard this. I told them that I would send them my own photos and a diagram of the parking lot.

I'm not quitting on this. It was not my fault.

Oh and BTW... the other party was NOT STOPPED. HIS VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION WHEN WE HIT.

 

well, first of all, the one you need to win is the insurance company, not us. our words are nothing but just some friendly advices and opinions. take it or not that's up to you.

and like i said in my post, if their arguement is that it's not a one way street (or driveway), i agree it's a lame one and totally wrong. but even if that one point is over-ruled by your pictures or what not, i am not sure if that's the end and the ruling would be in your favor about who's at fault.

again, just my opinions, no need to reply. just want you to calm down and make sure you win over those insurance people, not us

good luck

 

I understand. I wasn't getting angry at the CL folks. All opinions are welcome. I think I asked for them.

But all I was trying to do is point out EXACTLY what happened and how my OWN insurance company is trying to shaft me.

No hard feelings or anything Just trying to get this sorted out.

 

it sad to heard that from your insurance company...but don't worry i fixed it up for you

 

keep fighting Brian, those companies try to take advantage of us sometimes.

 

whoa jimmy... long time since i've seen you on the boards.. haha

that's good to hear about the car... now how about them headlights and the front lip?

haha just kidding man... can't wait to see the finished product.

 

i plan to... but it's pretty frusterating... but at least the GS is getting fix... that makes me feel all better...

 

A claims adjuster's job is to help their insured in a time of need. Unfortunately there are laws that each insurance company has to abide by. Sure it's a business, but it's a risk factor you're dealing with here. Insurance business is here to protect you and your assets in a time of need...especially if you're sued or you want your car fixed. Unfortunately people have a bad taste in their mouth about insurance companies because they always feel as they are the victim. In reality, the average person doesn't even understand how insurance companies work or what they have on their own policy.

Since the police officer was not at the scene of the actual accident, and because the collision happened on private property, they can only write a report based on versions. Heresay is the key here. Doesn't matter what opinion a police officer has about an accident, they can give their suggestion but insurance adjusters don't have to follow it.

Most people will elect lawyers if they're getting sued by another party or they want to pursue more money from the other party. Sometimes the extra expense and hassle is worth it for some, but it's not going to be the same in everyone's situation. All laws and insurance practices vary in each state.


If two insurance companies have different fault assessments, the case goes to an Insurance Arbitration Forum in Colorado. It's up to the aribtrators to decide who or what is at fault or who owes one another.

Damage control or not...regardless of his statement openly admitting this or not, liability decision stands on the adjuster assessing the claim. The facts are put down and it's easy for any claims adjuster to assess the fault based off of all the information given. And believe me, this is a common instance in parking lots. Sometimes comparative negligence can be involved but its defintely more than 50%. From my experience and profession, as you are backing out of any parking space or going in reverse, you automatically have given up your right of way if you're in motion and you strike ANY object.

 

call in johnny cochran!!!!

 

flipside-

I've been told the same thing by my adjuster.

My argument is however, that the entrance way and the lane (in correct direction of travel) were clear. No cars were entering, nor were there any cars coming down the lane in the CORRECT direction of travel. No other cars were pulling out of any spots and so all the necessary checks were made. With no cars coming from correct direction of travel in the ONE WAY lane, does that not give me the clear to pull out of my spot?

I thought as long as I was in the clear, it was okay for me to pull out.

Now your answer to this (and I'm guessing) is going to be that I was not in the clear because obviously there was a car that was behind me which caused the accident. HOWEVER, the other party was IN MOTION coming down the WRONG WAY in the ONE WAY.

All the places I needed to check before pulling out were CLEAR. There shouldn't have been a car comnig from that way in the oneway which is why I'm saying this was NOT my fault.

If he was smart enough to take the correct exit (which is located on the other side of the lot), this accident would not have taken place, because everywhere else was clear.