Fender Bender In Parking Lot?

Question

About three weeks ago, I backed into my co-worker's car. There was no damage to mine and appeared to be none to hers (she has a car cover on the front). A few days ago she comes to me a tells me that I cracked her bumper and the paint is peeling. We didn't file a police report. We were in a private parking lot in Louisiana. I think I'm at fault, but my insurance company says that we would each have to pay our own damages under the no fault law. She gave me a ridiculous estimate for her car repairs. Can she sue me for her repairs or her deductible? I have to work with her every day so I don't want there to be any hard feelings, but I can't afford what she wants.

Answer 1

She can sue. Many people believe the myth that you can't be held responsible because it was a parking lot. The truth is, even though the accident happened in a parking lot, her can was parked, not in motion and unmanned. Any accident that occurs is the result of your negligence. No fault rules do not apply when the car is parked.

You do not have to accept her estimate. You should insist on having a body shop of your choosing look at the damage to insure the damage is recent, and not from a previous accident that she hid with the car cover. If you are having the car repaired with your money, you can choose the body shop. Also, if the body shop knows you are paying, and not an insurance company, they will often give you a break, since they don't have to deal with insurance paperwork.

If your insurance company states that it is covered by no-fault law, it would be because of the lack of a police report. Since the owner of the other car and you agree on the details of the accident, the courts will still hold you responsible since you cannot damage someones property and not be held responsible, even in a no-fault state.

Answer 2

What your co-worker should've done was thorough check of her car before leaving the scene. Anything could've happened to her car after you hit it and now she is blaming you. If she had a cover on the front of her car she shouldve taken it off and checked. Since she noticed it days later and didnt do a great job checking for damages i dont think you should be entitled to pay anything on her car. Anytime an accident happens no matter how big or little...CALL THE POLICE. They will come out and look over both vehicles and write a report for both of you. The police will act as a mediator for the accident as far as damages that happened then and there. If she was really concerned about money she wouldve made sure a police report was filed in the first place. Good Luck!!!!

Answer 3

That's really awful. I'm certain that you felt terrible about backing into her car, but..... 3 weeks is kind of a long time to not tell you that there is a problem. I'm not entirely familiar with the new "no-fault" laws and policies, but like any other legal precedent, there has to be some sort of statute of limitations for the length of time you take before seeking compensation for the accident. Besides, who's to say that someone else didn't back into her car at the Super-Market in those same 3 weeks before she "remembered" that you backed into her car at the office???? There is no need for you to feel uncomfortable or have hard feelings, she's the one who dragged her feet to say something. As a compromise, pay half the deductible and after she gets some reasonable estimates, then worry about settling.

PS: DON'T pay if it is NOT in WRITING Co-worker or not, ALWAYS get it in writing!!!!!! People aren't always truthful in these matters and if it took her 3 weeks to notice, I'd be leery of handing over any $$$ my fault or not. Hope this helps and good luck.

Answer 4

THE TOPIC

MAY 2007

The term "no-fault" auto insurance is often used loosely to denote any auto insurance program that allows policyholders to recover financial losses from their own insurance company, regardless of fault. But, in its strictest form, no-fault applies only to state laws that both provide for the payment of no-fault first-party benefits and restrict the right to sue, the so called “limited tort” option. The first party benefit coverage is known as personal injury protection (PIP).

Under current no-fault laws, motorists may sue for severe injuries and for pain and suffering only if the case meets certain conditions. These conditions, known as a threshold, relate to the severity of injury. They may be expressed in verbal terms (a descriptive or verbal threshold) or in dollar amounts of medical bills, a monetary threshold. Some laws also include minimum requirements for the days of disability incurred as a result of the accident. Because high threshold no-fault systems restrict litigation, they tend to reduce costs and delays in paying claims. Verbal thresholds eliminate the incentive to inflate claims that may exist when there is a dollar "target" for medical expenses. However, in some states the verbal threshold has been eroded over time by broad judicial interpretation of the verbal threshold language, driving up costs.

Currently 12 states and Puerto Rico have no-fault auto insurance laws. Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania have verbal thresholds. The other seven states — Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota and Utah — use a monetary threshold. Three states have a "choice" no-fault law. In New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Kentucky, motorists may reject the lawsuit threshold and retain the right to sue for any auto-related injury. Colorado’s law reverted back to the tort liability system in July 2003.

Answer 5

after 3 weeks i think she has caused some damage herself by hiting something as is now trying to get you to repair her car.Tell her to sue as i'm 99% sure any court would throw this out just through the time elapsed. If somebody had hit my car even a small tap i would have noticed the damage no matter how small, a lot sooner than 3 weeks later....Stand firm and call her bluff.

Answer 6

it should have been reported at the time it happened. now i.m not sure what happens. parking lot accidents are not the same as a road accidents. in canada when you hit a parked vehicle and there is someone in the vehicle at the time the person that hit the vehicle is at fault but when you hit a vehicle and there is no one in the vehicle it is 50/50. you would have to check with the laws in your area and remember next time call it in no matter what. i was hit twice in a parking lot and both times i was in my car. both times it was covered by the insurance of the person that hit me and the second on i had , well he didn't have insurance. good luck.

Answer 7

If you have a no-fault law, you have zero liability. She can't sue your for anything, not even her deductible. That's what no-fault laws mean -- there is no fault.

You may wish to offer to pay her deductible in the intest of peace and goodwill but you are under no legal obligation to do so.

Answer 8

If there is more than the original damage don't pay. Make her lie under oath in small claims court. If you looked under the cover your ok. Get your own estimate and pay the lesser fee if you pay.

Answer 9

She's gonna be pissed unless you pay. Was she there when you hit her car? Did she let you leave after the accident? If she did, then legally I'm sure you're cool. She waited three weeks to say anything? Something else could have happened to crack her bumper. Personally I wouldn't pay.

Plus since I know she'd be a b*itch to me after, I would secretly steal her things. (like staplers, pen caps, etc...)

Answer 10

I think it depends