Expert: Anne - 12/31/2008

Question
My daughter was backing out of her parking space she was 90% out and another car started backing out she laid down on the horn he struck her.  She he would pay for it told the officer he would.  Until we told him how much.  His insurance says they will not pay for it.  The Police report states that he struck her car.  We live in the State of North Carolina what can we do?

Answer
Hello Sheila,

I am sorry to hear about your accident. NC follows the pure negligence rule (N.C.G.S.A § 99B-4(3)). It states that each party must pay each other their percentage of negligence. If your daughter is deemed 50% at fault, her insurance would have to pay him 50% of his damages, and his insurance would have to pay her 50% of her damages. Some with a 90% -10% split or any other negligence split.

Usually, if someone is 90% out of a parking lot, honking, and in a complete stop, that person is not at fault. However, insurance companies will try to deduce the payment by calling fault on you. In this case, it is possible that he changed his story.

If this is the case, his insurance company must believe him, unless the physical evidence discredits him. Your insurance company must believe you. If they cannot settle, they have to go to arbitration. An arbitrator will have to make the final decision based on both adjusters investigation. To learn more about arbitration, visit: http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com/arbitration.html

The questionable thing here is that his insurance will not pay anything at all. Following the NC rule, that would only mean that they believe your daughter is 100% at fault. The only way to protect yourself here is to argue that there is evidence against him (the police report), which it is as good as evidence as it is going to get in any parking lot accident. Also make sure that you adjuster is doing a good investigation.

Good Luck