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Accident in Parking Lot

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skidoofan

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? SD
Hello! I've been battling with an insurance adjuster for damages done to my car that my daugther, 17 at the time, was driving. She attempted to park into a parking space in the Sioux Falls, SD Empire Mall parking lot. She was traveling well below the posted speed limit as she was preparing to turn into the space and was also traveling in the correct direction as indicated by arrows in the lane between the spaces. The party that hit her vehicle was parked in an space directly in front of the empty space or in the parking area across from the one she was driving. The other party pulled forward out of the space through the empty space that my daughter was attempting to park. The party indicated to my daughter that she was in a hurry for an appointment so couldn't stay to call the police. She gave my daughter her phone number and insurance information and left. My daughter called me and I told her to call the police right away to report. The police came and pretty much indicated to her that it wasn't necessary to get them involved as it was in a private parking lot!! We assumed that they filed a report.

I received an estimate for the damage which was around $760. I spoke with the other party and told her that I was sending the estimate to her insurance agent. She indicated she would follow up to make sure it was taken care of on her end. Approximately 2 weeks later I received a letter from their insurance adjuster indicating that I needed to fill out an accident claim from my daughter's viewpoint. I wrote back indicating that there was a police report that could give him that information. He sent his form back indicating that there was not a police report, which is typical in a case as such, and we needed to fill out the form. So we filled out the information and drew a diagram of the layout of the parking lot indicating the scenario of the accident.

We received a letter back with an offer of 70% of the claim....as his insured was 70% responsible and my daughter 30% responsible as the accident could have been avoided by both parties?? I don't know what my daughter could've done to have avoided it...as I indicated she was almost to a stop as she was turning into the space. Furthermore, the other party was clearly exiting in an improper manner as to the layout of the parking lot due to the one-way directional lanes. She would've needed to turn towards the direction of traffic to exit the lot.

I wrote the adjuster back to tell him I was not willing to settle for 70% and if necessary would get an attorney involved. He wrote back that his offer would stand and that his insured's statement was that she was pulling out of her parking space rather than cutting across the parking lot as I indicated.

I've been working on gathering information for a small claim. I would need to travel 50 + miles to file in Sioux Falls, where the accident happenned. Just wondering if my case is clearly substantial or if I should bend and take the 70% offer? The insurance company is out of the Minneapolis area...200 + miles from Sioux Falls, as well as the insured is from southern MN...175 miles away. I find it hard to believe that the insured is going to want to mess with court for that distance. I would guess that they're probably not even aware of this outstanding issue.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!What is the name of your state?
 


VeronicaLodge

Senior Member
do you have collision on your vehicle? if so you can file the claim with your insurance company and they will then go after her insurance company and you wont have to fight with anyone.
 

skidoofan

Junior Member
No, we only have liability on this vehicle as she's the primary driver of it. Full coverage is cost prohibitive for her age. I believe the accident occured as my daughter was turning into the parking space. I believe that the fact that the other driver was not following the rules, so to speak, as laid out within the parking lot; she should be 100% liable. The parking lot is designed as such so that a driver should back out of the parking space and follow the lane of travel. In fact, she could've done that and been going in the right direction to exit the parking lot. The lanes between the parking spaces are wide enough to only allow one way travel when cars are parked in the spaces.

My thought is I don't have much of a leg to stand on as far as other witnesses so it's pretty much she said/ she said. However, in my opinion, the other driver proceeded out of her parking space incorrectly as to the design of the lot. How could my daughter avoid the accident if she was turning into an empty space to find that someone was cutting across this spot to exit?? Not enough time to reverse and possibly hit someone from behind??
 

moburkes

Senior Member
I'd take what you're being offered. The law doesn't work the way you think. If the other driver was already in the parking space, then she had the "right of way" regardless of whether or not she should have been there.

For example, if you're turning left in front of me, but I'm speeding, you're at fault, regardless of my speed, because I had the right of way.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
Apparantly though in some states, comp neg can be applied for speeding, if there is sufficient evidence of excessive speed (skid marks, force of impact). I don't think it's done often, but it is allowed in some places.

In this case, I would find it almost impossible to assign more then 50% fault to either party. If they're willing to offer you 70%, I also think you should take it. Had your daughter been watching where she was going more carefully, the accident might have been avoided - the other vehicle was mostly in the space and she was just starting to turn into it. I guess they are willing to accept majority fault because "pulling through" a parking space is generally discouraged if not actually illegal (probably not).
 

skidoofan

Junior Member
I guess there's also the logic of this scenario....for $225 - $230 is the insurance adjuster going to travel 200 + miles to represent their insured in a small claims case or hire a local attorney to do so?? I've also gotten the opinion that insurance companies do this in accident claim situations quite regularly. If they get away with it.....more money saved by the company. There's probably incentive pay/bonuses for how much money they save the company. The principal of the issue is that I'm not happy about being screwed by the insurance company. I would think that my daughter would have the right -a- way if the other driver was attempting to pull out into her lane of travel. My feeling is that a SD judge would look at the fact that she was in a hurry (as indicated by her), made an improper attempt to exit the parking area, and would've been heading against traffic in the driving lane...she caused the accident by her neglegence.

Thanks for the feed back!
 

moburkes

Senior Member
Well, I had an attorney travel 2 hours (each way) to represent me in small claims court against my insurance client. The court session lasted all of 20 minutes.

In any case, most likely the insurance company's attorney (on the payroll - not someone they'd have to hire) will do that.

But, as you were told, you really need to accept this offer. Your child was in the wrong.
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
The insurance company is CONTRACTUALLY OBLIGATED to represent their insured in the case of a lawsuit. It's not like they have a choice in the matter.
 

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