Quote:
Originally Posted by groogs
If the acident happened in a parking lot, which is private property, wouldn't each individuals insurance company be responsible to repair their own cars.
|
Don't want to threadjack but feel it is somewhat related.
You ask a great question that I would love the opportunity to address as it is a big misconception that is quite widespread.
Each state has varying laws set up to address % of liability in an accident. Some states like NY and Florida are comparative negligence, meaning every party in an accident gets a percentage of liability assigned to them, ranging from 0 to 100. Based on the % you are not negligent, that is the % of the damages you sustained that you are able to recover from the other party.
Some states have it that if anyone is over 50% at fault, the party that is not recovers all.
In an accident where you are not moving or not in the car and your vehicle is legally parked, in any state, that would make the striking party 100% at fault and either that at fault party is personally responsible or their insurance will cover it under the liability coverage.
While that all varies from state to state, the one thing that is a fact is that if you are at fault in an accident, you owe. The other party can choose to go through your insurance, they can choose to go through their insurance which will in turn subrogate against yours for the money they paid, or they can elect to bypass that all and sue you directly.