There are a few key differences between being rear ended in a parking lot and being in a road collision. Because these two types of accidents are different you have to deal with them differently. When you are rear ended parking lot you need to know what to do.
Assigning Blame
When you are talking about rear ending a car then blame is called fault but it's the same thing. In a road collision fault may be in question but when your car is rear ended in a parking lot then the assignment of fault is pretty obvious. However, insurance companies do not always see it this way.
The tricky detail is that most parking lots are considered private property. This means that police do not have jurisdiction to issue a citation that would indicate fault. Without this citation, the insurance company has to take your word for what happened and this situation does not always work out in your favor as discussed next. (See more on Determining Liability in a Parking Lot).
Will Their Insurance Company Pay You Damages?
This is what it comes down to. In theory, because the other driver rear ended you their insurance company should pay you damages. However, insurance companies are businesses and try to get out of paying out claims whenever possible.
If you are lucky then you may get a quick and easy payout but this is often not the case. In fact, it can be harder when you are rear ended parking lot because you may lack the proof of fault as explained above. You may have to take legal action to prove fault which you may not have as much trouble doing were it a road collision because then the police may have included this information in their report.
Why You Need An Attorney Immediately
In cases where your car was rear ended in a parking lot you would think that the issue of fault and the resulting insurance matters would be cut and dried but they often are not. Sometimes the other driver will dispute your claim that it is their fault. Sometimes fault is difficult to assign because of where the collision happened.
What you need is an attorney who can represent you and the present accident that way it happened. Without an attorney's assistance it is far too easy to get caught up in insurance company technicalities, run arounds, and bureaucracy. Get an attorney and address the matter with confidence.
