You’re sitting in your car in a parking space at the mall and start to back out. You’re checking behind you on each side — and then you feel an impact. It’s very common to have a slow-speed fender-bender in which two cars back out of parking spots at the same time and hit each other. But this dual responsibility changes how your insurance policy might treat the accident. Before you assume that the other guy was at fault and that his insurance will pay, contact your agent, such as Saucon Insurance Agency serving Bethlehem, PA, to discuss further steps.

50-50 Responsibility, 50-50 Payment

These accidents are often truly neutral in terms of blame. Both of you share equal fault, even if the two of you really didn’t realize you were both backing out at the same time. In situations like these, it’s common for insurance agencies to split the payments. In other words, you might get reimbursed for half of the costs of repairing the damage to your car, and the same would happen in the other guy’s case. It’s entirely possible that adjusters would find one person more at fault than the other, but unless there are witnesses, surveillance video, or damage that is clearly not the fault of one party, the adjusters often write the fault of the accident off as split between both parties equally. And if the hit was slow enough, the damage might not even top your deductible, in which case you’d end up paying for all of the repair to your car anyway.

Contact your agent after the accident, even if you and the other party decide to forget about trading information. An agency like the Saucon Insurance Agency, serving Bethlehem, PA, can advise you what to do next.