Legal Question in Insurance Law in Michigan

I live in a city neighborhood in Grand Rapids MI and while backing out of my driveway I inadvertently backed into my neighbors SUV parked on the road, putting a dent in her door. I was checking for oncoming traffic and for parked cars, but she had parked her car in FRONT of the entrance to her driveway (illegal I later found out) and I didn�t see it. I immediately knocked on her door and showed her the damage. It�s a 15 year old car, and since Michigan has a �no-fault� insurance policy I offered to pay for the repairs (thinking that I was saving her money from having to pay out of pocket or for a deductible) and she agreed to let me know what the cost was. Well she comes back a month later with a $2000 body shop quote and another $1000 quote from a guy who does that kind of work on the side.

Her insurance says that if she makes a claim they will sue my insurance to recoup costs and my insurance wants me to just put a claim in under my policy (which I thought we were no fault!). Either way, I�m sure I�ll end up foot most of the bill anyways. As a police report will have to be filed, will I be found 100% culpable despite that she was illegally parked in front of her driveway? Will her insurance be able to successfully sue mine? Alternatively, if I give her the money to repair it, what can I do to protect myself legally from her filing a claim with her insurance (thus leading them to sue mine anyways)?

Thanks


Asked on 1/24/14, 7:10 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Timothy Klisz Klisz Law Office, PLLC

If you pay her anything, you will need a release of all claims so she can't change her mind. If you don't pay and let insurance handle it, they will defend you on the illegally parked issue and pay her what they want up to $1000, which is the mini tort limits in Michigan. So, pay no more than $1000 or let the insurer handle it.

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Answered on 1/24/14, 1:08 pm


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