Car Accidents On Private Property: The Facts

Car accidents are not something anyone wants to go through. As well as the possibility of injury, there’s also the issue of who is liable for the accident to negotiate too – with all of the attendant insurance complications it can through up. One such situation that can arise is when the accident happens on private property.
Defining private property

To start with, we need to understand what constitutes private property. Broadly speaking, this can mean anywhere outwith the bounds of the public highway such as:

Most car parks (i.e supermarket car parks, multi-stories or pay and display etc)
Car parks or other spaces clearly marked as private property
Private residences and private land (including private roads and private car parking spaces – whether marked as such or not)

What’s perhaps most surprising in that list is the fact that most car parks we’d refer to as public spaces such as supermarket car parks are in fact deemed to be private property in the eyes of the law. And, if an accident does happen within those bounds, it immediately becomes a trickier business to resolve any compensation/insurance claims. Here’s why.

In accidents on private property, the laws that apply to vehicles on public roads no longer apply. In fact, in car parks, accidents usually occur at such a low speed that the authorities won’t apply blame in those situations. It’s left to the insurance companies to be the final arbiters or judges as to who’s at fault and who should pay for damages.
What to do in such accidents

So, should be unlucky enough to be in an accident on private property make sure you:

Take all relevant details of the other party (name, registration, insurance details etc) plus eye witness statements if at all possible. This will prove essential to your claim. If the other party refuses to supply their details at the very least you should take their registration number in order to help you pursue your claim.
If you do run into problems with the other party you may wish to call the police – although they may not attend the scene if it on private property, so you might have to report to a police station with your account of the accident afterwards.
Shunts and dunts on private property may not seem a big deal. After all, if it’s just a minor dent and nobody’s hurt, where’s the trouble? Well, make sure you let your insurance company know to be on the safe side – that way you’ll be better protected if someone tries to make a personal injury claim against you.

Who is at fault?

The issue of determining fault primarily comes down to the following:

Who hit who and how, i.e. relevant to who was supposed to give way. This is where eye-witness testimonies become so important.
If you are hit while backing out, responsibility is usually shared – in fact shared responsibility is a common outcome in most accidents in car parks.
If you back into an illegally parked car on private property, you are sadly completely responsible it’s considered an unmoving object that’s part of your surroundings, which you ought to have been aware of.

Overall, the best policy with accidents on private property is to make sure you get all the relevant details of the incident, get eyewitnesses if at all possible and report it immediately to your insurance company and the police. Taking that approach may make all the difference to personal injury and damages claims.