That's the key message of the article - without knowing specific circumstances you can't tell who's at fault...

so if you put your foot out from a desk and somebody falls over it they are to blame? hmmmm. . . :rolleyes:

If that somebody was running 50mph then yes :D

I'm so glad mine was far more clear cut, I was sitting in my kitchen eating porridge when it happened.....fairly definitive :cool:

Sorry to be contrary, but what I read was "just as she was opening the door" which implies, to me at least, that she opened the door into the path of an oncoming vehicle, without looking, and said vehicle would have too close to take evasive action.

And if it really way at 50mph, (a) you'd be needing a lot more than just a new door and (b) what was you other half thinking? :Confused:

As you say, you main thing is that nobody was hurt, but if you are actually at fault here then you should play fair, amongst other things it's dishonest claims that makes all our premiums more expensive :mad:

I must be missing something here? I wouldn't be having an opinion on audifin's claim without knowing the specific circumstances, he hasn't shared them, and doesn't need to. Surely the claim wouldn't be going ahead and paid for by the other insurance company if liability hadn't been proved or agreed?

I had to fight very hard during my one and only claim and I knew I was in the right, I'm just basing my opinion on personal experience.

Which part of this do you not understand:

"Who is at fault in this situation really depends on the circumstances, although it is generally assumed that the person who hit the door is at fault as it can be argued that they were driving without 'due care and attention' if they didn't see it in enough time to stop."

Or this:

" However if you open your car door with no traffic around and another driver comes along and hits it, then you can argue that they were not driving with due care and attention because they didn't see the door open in time to stop. "

And to suggest she made dishonest claim is totally out of order. All I will say she made full and honest statement to the insurance company and they drew the conclusion who was at fault.

OK, let me explain

You said " just as she was opening the door another car came from behind and hit the door" which is not anything like the same as "if you open your car door with no traffic around"

Maybe it was the latter and you were just embellishing the story a little?

Sure, if the door had been open for some time, I'd agree you're completely not to blame, it's just not how I read it from your description.

This is what she wrote to the statement to the insurance company: "I was opening the door to come out when the other car hit the door". The written statement was 3 pages long with photos, map, diagram etc etc. and before that she gave a verbal statement over the phone. Naturally the other party would have given their statements too.

As Norretal says, you don't know any of the circumstances, how can you form an opinion? Let alone make accusation of dishonest insurance claim, pretty serious accusation.

So I'm cycling along this road in the cycle lane when a driver opens his door and I'm doored/slammed and have to eat hospital food for the next week through a straw...Who is to blame?