Parking lot backup incident — he reversed into me, now says it's MY fault??

Almost the exact same thing happened to me about a year ago — guy backed out of a loading zone in a strip mall and tagged my front end. He tried the same 'you were too close' argument. My dashcam footage basically ended the argument. His insurer accepted liability within a few days once I submitted the clip. Hang onto that footage and back it up somewhere cloud-based ASAP if you haven't already.

Watch out when his insurance contacts you. They're going to try to get a recorded statement and they WILL fish for anything that lets them push some percentage of fault onto you. Things like 'were you distracted?' or 'how fast were you going?' Even innocent answers can get twisted. You don't have to give a recorded statement to the other driver's insurer — just something to know before you pick up that call.

Worked claims for years. Parking lot accidents are actually one of the trickier categories because a lot of states apply comparative fault pretty liberally in low-speed situations. That said, a driver reversing without checking mirrors or blind spots is pretty clearly the primary cause here. Your dashcam is genuinely your best friend — adjusters move a LOT faster toward full liability when there's video. Submit it early and make sure it's timestamped.

The dashcam footage could be huge, but make sure you preserve the original file — don't just rely on whatever the camera loops over. Save it to a USB, email it to yourself, upload it somewhere. Courts and insurers both want the unedited original, not a screen recording of a screen recording. Also keep your police report number handy; reference it in every communication with the insurer.

Not legal advice, but generally speaking: the driver who reverses bears a heavy duty to ensure the path is clear before moving backward. 'Following too close' is hard to argue in a slow-moving parking lot lane where the car in front just stopped unexpectedly. If his insurer tries to push partial fault despite clear video evidence, it might be worth at least a free consult with a PI attorney before you sign anything.

What does the dashcam actually show though? Like, does it clearly capture him reversing with no signal or warning, and show the distance between you two before impact? Angle and quality matter a lot. If the camera is pointed forward and the impact happens right at the edge of the frame it might not be as clean as you hope. Worth reviewing it carefully before you lean too hard on it.

Honestly the fact that you had a dashcam running puts you in such a better position than most people in this situation. A lot of folks are stuck in a he-said-she-said nightmare with no evidence. You've got the receipts. That's huge.