Recently I've been the victim of a hit and run. My car was legally parked parallel to the street next to an garage entrance, another car was parked behind mine. Behind them also a garage entrance with ample space between both garage entrances to fit two cars without them sitting bumper to bumper. Party C, a vehicle yet to be identified, hit my car in the front and managed to push it back, resulting in a collision with the car of party B.
As party C is still unidentified, the owner of car B now goes after me for the damages to the car. I only had my car in gear and they claim that, had I pulled the e-brake, the collision could have been avoided.
I was on vacation when the incident happened, so I only have the scene report documented by the police. The report states that my car most was likely hit from the front, evident by some debris.
Is it legal / possible to go after me for these damages? And if so, what are my options? My reasoning would be:
- It is not mandatory to pull the e-brake for parking, just secure against unwanted rolling away, so me just putting it in gear should not make me obligated to cover the damages. Each insurance would be handling their damages until party C is found.
- From the looks on my car the damage to my front was substantial, so I highly doubt that pulling the e-brake would have been sufficient to hold my car in place. A collision would have been inevitable.
- This might be hard to prove though since I have no pictures of the situation before the incident, but from the scene the police documented and my memory, my car hasn't moved a lot from the space I parked it in, believing me to think party B parked their car way to close to mine. Had they left the necessary distance, this could also have been avoided.
Can I "force" my insurance to investigate the claim based on my points or can they refuse and just compensate party B and raise my rates?
My location is Germany.