Person who HIT ME turned around and filed a claim against me — now I'm "at fault"??

This happened to me almost exactly. Guy rear-ended me at a merge and somehow I ended up with a partial fault determination from his insurer. What I learned the hard way: stop talking to the other driver's insurance entirely. You don't owe them a recorded statement. Let your own insurer handle the back-and-forth, or get a lawyer involved. The moment I stopped engaging with the other side directly things started moving in a better direction.

"Their investigation concluded" — LOL. That investigation took what, 48 hours with no adjuster and no physical inspection? That's not an investigation, that's a rubber stamp protecting their policyholder. They are absolutely counting on you to just accept it and go away. Don't. Push back hard and do it in writing so there's a paper trail.

I used to work claims and I'll be honest with you — when two claims come in for the same incident, whoever files first often gets a slight procedural advantage just because notes get entered from their perspective first. It's not supposed to work that way but it does in practice.

The good news: a fault determination from the other party's insurer isn't final and it isn't binding on your own insurer. Your carrier can dispute it, and if both sides disagree on liability, it can go to inter-company arbitration. Make sure YOUR insurer knows you're contesting this and ask them specifically what they're doing to push back.

A few practical things worth doing right now:

1. Send a written request to the other insurer for their complete claim file — notes, photos, recorded statements, everything. You're entitled to a lot of that. 2. Ask your insurer to open a formal dispute on the liability split. Most policies have a process for this. 3. Preserve everything — your photos, any texts with the other driver, the exact time you filed your claim vs. when they filed theirs.

Also, see if there are any traffic cameras or business security cameras near that intersection. A lot of people forget to look for that and footage gets overwritten fast.

Not legal advice, but: a fault determination made without a physical inspection and without taking your recorded statement first is on pretty shaky ground. If there's property damage or any injury involved, a free consult with a PI attorney costs you nothing and could give you a clearer picture of your options. Most will tell you pretty quickly whether it's worth pursuing.

Are you doing okay physically? Sometimes the adrenaline of dealing with the insurance nightmare masks soreness that shows up days later — neck, upper back, shoulders. If anything feels off, get checked out and document it. Don't wait until you "see how it goes" because that gap in medical care can hurt you later if symptoms turn into something real.

Stop answering calls from their insurance. Full stop. You are not required to cooperate with the other driver's carrier. Be polite, tell them you're representing yourself through your own insurer, and hang up. Every word you say to them can be used to justify their current position.

I'm so sorry, this sounds incredibly stressful. The fact that they turned around and filed against YOU after they reversed into your stopped car is just... enraging. Please don't let them wear you down into accepting this. You know what happened.

Genuine question — was there any distance between you and the SUV before it reversed, or were you pretty close to its bumper at the light? I believe you that they backed into you, but the "following too closely" angle makes me wonder if their insurer found something in the damage pattern they're hanging their hat on. Understanding their actual reasoning might help you counter it more specifically.