Shopping malls and grocery stores are often filled with people. People come to the store frequently to refill their monthly groceries or to do some shopping.
Most people need to speak about shopping cart collisions in the parking lot.
This confuses people about whom to blame when a shopping cart hits their vehicle.
Imagine that after a busy day at work, your wife calls you and asks to get some groceries. So on your way home, you park the car at the grocery store and move towards the store.
Due to the wind, a shopping cart slides down the slope and bumps into your vehicle. Who should shoulder the liability?
In this blog, you will find the answers to such shopping cart damage to your car.
If a shopping cart hits your car due to wind or another customer’s fault, the store is not liable for the damage.
If the customer is in place, he should speak to his carrier and let the claim’s adjuster talk to you about handling the issue.
If the wind has brought down the cart, it is better to speak to the auto insurance company and file a claim. If no one takes financial responsibility, you must pay for the repairs out of pocket.
Shopping Cart Collisions
Shopping carts are available in most shopping malls and stores, so you can conveniently transport the merchandise while moving around.
Usually, the stores have a separate place to leave the shopping cart once you load the goods into your vehicle. However, some customers leave in the parking lots.
These abandoned carts move due to the force of the wind and bump into random cars parked along the way. This is how most shopping cart collisions occur and damage the vehicle in the parking lot.
Since the store owns the parking lot and the shopping cart, the customers expect the store to assume liability for the shopping cart collision.
Most shopping centers have warning boards and cart corrals to reduce shopping cart collisions.
So they will not accept liability for accidents caused by customer negligence. So, who is actually responsible when a shopping cart bumps into your vehicle?
Who IS Responsible If A Shopping Cart Damages Your Car?
If an abandoned shopping cart amidst the parking lot trolls down due to the force of the wind and hits your vehicle, this might bring extra expense.
Before spending out of pocket, consider who is liable for the fault. The person or company responsible for the fault will vary depending on the situation.
Following are a few examples of shopping cart collisions with vehicles and who is responsible for them.
1. When a customer leaves the cart in the parking lot and puts the kid in the car seat, the strong wind removes the cart and bumps into another customer’s vehicle.
Here, the customer who forgot to leave the cart in the cart corral must take responsibility and fix the damage caused to the other customer.
2. When an abandoned cart in the parking lot hits your vehicle, you don’t know who left it there, and the accident is not due to store negligence.
In such cases, you can contact the auto insurance company. However, the best option is to pay for the repair out of pocket.
3. If the store has no proper cart carrols or warning boards, the store owner or the parking lot owner must be liable for shopping cart collisions.
Please take photos to prove that the store did not impose the safety measure.
Will The Auto Insurance Cover The Damage Due To Shopping Cart
Most auto insurance companies cover shopping cart collisions. If you have full coverage, auto insurance will cover the financial liability to repair shopping cart damages to your vehicle.
When a shopping cart bumps into another car, and no one can take financial responsibility for the fault, you can file a claim with auto insurance. The full coverage policy offers collision coverage.
This collision coverage also includes vehicle damage due to shopping cart collisions. The insurance company will consider this a hit-and-run accident.
Although you can file a claim with auto insurance, it is essential to know whether the insurance claim is worth it. The damage caused to your vehicle due to a shopping cart collision is often extensive if someone throws the cart on the windscreen.
So these tiny repairs cost less than the insurance deductible. Hence, the best option is to pay out of pocket for minor damages.
4 Things TO Do When A Shopping Cart Damages Your Car
You must do the following four things to solve shopping cart damage to your vehicle without any hassle:
1. Take pictures of the vehicle’s damages. Precise and high-quality photos will be proof when filing an insurance claim or submitting it to the courts.
2. Analyze the situation and determine who is liable for the fault. If the accident is due to the negligence of another customer still in the parking lot, then you can speak to him regarding the collision. If it was due to store negligence, you can show the picture and inform them they are liable for the damage.
3. Address even the minor damage caused to your vehicle due to a shopping cart collision. Sometimes these damages might not seem serious, but they may require intensive repair in the future. Therefore, addressing minor injuries will protect you from paying for costly repairs.
4. If you need to bear the cost of the repair, then contact an auto repair service for quick and reliable repairs.
How To Protect Your Car From Shopping Cart Collisions
Shopping cart-related damage is typical in most places. Also, determining who is liable for the fault must be clarified so the vehicle owner pays for the repair.
Vehicle owners facing shopping cart collisions may be frustrated. Hence, to avoid such accidents, you can follow the tips given below.
1. You can park at the back of the parking lot with fewer vehicles. When there are too many vehicles around, the possibilities for shopping cart damage are high.
2. Restrict parking your car on a downgrade if the parking is hilly. The shopping cart left uphill will roll downhill due to wind and damage to the vehicle parked on the downgrade. Therefore, it is better to park your car uphill.
3. It is better to avoid shopping during the busiest hours when the supermarket will be filled with customers. When there are fewer shoppers, the staff will also focus on clearing the carts in the parking lot. Hence, the risk of shopping cart collisions will be low.
Final Thoughts
You might understand who is liable if a shopping cart hits your vehicle.
The store mostly takes measures to prevent shopping cart collisions and provide a safe parking environment by clearing the cart.
Shopping cart-related damages often occur due to customer negligence as they fail to leave the cart in the corrals.
In most cases, no one bears the financial liability for shopping cart collisions at the store, so the car owner has to spend on fixing the repair.
However, by taking pictures of the damages, you may file an insurance claim or provide them as legal proof.
Rather than filing an insurance claim, you can save money by fixing minor injuries by contacting an auto repair service.
Best Wishes!
FAQs
Where Should You Put the Shopping Cart After Purchasing Goods?
You must return the shopping carts to the cart corrals once you finish shopping.
Is Filing an Insurance claim for Shopping Cart-related Damage Worth it?
It depends on the intensity of the damage caused to your vehicle. For minor injuries, the auto insurance deductible will be higher than the repair cost. So it is not worth filing an insurance claim for small damages.
If Your Shopping Cart Hits A Car, Are You Liable?
If the accident occurs due to negligence, you must assume the liability.
