Whose fault is this?

IronGiant

Sounds like the best plan, that way you can keep it civil without trying to apportion blame... If the neighbour is hoping to claim it against your wife's insurance they wouldn't want your wife admitting liability at all.

Desmo

That's a genuine 50/50 in my eyes, for what it's worth.

Drd

Which now means they are aware your wife has had an accident. Other people I know who have done this have suffered as a result, the actual cost of the damage is irrelevant to the insurance company. I thought the plan was to repair the car without declaring the incident? You couldn't stop your neighbour reporting it, but you didn't have to be first.

IronGiant

No, it was not to claim.  As I'm sure you are aware you are supposed to report all accidents to your insurance company, whether or not they involve a claim.  As the neighbour is likely to be putting in a claim against them by the look of it, why not ask for advice?.

RBZ5416

Not entirely sure but I think that it may be illegal to drive across a path/verge to access off-road parking. Could be worth enquiring with your local council & if it is the case, you could point out that her manoeuvre was illegal.

Hooblue

Exactly. I’m not claiming, and you should report all accidents, no matter whose fault or if you are claiming or not. She will undoubtedly report it to her insurance company given the size of her repair quote, who will probably then contact mine, and if I haven’t even reported it, it’ll be worse for me.  

I’m going to get the work done on my car myself without claiming. She can then fight it out with mine as to who pays for her repairs.

Hooblue

I did think that. Also it’s clear that the cctv camera on the outside of her house looks at my driveway, which I believe also breaks Data Privacy laws, especially considering we weren’t informed about it. That’s if I was getting picky, which at the moment I’m not.

Qactuar

At the end of the day, this is what insurance is for. Let it do what it's meant to do!

IronGiant

Doesn't almost every driveway in the land cross a pavement to access the Public Highway? That's why the council put in dropped curbs...

Or is the suggestion that the neighbour doesn't have a dropped curb?

RBZ5416

I should have been clearer. I believe it's illegal in the absence of a dropped kerb. I'm assuming that if she's driving across a verge there is no dropped kerb. The following is from Tameside Council but many others say the same sort of thing.

Do I need a dropped kerb?

If you intend to drive a vehicle over the footway into your driveway off a highway, then you will need a dropped kerb. If you do not have dropped kerb, you must not drive over the footway. If you do so, you are breaking the law and enforcement action could be taken to prevent such practice.

From the video I'd say it's knock for knock but if the other party wants to be an arse, this may give the OP some ammo for her to reconsider her position. Certainly worth the OP informing his insurer that she was making a potentially illegal manoeuvre, with a pic of her drive as evidence.