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My stepmother was reversing out of her friends driveway in the pouring rain, slowly. She had only just started (and was nowhere near the road or the footpath) when a taxi driver drove into the driveway behind her and they collided. There was no damage to her car, but a broken headlight on his. He claims she is liable. The insurance companies say that the reversing driver is always at fault and told us it was in the road code - but when we asked for the relevant section etc for such a statement, they backtracked and said it was their opinion. Who is likely to be found at fault if it went to the Disputes Tribunal?

There is no such rule or statement in the Road Code, as it isn't always the case that the reversing vehicle is in the wrong. However, in almost all accidents involving a reversing vehicle, the reversing driver is usually at fault.
In the circumstances involving this particular accident, one element that doesn't help your stepmother's case is the poor visibility due to the weather, as poor visibility is no defence. It does state in the Road Code "Before you move off, make sure it is safe to reverse. The best way to do this is to walk around the vehicle and make sure there are no children or other obstacles in your path." Extending this out, if you start reversing and can no longer see if the way is clear, you should repeat the exercise.
However, because the taxi turned into the driveway (arguably without checking to see if the way is clear), there could be some culpability on his behalf too.
This would by no means be a clear win for either party. In many cases such as this, the Disputes Tribunal find that both drivers are deemed to shoulder some blame, therefore each takes care of their own damage.