Reversed into. What damage done?

jaxxy00

Me and my daughter were in her clio tonight parked in Tesco's car park stuffing our face with goodies before going home. While sitting there we were suddenly shaken and realised we had been hit from behind. I jumped out the car to see a large van had reversed into us.

He got out and apologised and said he couldnt see due to the weather. It was absolutely pouring down and windy really bad. Fair enough but why reverse park in a space behind us when almost the whole car park was empty So i wiped over the bumper with my hand to see if i could see any damage but i couldnt see any. Now considering the terrible weather and that it was in the dark i wasnt totally confident that all was ok and explained to him that i would like his details if when we checked tomorrow there was any damage. He was fine with that and i took his registration and he gave me the letter headed paper from the company (works van).

What i would like to know is other than any visible damage on the bumper is there anything else we should look for? Is there any other parts it cold have affected? Not really sure like what but i was wondering due to being parked and having the handbrake on could that have got any damage or fittings of the bumper? Any comments would be appreciated. Will have a look tomorrow in the daylight and hopefully dry weather.

I dont want to take it further if not neccesary but my daughter passed her test December and this is her first car which she is working hard for to pay back the money and dont want it messed up for her.

Bossyboots

I had no visible damage on my car from behind but when you look from the side, it was clear the bodywork had been pushed in and in fact I couldn't open my boot. It ended up with hundreds of pounds of work to put right.

mrtg0525

@jaxxy - Get it checked out by a bodyshop or dealer. The visible part of the bumpers on modern cars is usually a flexible plastic cover and the part that takes the brunt of the impact isn't visible. Depending on how bad the impact was it may well have done some damage that you can't easily see from the outside unless you know what to look for.

A quick check is to lift the boot carpet and check if there are any creases in it that don't look like they belong there.

joey_2

Yes you must check inside the boot. I was rammed into the back of the other day by a company car and they are now calling me a liar and saying they saw there was hardly any damage, the fact is I have been to 2 different garages and need new bumper and the boot floor is completely wrecked and the boot now longer shuts properley this will cost just over 1k to fix.
if you go to a garage and say you need an estimate for your insurance comp they will check it all out for you for free.

jaxxy00

Thanks everyone for all your advice. After hearing some of your stories its made me give it a thorough going over, even got out there with a mirror to look under where the bolts go etc for the bumper.

Im pleased ive had a good look though as after checking bolts etc which seem ok, ive rechecked the actual surface of the bumper (back bumper to be more clear) and there is damage. Its hard to explain what its like though but i would say its shattered the plastic if that makes sense. Kind of like loads of hairline cracks like you would get on a dinner plate.

So ive phoned the works company (not heard of them myself but looked up on internet and seem a very big company who do refits on stores etc heating, ventilation systems etc worth many thousands of pounds) but office is closed until Monday. I have left a message about why im ringing and that i will phone back Monday. Im assuming thats why he was there as our Tesco has just had a refit.

I have a little problem that i have to admit to and that is although i took the registration and have got the letter headed paper i did not ask his name. I did say does he always use the van and he said that it was his van so hopefully it will be ok.

So now, do we just get a couple of quotes for the work and pass on to his insurance when we find out the details from the office on Monday? My daughter has got legal cover and is insured fully comp but being young she has a $400 (pound sign not working) excess, so if we can deal direct i think it would be better. I know she would get the money back but its having it to begin with.

Bossyboots

In my accident the third party insurer sent out an assessor to look at the car and said they would arrange for it to be collected and repaired and then brought back. If you want to deal with it yourselves then the first step is to get the details of the insurance company and contact them to lodge your claim. If you have any difficulties, you may need to get your own insurer to make the contact but you do not have to claim through them. Hopefully you can sort it out direct though.

joey_2

Hi again, I didn't even have to get the third-party-insurance details I just told my own insurance the name of the company and all the details and they are doing it all for me so you can always do that. It will not cost me anything because it's so obviously their fault.
The company then did phone me up and offer to give me a cheque for the damage but when I told them how much it was they started calling me a liar and said go through insurance. - just to upset me more - .

You get the estimates, it will only take 10-20 mins at the garage, you will need 2 of these and pass them on to your insurers who will then deal with it. Also remember it's just an estimate so could end up costing even more when they do it and if you accept a cheque off the company you could still end up out of pocket. It won't affect your daughters insurance costs as not her fault.