Dream Weaver

We were sat at some lights in the Civic today and when they went to green the lad in the 55 plate BMW behind us accelerated straight into our back end and I hadn't set off a that time.

The bang was so loud it woke our little lad up (11 weeks old) and he was crying due to the shock, Mrs was upset and none of us had a clue what had happened - I was leaning forward slightly at the time and banged my head very hard on the headrest so I'm in some pain tonight

I expected the car to be stoved in but there was just a couple of minor scratches as most of the back end is plastic - I am worried about the rear subframe underneath though.

The guy admitted it was his fault as he was chatting to his daughter at the time

I have his details, but don't know whether to bother claiming as there is literally 2 tiny 2mm marks on the rear bumper.

Should I inform insurance co tomorrow, and is it worth having the car checked by the dealers?

richs2891

Personally would have it checked - just for peace of minds sake, if the garage identifies damage then tell the insurance co, if no damage would bother !

richard

Shark Man

Sounds typical to your 5mph impact....Yes it makes a huge bang, and it may have bent the inner bumper and probably broke a few clips.

Can't remember what civics have behind the outer bumper, but some cars have polystyrene impact material, which usually gets kanckered as well.

How to tell if you have suffered more than a scratch:...look closely at the outer bumper along the seams between the brake lights/boot and the bumper on each side - the gaps should be the same, and the wheelarch section of the bumper should roll round smooth to the quater panel and not stick out by a few mm (which yours probably will - at a guess ).

Ideally, find a independant bodyshop you know and trust that can do insurance work. Not a place that the insurance company tells you - no matter how much they bully you to (their reasons for doing so is purely cost cutting). and not main dealer body repairers either (similar issues).

Nido

I hope this isn't a call out for the ambulance chasers?

andythejock01wrx

Yup, get it checked out by a garage. I work in insurance claims - most peeps seem happy with the Appointed Repairers, but do what you will.

Remember that the claimant's insurers will give a you a hire car on a like for like basis whilst yours is in for repair. Also, note that your insurers may well waive the excess if the third party insurers concede liability immediately, which they should if the other guy reports the matter right away.

andy_s37

I'd have it checked out just for piece of mind, especially with the little fella in the back. We have a 7 month old daugther and my attitude to my car and driving in general changed the minute she was in the car on the way back from the hosp.

Andy.

mart360

You state you suffered an injury....

therefore you must report it...

and advise your ins co accordingly..

whiplash isnt nice....

mart

Fuzz

Quoted for the truth.
Any injury sustained in a car accident must be reported to the police.

Is it within 24hrs? not so sure there.

Andy

scoob_babe

Get it checked by garage anyway to make sure that there is nothing wrong underneath. You can't go back in 6 months if a problem develops.

Aaquil

Get the car checked and go from there but I would inform the Insurance company just to be on the safe side. Regards your 'injury' you may feel fine now but lousy in a few days time so at least get yourself checked out. If someone has damaged your property intentionally or otherwise it is your right to get it fixed by the one who did it.

CrisPDuk

Let your Insurance Co know, I crashed a car about 11 years ago, totally my own fault, driving like a loon, nobody else involved
I thought I'd walked away from it unscathed, but sat at my desk at work a couple of days later my neck and back suddenly went into spasm, I couldn't move and was in agony. Turned out it was delayed reaction to the accident. I still feel a twinge every now and again to this day.

If this happens to you, or more importantly your son, you need to get it sorted, and properly.

With regards to the car, a lot of modern car bumpers are filled with expanded foam (a bit like motorcycle helmets), it's purpose is to absorb impact energy, when hit, it deforms behind the plastic, but it doesn't recover it's original shape.
If this has happened in this case, the car's ability to absorb the next impact has been reduced, marginally I admit, but it still want's to be sorted.

Dream Weaver

Don't be a ****, this is exactly the reason I thought twice about posting this on Scoobynet after all these years.

I've never claimed on any insurance in 34 years, and won't start now - but the fact is my head was knocked backwards when he hit us and it was very hot and sore when we were outide the cars.

This morning both me and the mrs have stiff necks and sore backs, so that can only be down to the bump. I'm just glad my son seems to be OK or I would've kille dthe BMW driver

Thanks to all the decent replies though, I'll take it to the dealers this week, its only 8 months old so they should be OK to look at it.

Nido

Apologies, no offence intended.

What I don't understand though (I'm not referring to your specific case here, just small accidents in general) how so many suffer whiplash from such small crashes.

I have for many years raced banger cars around with my mates on their land in the middle of nowhere. We have smashed dozens of old cars to peices, jumped them up to 7 foot high, crashed into very solid trees, rolled them etc for years. As soon as somebody has to stop (normally radiator smashed is the first reason) they are rammed into from all directions by all the other cars

The crashes are into each other are at a maximum of around 40 kph, anything more and the cars are rendered scrap too quickly.

In around 10 years of doing this we have never, ever had anybody get whiplash. Hundreds of crashes into each other, many times from behind in exactly the same circumstances as a crash such as you describe. All this in old cars as well, no modern energy absorbing bumbers or anti-whiplash head restraints, or any crash design at all really

It then amazes me that so many people hit from behind in modern cars at slow speed get whiplash, an injury that is pretty difficult to disprove. I think many of these are beacuse of the sad compensation culture that the UK has become.

A few years back (I was in the UK at the time) a woman pulled out in front of me from a junction she should not have turning from. My car ended up on its roof, written off. I was fine, the airbags, anti-ramping seats, seatbelt pre-tensioners etc all did their job. However, many poeple "suggested" to me that I should feign injury for the "easy" insurance money

I was not injured though, I got a nice payment for my car from her insurance, that was fine in my book.

The ambulance chaser tendacies of the UK really annoys me, and as said I apologise for any offence you may have taken from my original post.

You obviously have some real pain, hope all comes out well for you, and you or your wife don't have any long term problems from it

More importantly your little one was unhurt

mart360

Try sitting still, and if you want to really feel the fun turn your head slightly, as if your looking to make sure a road is clear before pulling out.

then get a mate to run into you.... the resultant laws of gravity should do the rest..


you dont have to be hit hard from behind to get whiplash..... its your own body and the kinetic forces that do it...

i seem to recall a racing driver decapitated himself just recently, by being hit in the rear... he survived, but pulled his head of his neck.....literally..


i was stationary when a muppet drove into the back of me... not an excessive speed no more than 30. my towbar and bumper took the brunt of the damage.... i still ended up with whiplash...

if the poster has a sore head now, chances are he will be in more pain in a few days time....

my accident occurred on a Tuesday morning....i went back to work on Wednesday....and by Wednesday evening was flat on my back unable to move.....the niggling pains that occurred during the day were the precursor...


i spent a week of work........the physio thought i'd slipped a disk when i saw him i was that bad!!


just because youve run into your mates and not injured yourself dosent mean nothing will happen...

eventually it will


Mart

andythejock01wrx

Fuzz

I was wondering that too

st3v3

This is is true,this can and does happen,your head is situated,for want of a betterway of describing it,like a knuckle joint bone,a bit like a ball and socket.
If this bone was broken,you have been technically know as decapitated,you do not have to have your head clean cut off to be decapitated.

steve.

see Woman survives 'internal decapitation' - CNN.com

mart360

Heres the article

https://www.scoobynet.com/non-scooby...er+decapitated


Mart

andythejock01wrx

I've learnt something new. Ain't Scoobynet great !

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

pffft, passes the time

good read the decapitation post though...

andythejock01wrx

Good if it's not you !

Gutmann pug

Remember if you claim your premium WILL go up next year. It may have been a no fault claim but you will be deemed a higher risk next year and your policy price adjusted accordingly. Unfair but true.

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

i believed this too be true g.p. but i remember reading in the insurance section on here, that its not always the case. plus when i called my insurers regards my recent non fault accident claim, i was told my premuim shouldnt go up, a least through them. im led to believe a handful of insurers dont increase your premuim, but most as you say would find you an extra risk.

quick question on this however. my personal situation. had my insurance since dec. last year. due to renew this dec. even though i have claimed via my insurers who are then claiming of the third partys (liable party) insurers, would i not still be entitled to my years ncb in dec?

andy

Dream Weaver

I've done some proper banger racing at Belle Vue in Manchester, and although the hits are hard you are ready for them so don't suffer.

In our bump on Saturday I was relaxed and was scrolling through the computer readings on the dashboard (hence looking downwards) to check our fuel economy waiting for the lights to go green - I didn't see the other car approaching so wasn't braced for impact.

Not sure what speed he was doing, but at the point of impact I had no idea at all what had happened - it felt like someone had hit me in the back of the head/neck with a baseball bat - the car has active headrests that move forward as well which probably didn't help.

My back and neck are sore today, but nothing to worry about I dont think. I'm more worried about the car.

It has made me re-think my love of cars as well - if I was in the 205 it would've been a lot worse.

I need to decide what to do today, so do I phone the insurance company first, or ring the main dealers and ask them? I don't want a bill for them checking the car over which is then not paid for by this lad.

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

fella, speaking from experience, call your insurers and explain everything. if needs be i believe you can claim straight from his insurers, not through yours and his...

youve been injured no matter how slightly. put into perspective. my recent accident. someone pulled out on me and did some damage to my drivers side wing and front/back doors. didnt look where he was going, so he was accelerating at the time. i saw first and started braking...ooomph. i knew it was gonna happen, and did my best to avoid, but there was still a collision. now this guys and old work mate. i told him striaght "look im gonna have to claim from your insurance". got details etc and told my insurers every little detail.

now i wanst bothered about things like compo at the time. i wanted my car fixing and that was good enough for me. i said on the phone i wasnt injured just in shock, but things like whiplash dont necessarily come on instantaniously.

few days later, i was really struggling. not enough to have time from work, but i had to and im still frequenting a chiropractor. now when you get the usual calls from the solicitors who always seem to hear about accidents , i explained what minor injuries i had. within a few days, she (the solicitor) had sent me out a simple questionnaire, and beofre i had chance to fill it in with regards my expenses for travel injuries, his insurers had sent me an offer for injury settlement.

now obviously this made e think (as it was a substancial amount of so called free money) that his insurers were worried about something. the end of the day, i accepted wat i thought was an acceptable offer, but i know for a fact i could have taken them for a lot more. i didnt as im generally an honest guy. ok i admit some of the compensation has gone on my car for "extra" spray work, but ive had to bring my two weeks summer holiday forward to give my back and neck chance to rest.

it may sound as though im trying to justify accepting "free money", but for what i went through with all the hassle with the insurers etc, and my current injuries, expenses for my chiropractor etc... i think its a reasonable amount.

just my tuppence into the conversation anyways.

andy

Dream Weaver

Insurance dudes coming to look at the car at some point to assess any damage.