I've just been rear ended!

[B1narys010]

So I've only had it a few months and it already has it's first war wounds.

Whilst stopped at a roundabout, a young girl too busy looking at her sat nav went into the back of me. The bumper looks fine from the outside except a few scuffs that should polish out, reversing sensors work ok, but a quick look underneath when i got home and the reinforcement bar has been snapped.

I'll take into a garage on Monday for a good look over, but what i'm unsure of is how safe is it to drive? given that the bar looks structural but not load bearing. Should i leave it on the drive and get a mechanic to come out to look at it?

Bloody typical too, I had the whole day tomorrow planned for a full detail :mad:

[Hyperkev]

Ouch.....

[JEZDS3]

I feel your pain mate!

[RichardL]

Really and truly if you're not at fault and you're fully comp you should be going down the insurance route and letting them deal with it all. You may lose your NCD in the short term but it'll be reinstated once the investigation is complete.
Something similar happened to me and due to the nature of the incident my insurer waived my excess.

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[grant_w]

That happened to me a while ago, took it to a garage to have a look at and there said everything was OK, just got the scuff to the back bumper otherwise you wouldn't know I had been hit

[lfcrule1972]

I'd deffo get the insurance involved, at least that way a full assessment will be undertaken....

[mjogreen]

Ditto above - I really don't get why people settle outside of insurance?? Just let your insurer deal with it, let them argue the toss over the cost, let them sort you out with a replacement vehicle and put you back in the position you should have been had the crash not happened.

If you come to sell it, what if someone checks the obvious crash points?? You'll lose out in the long run.

[StevenRB45]

Working in insurance I see both positives and negatives to reporting it, chief among which is some companies apply a load even for none fault incidents.

However chances are the company you're with requires you to report any accidents as part of your contract regardless of whether or not you claim. So if you are telling the insurance you may as well get them to get the other sides insurance to fix your car. Although the bumpers popped back out it doesn't mean the crash bar behind and energy absorbing stuff behind are worth a damn now. Also the companies that do load for none fault and information only claims don't usually differentiate between the two as either way it costs them nothing. So if you do tell them and it's clearly none fault you may as well claim.

[B1narys010]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I've called the insurance this morning and it's in their hands now.

It'll be off the road for a week or two, but luckily I have a family member who is lending me their mk1 mx5!

[mjennings23]

Surely, as it's a non fault claim, you have the right to a courtesy car on a like for like basis

[B1narys010]

They offered me a hire car rather than a courtesy car.

I would have taken it, but I'm very wary of hire cars. my brother was in the same position about a year ago and had a right ordeal after an insurance company tried to bill him for the hire charges totalling £10k. it took him 6 months of stress and a court appearance to get them to honour the hire car charges.

[mjogreen]

Credit hire claims are a nightmare!