Well that sucks

Weather today was brilliant. Sunshine, just a little breeze. Perfect for a 90 mile run down the coast road. Exactly what I bought the car for.

Made it 8 miles, just about to the coast and slid into the back of an Evoque.

On an NSL A road, slowing down with the traffic as we approached the junction and I realised that the traffic was actually stopped for the last hundred odd metres before the junction. Braked harder, only for the front to let go. It's a narrow road with bends approaching a sharp corner at the junction & all downhill. And I still have the cheapest front tyres the previous owner could find fitted.

All I could do was watch as we inexorably approached his OS R corner at between 10 & 20mph. Crunch.

*insert feelings of utter dejection*

No significant damage visible on his motor, (1.5 years old) but my TF looks a mess. Guy is really reasonable, I'm guessing they hardly felt it in that wagon, we weren't shaken by the impact in the TF. Agreed to move somewhere a bit safer to exchange details.

Got round the corner to a layby, he jumped out as did his wife with the baby, all pleasant and no stess. Mrs JanCo can't get out, the passenger door is jammed shut.

Have a chat, check out his damage, a back bumper, tail light, exhaust back box & I figure we're looking over a grand in parts alone. Check mine out, front bumper, ns headlight, ns wing, bonnet (& subsequently I reckon the bumper bar too). Without any need for calculation I say " Insurance job. I'll get you my details if you're happy with that."

They are and after apologies & wishes for a better drive home we part ways.

An hour later the cops call. Apparently they drove another 5 miles & she can't get out of the car. Had to call an ambulance to extricate her. The cop didn't suggest I was overly cynical when I was quizzical about this. I mean, I know these wee cars are fairly heavy for their size, but we virtually slid underneath him.

Anyway, if you're still reading, car is stripped down in garage & looks fixable. Just need to straighten out the inner wing & headlamp panel then replace the above. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up parts in XPG so can avoid a respray.

Before I start ringing round tomorrow, anyone got a ns headlight, bumper bar, XPG ns wing, bonnet or bumper they'd be willing to part with for a sensible price? I'd arrange a courier to collect.

Sympathy also gratefully received, as will remonstrations for poor driving.

Ah yes. the sudden onset of compensation whiplash... :rant:

Sorry to sound so depressing and cynical but:-
Trust me when I say that their claim will be astronomical. Your insurance will write off your car without a second glance so don't waste your time getting parts.

Damage to the TF


Damage to the Evoque

Bad luck having the accident.I hate whipcash claiments :rant:

Read this the other day hopefully things will change http://www.confused.com/car-insurance/articles/new-bid-to-crack-down-on-whiplash-cheats?MediaCode=806&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=NewsletterMR20140623&utm_source=Newsletter

As soon as I looked at the TF I figured "write off". Not intending to put anything through the insurance for the TF though, surely they can't write it off if I'm not claiming?

That's interesting Bob, and I'm all for it. On the other hand, I can't be too hard on whiplash claims. Mrs JanCo got tipper lorry trying to get in the boot of our Cavalier some years ago. She was fine that evening, but next day was different. She's suffered the effects of it for years now.

Then again, that was maybe 18 tons of truck running into 1.5 tons of car at low speed so you'd expect a bit more shock to be transmitted through the body.

As the law stands, there is no incentive not to go daft on a claim. Needs to be looked at.

Looking at your image of the damage it's going to be a total loss as far as the insurance company goes. Best to get a couple of quotes let the insurance write it off (cat C or D) Hopefully you are fully comp! get paid out by the insurance company and buy back the car, repair it with second hand parts/panels and get it sprayed and you have your car back.

If it comes out a cat C you may not need a vic check, it depends if the insurance company puts a marker on it with the DVLA, even if it needs the check it's only £41.

A cat C will reflect on your re-sale value as you have to notify the buyer, but if you intend to keep the car, especially if you have done a few mods to her you will get a bargain (apart from the loss of your no claims bonus)

Hope you get it sorted either way.

Brian.

As above.
As you are going to lose your no-claims bonus anyway, it seems logical to let the insurance sort out your car. The additional cost to the insurer won't really further affect your premium which will be hiked by the other person's inflated claim.
If it is written off at least you get money to put towards a replacement/repair

So, quick update. Got through to the insurance today, mainly to inform them of the 3rd party claim that would be coming their way. They automatically assumed I would be claiming for damage on my car and told me that, most likely, due to the age & value, the car would be scrapped.

I replied that I was keen to keep the car & repair, and happily she agreed with me. So they are arranging an assessor to look at it to put a value on the car, and work out how much I could buy it back for. Hopefully they'll be generous...

Tried getting in touch with the 3rd party a few times today to give him details for his claiim, but no answer. I reckon he's avoiding speaking to me as he knows I know about the whiplash claim. No matter. The insurance company can deal with that now.

Well that sounds a bit more positive from the insurance side anyway. :yesnod:
I reckon you're right about Mr and Mrs crippled for life. Or maybe they are in traction and can't get to the phone.:shrug:

I had a similar claim made against me when I ran into the back of a taxi that decided to stop on the roundabout after entering it, 'for unknown reasons'. I must have been going less than 5mph when I contacted his rear. There was a single 50p sized dent in the front edge of my bonnet (wasn't even worth repairing) and a piece of plastic trim came loose above his number plate.
Next thing I hear is driver and passenger have submitted a whiplash claim! I sent the video of the collision to my insurance company along with close up photos of the damage. Taxi driver obviously didn't notice the in-car camera!
Insurance company in that instance told them to f*** off.
A few months later I had a claims firm ringing me up about it every couple of days. After telling them to contact my insurer on the first call, I noted their number and ignored it until they stopped phoning.

The problem is that if you go to the doctor and say, "I was in a car accident and my neck hurts", the doctor has to assume you're being truthful and tells you you've got whiplash.:shrug:

There's no way to prove the injury one way or the other.

As an example, I have constant back pain (fell down stairs about 30 years ago) and take powerful painkillers for it, but despite a battery of tests we've never been able to see any physical reason for it ( including x rays and body scan). According to all the tests my back is in perfect working order, but that doesn't stop the chronic pain.