Mini cooper accident damage

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My daughter was stationary at a roundabout on the A17 this afternoon when someone more interested in lighting a cigarette while changing lane drove into the back of her and pushed her car onto the roundabout :evil: Luckily no lorries were on the road at the time because it was a Saturday any other day of the week and it's nose to tail with articulated lorries.

The car is a mini cooper convertible. She was hit by a 4 x 4. The car was hit in the offside rear.

I have had a look around the car and at first glance it looks to be only the rear bumper that has been damaged, until you look closer. I cannot get a look at the back panel or inside the boot because of the lining, from underneath I can see bright clean creased metal and cracked paintwork.

I can get three fingers between the bumper and tyre on the offside but only two and a half on the nearside.

The door gaps look fine and there doesn't seem to be any damage to the sills or roof lining.

As I walked away from the car I noticed the front didn't look right :rolleyes: there was light coming through the wing/bonnet joint on the offside. the gap was about 15mm and the bonnet would not close any tighter.

I then checked the nearside and found that the gap there had closed up and was less than 5mm.
There were no noticeable difference in the gaps prior to this afternoons accident.
So the question is: Is it possible that the car has been twisted from the nearside rear impact?


 
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I think that's been quite a substantial impact, and I hope Kate isn't too badly shaken!
There will be damage to the boot floor area, I suspect.
Could the damage to the front have been caused by the mounting of the roundabout, do you think?
Either way, a professional body shop will put the car on a laser alignment jig if they suspect a twist, and then consider any repair from there.
John :)
 
Thanks John.
Kate's got an earache from the loud bang and is complaining of a sore back but otherwise she's fine. Her boyfriend was holding his iphone 5 which flew from his hand and the screen broke, so it was a fair impact.

I can't see any obvious damage to the front but it definitely wasn't like that recently and certainly never came with gaps like that.
The insurance company is sending someone to collect the car on Monday and to deliver a hire car. So top marks to them.

Those plastic bumpers and the boot linings hide a multitude of sins so it's impossible to see how bad the damage is, we will have to wait and see what the assessor says.
 
If the screen broke too, that would indicate that the impact was much harder than you would imagine as they are stuck in place and don't budge.
So long as everyone is ok!
John :)
 
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has she been to her doctors/hospital for the whiplash injuries?

i had a rear impact accident in 1990 and ended up having dental work to the tune of £1400.all because of whiplash.
i was thinking of just walking away and forgetting about,until 2 days later when i was in agony etc.
 
i know in this day an age its about 'where theres blame theres a claim'but with proof from a medical expert it will be easier to hold up in a court of law if the 3rd party gets moody.
 
i know in this day an age its about 'where theres blame theres a claim'but with proof from a medical expert it will be easier to hold up in a court of law if the 3rd party gets moody.
But then you're not opposed to defrauding insurance companies anyway are you?
 
i know in this day an age its about 'where theres blame theres a claim'but with proof from a medical expert it will be easier to hold up in a court of law if the 3rd party gets moody.
But then you're not opposed to defrauding insurance companies anyway are you?

hence why i said obtain a medical certificate,that way proof has been obtained to say injuries have been inflicted.

when i had mine my missus was in the car,her left breast was black and blue from the tightening of the seat belt.because she never went to her docs/hospital when she tried to claim for whiplash all the insurance company gave her was £100,and that was basically to tell her to F.O .
because i went to a medical professional i had all my dentistry covered and was awarded £2534 in personal injuries aswell as other costs incurred,my car was written off as uneconomical to repair.
so i agree about peeps trying to swing the lead is totally out of order and costs us all mega bucks but when/if it is genuine i see no reason what so ever why you wouldnt claim against the 3rd party.
 
Usually those rag tops are very difficult to straighten as the underside has been stiffened to reduce body roll, because of the chopped roof.

Ah yes, the old courtesy car ......................

Look for a full wright off, do not even consider a repair, regardless of how nice the courtesy car is. On the vehicle history, the Cooper will be now down, as a category D or even a category C (depending on the level of repair needed) damaged vehicle. Which will seriously depreciate the value of a car like that. So just tell the nice insurance man, a cheque will do nicely thank you.

But as long a s everyone is OK, that's the main thing

PS Did the phone actually break the windscreen of the car, or did it break because of the body twisting? You would have to give an iPhone a good old fling to break a windscreen?
 
I'm afraid that decision is down to the insurers alone....some of them work on a 60% damage / value cost so even if the repair cost is very close to the write off value, the car will still be repaired.
I'd personally go for a write off, naturally but see what comes back from the insurer.
John :)
 
Her boyfriend was holding his iphone 5 which flew from his hand and the screen broke, so it was a fair impact.

I read that as: the phone flew across the car & the screen of the phone broke rather than the screen of the car?

You read it correctly.

The repair center collected the car on Monday and say that it may have to be written off because of the damage underneath.
 
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