Non-fault accident

[hairboy]

I was involved in a 3 car accident the other day. I was stationary in traffic, where a car rear ended the car behind me, who ended up hitting me. The driver of the car at the back immediately accepted liability, putting it down to the sunshine dazzling her, and she failed to stop. True enough, her insurance rang up the same day, and repair/hire car in the next few days is arranged, so all is kind of sorted, I guess.

The car at the back is a write off - front end is mangled. The car in the middle took most of impact, and looks in pretty bad shape, and given the age, it's probably also a write off.

But here's the thing; my W203 looks like it's just had a tiniest of knocks - paint scratches to bumper, and tailgate with a bit of a dent and paint scraped. I know Mercs are well built, but I did feel a hefty rear impact, and TBH, my back does feel a bit sore today, so I know it wasn't such a little knock. But from looking at the car, it looks like I could have reversed into something very gently, and even my family think I'm just exaggerating the whole incident, which is just annoying

But it's a great testament to Mercedes for building such a solid car; the bumper did its job in protecting me, and I'm well enough to just whinge on an internet forum about it all

Anyway, be careful on the road, folks. You might be doing everything right, but doesn't mean everyone else around you are!

 

[DSM10000]

Most of the enrgy would have been dissapated between the first two vehicles which seem to have acted as designed and crumpled to absorb the impact.

Have you checked behind the bumper and also lifted the boot carpet and checked the floor for damage?. It may well be more substanital than you first thought but hopefully it will turn out to be minimal.

Glad all seem OK

 

[BTB 500]

Glad you are OK and the car is going to be sorted.

Don't forget you will have to declare this for the next 5 years or so when applying for or renewing insurance

My wife had a no-fault rear impact accident in her car last year, and when I came to renew the insurance for my SL (which she is a named driver on) the premium shot up because of it! I ended up moving to another company.

 

[hairboy]

How on earth do they justify penalising the innocent victim, when the full liability and costs have been accepted by the third party? Robbing bar stewards! What's the point?

 

[Spinal]

Mercs are built pretty well. A friend of mine worked for Merc a while back, and had a different car every 6 months to drive...

One night, reversing an AMG ML-something or other out of my driveway, he reversed into an volvo brick-car (at slow speed). The whole rear end of the volvo was just gone, down to the rear passenger seats.

The ML had a dent on the rear metal bullbal/tyre holder... and that's it.

I was truly impressed...

Glad you're relatively uninjured!
M.

 

[BTB 500]

How on earth do they justify penalising the innocent victim, when the full liability and costs have been accepted by the third party? Robbing bar stewards! What's the point?

They claimed that statistics show people are more likely to be involved in an accident if they've had a no-fault one.

Ironically it didn't affect my wife's own insurance though!

Unfortunately you are obliged to declare it (and of course the ins. companies all share data to cross-check driver histories).

 

[hairboy]

I understand their logic; I just don't agree with it

 

[hairboy]

Mercs are built pretty well. A friend of mine worked for Merc a while back, and had a different car every 6 months to drive...

One night, reversing an AMG ML-something or other out of my driveway, he reversed into an volvo brick-car (at slow speed). The whole rear end of the volvo was just gone, down to the rear passenger seats.

The ML had a dent on the rear metal bullbal/tyre holder... and that's it.

I was truly impressed...

Glad you're relatively uninjured!
M.

Unscathed against a Volvo? And I thought they were solidly built too. That's good going!

And thanks. Yes, you could say that in a way, I was lucky, The girl in the car behind me will most definitely be a lot more sore and stiff than me. With a 6 months baby, being injured and not taking care of her is not really an option, so just glad I can get on with it, really.

 

[Stratman]

Just to re-emphasise the wise advice posted earlier. Have your car checked for damage, the bumpers have all sorts of 'single use' energy absorbing stuff behind them. The plastic outer bit may well have sprung back into place but the works behind it may not have.

 

[ringway]

Another thing to consider is that an insurance company approved repairer will charge half the rate of a Mercedes-Benz approved repairer.
The insurance company will warrant the repairs from their repairer (but possibly not from a MB approved one) because it will only cost them half as much as it could have done.

You can dictate where your car is repaired and there is nothing at all an insurance company can do about it.
If it was my car, it would be repaired at a MB approved bodyshop.

Even if your car is at the insurance approved bodyshop, I should think you can still change repairer.
If that is the case, things may well become awkward concerning the hire car, but the MB bodyshop should be able to provide one for you.

 

[hairboy]

Thanks, Stratman and Ringway.

My car will only go to MB approved bodyshop - I made sure of that, in exchange for not going via my insurance company's appointed accident management company, which would hike up their costs.As for hire car, I'm not too fussed as long as I get a reasonable estate which I can continue to get around in with my family during the repair period.

 

[neilrr]

'MB approved bodyshop' means v. little.

Go to one in your area that has a good rep, that's recommended by someone you trust or someone on here who knows it.

 

[hairboy]

Really? There's a (genuine) surprise! I'd have thought they'd only approve proper bodyshops, to be honest.

 

[Deleted member 65149]

As said earlier, the damage to your car may be far worse than it looks at first. I had someone run into the back of my old E260 when I was stationary at a junction. His Skoda looked like a write off whilst my car just seemed to have a small dent in the bumper. Thankfully everything was covered by his insurance because the boot floor on the E-Class turned out to be rippled. A very expensive repair.

 

[hairboy]

It's worrying me a bit more now rather than go through the third party insurance, perhaps I should go through my insurance to make sure my best interests are cared for. Any opinions?

 

[ringway]

'MB approved bodyshop' means v. little.

I was talking to the owner of the MB approved bodyshop that I use a while ago and IIRC he said they charge £34 + VAT per hour and the insurance approved places charge around £18 + VAT per hour.
The company charging that lower rate will want to complete the job as quickly as possible and if that means corner-cutting they may well skimp on certain aspects.
If they haven't experienced a certain type of repair on a MB previously, there may be complications that eat away at their agreed allotted time to fix the car.

An approved MB outfit will have far greater experience working on their specialised subject than a non-approved set up where there may arise a situation where a job is botched through inexperience with certain parts or procedures.

I'd also bet that a non-approved repair will (not that it stands for much in some cases) negate any bodywork warranty from Mercedes-Benz.

 

[Julesprivate]

It's worrying me a bit more now rather than go through the third party insurance, perhaps I should go through my insurance to make sure my best interests are cared for. Any opinions?

I suggest you go through your insurance and tell them to manage the claim against the 3rd party. I was rear ended earlier this year in my TVR and although the damage looked trivial (the other driver's words) the bill came to £3500 as the force of the impact had rippled through the bodyworks and shattered the floor under my driver's seat..

Obviously that was a fibreglass car but the same principle applies, the bumbers are designed to absorb impact ONCE, after that the inner will need to be inpected (and probably replaced) or next time there is nothing there to absorb any further impacts.

Plus, once, just once I was knocked off my motorbike, informed my insrance company but told them i'd deal with it through the 3rd party (which I did).

When my renewal came around they'd taken all my NCD off me because apparently if there is no record of a succesful claim against a 3rd party for an accident they were informed of then they assume fault.. Last time i ever use Bennets that's for sure.

Besides, if you use yor insurer to do it they're earningt he money they charged you AND you should be able to et a hire car and they can claim that back too..

If your back is sore - GO SEE A DOCTOR

Even if you have no intention of claiming now, go and see one to get their opinion and a record of the visit, if next week you find you're in too much pain to work it'll be a bit too late to attribute it to te accident..

 

[hairboy]

Yeah, I will only go through MB dealer approved bodyshop. I'm talking to Tamworth and Central to see who can fit me in quicker for a repair.

Jules - thanks for the insight. Really useful. In this case, the third party insurance company (Admiral) already contacted me to admit liability of their client, so there will be no issue with that. I guess they just want to cut out the middle man accident management company and deal directly with me to lower their cost. I have no problem with that, as I hate to see my (and everyone's) insurance premium rise, because of hyper inflated costs associated with them. As long as I get to dictate the where and when the repair takes place, they provide me with a hire car, that'll do me.

Re - going to see the doctor. I feel OK now. It was sore the day after it happened, but not so much, and it seems to be getting better now. I'd rather just get on with it, to be honest.

 

[CardinalZeus77]

It's worrying me a bit more now rather than go through the third party insurance, perhaps I should go through my insurance to make sure my best interests are cared for. Any opinions?

Someone reversed into my car a few weeks ago and admitted fault and I was contacted by the third party insurers for repairs and hire car. I talked to my insurer about what if I got the repairs done through third party. They said that is fine but if you are not happy with the repairs they cannot act on your behalf. I decided to go with my insurance to be on the safe side.

Got my car back today after just over three weeks. As others have advised there didn't look like a lot of damage on my car but they really need to look behind the scenes. There will be bits that need replacing.

Good luck with it.

 

[Roderick Plinge]

A woman ran in the back of my girlfriends Volvo S60 and the damage to her car was considerable, while the damage to my girlfriends was aist invisible. HOWEVER, just to make sure everything was ok I had the car checked at a reputable local garage and the panel beneath the bumper was severely damaged.
The total bill came to £1600! The biggest surprise was that the woman and her partner turned up on our doorstep - with £1600 in cash! Not everyone is a rogue, apparently!
Be good, be safe.