Hi All:

We were stopped waiting for a red light to change and was hit from behind by a SUV. The impact felt hard, jolting. When I went out of the car to see what happened there was almost no damage to my car, just a broken license plate screw cap and a very small scratch on the bumper.


My wife and I both suffered neck and/or back injuries, but the car wasn't damaged except as I mentioned above.


Question, do the 2008 Mini Clubmans have impact bumpers that depress and pop back out, any explanation as to why I felt the big jolt at impact and no damage to our car?


Thank you!

 

wow, sorry, don't have your answer, but that is impressive! Any damage the SUV? Hope you guys are ok!

 

If the hit was as hard as you say it was, the steel crash bar and the foam that lines it behind the bumper probably took up most of the shock. Your bumper just flexed back after the SUV hit you. It likey hit you pretty square. Even if it doesn't LOOK bad, take it to a shop to have it checked out. The impact could have caused frame damage and the crash bar and foam might be heavily damaged underneath the bumper. This happened to my 2000 Honda Prelude. My buddy hit me square in the back. The hit felt REAL hard, but when i went to look, there were only scratches. It wasn't until i got home and took off my rear bumper when i saw all the damage that had been done. My buddy ended up paying almost $2000 to have the bumper repaired and painted, the crash bar and foam replaced, and the car needed to go on a frame puller to straighten out the frame.

 

Your bumper cover is plastic. When the shop pulls it off, they'll check for damage to the reinforcement bar and the absorbers under the cover. They'll also check for any other damage that might not be noticeable to you.

Post any questions you have during your claim process in this thread. Username "Klayfish" and I are both claims adjusters and can help you with your questions.

Btw, which state do you live in and which insurance company does the other driver have ?

 

Thank you all for your replies and concerns. We live in Florida. My wife and I were both injured to our back and necks , MRI's confirmed, however the other insurance co, Mercury, saying, hey the vehicles weren't damaged, you took time going to see a Dr ( we reported it to our ins guy the same day, didn't see a Dr for 2 months, hoping the pain would go away)........my atty is saying because of this we have a bleak outlook for collecting for our damages , though we are non litigious people, we are in pain every day.

Anyway, we sold the car , my wife didn't want to be in a small car anymore, based on the injuries we sustained and one Dr telling her her nerve was now very close to her spine....

Just looking for an answer I can tell my atty, who is very good and very honest with us, as to why the MINI showed no damage, but that the impact was still a strong one.

Thanks.

 

Glad to hear you and your wife are relatively OK, but you should've gotten all checkups done, both doctor and auto repair, either the same day or the day after. Sorry for saying this, but waiting 2 months to see a Dr after a hard hit is just dumb.

As for selling the MINI because it's a small car, i don't blame you for that decision, but keep in mind a hit is a hit. Even if you drive a huge SUV now, if you ever (God forbid) get hit again, you still need to get checked out by a doctor ASAP. You never know what kind of damage you could sustain.

 

Thanks. Live and learn. I just thought the pain would go away, and it got worse.

 

I'm an injury claim handler and I have to say that if I evaluate a bodily injury claim with a small estimate on the car and both occupants claim injuries and don't seek TX for two months, I would make a very small offer and take my chance in court.

You can thank all the people in the world who file false claims in small accidents for the system being what it is. It's hard to tell the people who are legitimately injured from the fraudulent people and that's why insurance companies draw lines where we do.

 

I understand what you're saying. I've been driving for 40 years, never filed any suit for auto injury, not litigious and had just finished getting screwed over by a Ponzi schemer and the system protecting him (4 yrs of fighting) . Lost lots of our life's savings, peace of mind, health and belief that there are those in govt that protect its citizens- This is when the accident happened and we just didn't want to deal with another battle and thought the pain would go away, it got worse, s that's when we went to see a Dr.

I do understand what you are saying, but it sucks big time that we as victims are looked at by the ins co as dishonest first and foremost.

 

Your attorney will make your argument points with the injury claims adjuster. Maybe he'll argue successfully or take it to court where you'll get a sympathetic judge.

Sorry for all your pains, physical and otherwise.

 

Thank you.

BTW, do you have any experience with Mercury ins?the drivers ins co, how they handle these things?

 

Back injury is very hard to diagnose and may become a chronic condition if not check and treated right away, especially after an accident, no matter how 'minor' you think it is. My friend was in a worse collision similar to yours and she regretted not going to see a doctor right away because she 'felt fine'. She's a secretary and do not do any heavy lifting work. I can tell you that she still has chronic back pain from her accident after 5 years.

So, definitely get treated for the injury either through your Health insurance or your own car insurance. Good luck.

 

I can't recall ever having any claims with Mercury. They must be a very small company, may even be a company that only writes policies in a few states... there are tons of those kinds of companies out there.

 

My wife was rear ended very bad, she was at a stop and rear ended by a car going 55 mph who "didn't see her stopped". Car sustained $12k damage to rear. My wife went to doctors for months. We hired an attorney and got a settlement. That was 15 years ago and she still has back problems. She never had any back problems prior to the accident.

Lesson, anytime anyone is involved in an accident, go to the hospital and get checked!! Sometimes the problems don't crop up right away!

 

Sorry to hear about her pain. Yes, I agree , get to a Dr right away. I know my wife and I will be living with this pain the rest of our lives, and the insurance co will do whatever they can not to pay us a dime.

 

The majority of persons injured in accidents have soft tissue injuries ... strains, sprains, muscle spasms, etc. Those are not permanent. You heel in a few days, few weeks, or a few months.

In more severe accidents, you could sustain permanent types of injuries, like herniated disks. If you do have permanent injury, it can be medically documented, radiological exams will show them to be present, and you can be compensated relative to the severity of the injury.

I have handled thousands of injury claims and I have yet to see a single person sustain a permanent injury from a minor impact such as one that simply requires the bumper cover to be repaired or even replaced.

 

I have received permanent injuries from this crash , documented by mri's, and the car had no visible significant damage. My injuries are, 2 herniated discs in my neck, not only is there considerable pain, but loss of strength in my left Hand and i drop things.
I was the passenger, I was drinking from a water bottle when we were hit and my neck snapped. My wife is in constant pain in her back and neck, with 2 herniated discs , 1 touching the spinal cord, and one herniated in the back.

I'm somehow thinking the insurance guy handling my claim will think the same as you do. We were just sitting at a red light, hit by an SUV whose driver now says her foot slipped of the brake....but, me and my wife suffer and everyone else moves on ? So now you can say in the thousands of claims you've handled, maybe, just maybe you turned away people , changed people's lives, who did actually sustain a permanent injury...but somehow I don't think insurance companies look at things fairly, but look at a claimant as a fraud first until proven otherwise. Sorry, but it just sucks.

 

For me to tell you if I would pay for your treatment and permanency, I would have to see your estimate, photos of both vehicles, your medical report, and I would very likely request prior medical history/reports and even an Independent Medical Examination.

You will say you had no prior neck or back injuries but if the damages are as minor as you say, color me skeptical. You are telling me that you are one in a million and your wife just happens to be one too.

Yeah.... you waited months to seek treatment.... good luck with that claim. Even your own attorney will tell you he will have a hard time proving those injuries are from that accident.

 

Yeah.... you waited months to seek treatment.... good luck with that claim. Even your own attorney will tell you he will have a hard time proving those injuries are from that accident.[/QUOTE]

I was going to say something else, but why bother.

 

Fine. You may as well tell your attorney to file suit and hope you get a pro-plaintiff judge because that is very, very likely the only way you are going to get anything to speak of for your claim.

 

I feel your pain! I was recently rear ended 3 times in 2 months in my Clubman! Twice at stoplights and one in stop and go traffic on the highway. I wasn't even able to get the first one fixed before the next one happened, and then the third one happened before I had the damage fixed from the first two! After being hit three times, I needed a complete rear bumper, but now it's like new and I have some extra funds from all the insurance payouts

Thankfully with all those incidents I was never injured. I hope it all works out for the best for you!

 

Damn... i dunno whether that's lucky or unlucky

 

That really seems an excessive amount of Injury just for a rear ender IMO knowing others who have been through even worse in a Mini, which is more then well enough designed and tested to receive and protect against, and have walked away unscathed. I myself crashed my 05 Cooper into 3 trees, a culvert and a barbed wire fence doing 50mph ending up on top of one of the trees with both front tires off the ground. I walked away without even a scratch along with one of my 2 passengers back in early 07. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...the-wreck.html

The forces were definitely severe enough to throw my un belted back seat passenger almost through the 2nd sunroof. Thankfully the roof brace between the 2 sunroofs stopped him even though they had to extract him through the back of the Mini and he was un conscious. Luckily all he had (Thankfully) was a gashed head and minor concussion.

Coming from my accident, where I'm positive the forces were greater then a rear ender, I don't see how you both were injured so bad considering the great safety ratings and the almost no damage to your Mini.

My best friend, who was the unbelted passenger, was so impressed by the safety of the Mini, He is now on his 2nd one almost 6 years later!

I do know no one accident is the same and you may have been in that small percentile. I hope you both heal from your injury's if they were indeed that severe.

 

In March 2013, I too was stopped waiting for a red light to change and was hit from behind. The impact was major. When I got out of the car to see what happened there was damage to my car, the rear bumper was tweaked, broken license plate and major scratches to my bumper. The person that hit me was quite sorry for the event and did everything she should have done. Damage to my Clubbie and injuries to my back.

Fast forward - it is now June 2013 and I STILL have NOT received anything from her insurance, other than my Clubbie being repaired. The personal injury claim has still not been dealt with and each time I call to get 411 on thre claim, the agent "is not there", "cannot be reached", etc I leave messages and no response.

It's quite aggrevating!!

 

Who is the other driver's insurance company ?