can there be damage if you cant see it?

Aug 08, 2005 4 Replies

my jimmy was rear ended at about 37 mph. hardly any visiual damage but to the bumper, yet, my exhaust now rattles and sounds like a Euro car, front end vibration, driver side arm rest lose, and someother small things. it was hard enough to put my daughter into labor yet the insurance company says its not from the impact since you cant see the damage. where can I get addiontional info to back up what I am telling them?



Often the damage isn't visible until the body shop removes the "facade parts". Even experienced claims adjusters can't tell what damage is done until the body shop has at it. Based on your description, I'd say that significant damage is likely.

My '89 Blazer got rear ended while parked. The car behind got hit and pushed into me. My trailer hitch went pretty far into the Beemers grille and my truck got nudged into the car in front of me. Bottom line is my frame got bent where it loops up over the rear end just behind the rear seat. Body damage was minimal but the frame bent. You could see a slight kink at the bend and the frame rails back at the gas tank were angled down slightly. Only noticeable if you know what your looking for. In fact the adjuster checked the floorboards to see if they where bent. Took the settlement, body shop fixed the body, aligned it and drove it another 75k to it's selling at 180k. In fact the settlement was enough to replace the rusty front fenders and fix the rest of the previous dings so it came out of the shop looking great.

"" wrote: > my jimmy was rear ended at about 37 mph. hardly any visiual > damage but to > the bumper, yet, my exhaust now rattles and sounds like a Euro > car, front > end vibration, driver side arm rest lose, and someother small > things. it > was hard enough to put my daughter into labor yet the > insurance company > says its not from the impact since you cant see the damage. > where can I > get addiontional info to back up what I am telling them?

I would insist that the car gets inspected by a shop, insurence companies are there to make money, so they want to fix you up as cheap as possible. get it looked at and if you have to get a lawyer. there is NO reason you should have to live with your car being in any worse condition than before the accident.

Those guys get bonuses based on how much they save the company and brag among themselves about getting out of paying some claims altogether. You are lucky, rear end accidents are nearly impossible for them to get out of. You dont have to go to their "recomended" shops either. Having said that, you need a good shop to look at your frame and several other places for damage. Getting hit in the rear isn't likely to cause you front end problems though. Where did the 37 mph come from? Police estimate?

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