Yesterday morning my son had stopped at junction behind another car to let some kids cross the road to school. This idiot came tearing down the hill and smashed straight into the back. Luckily the Freelander handbrake & footbrake were on, so no front damage.



Hopefully the body is not bent too much.

BMW wrecked Freelander broken rear light lens

Next job will be to get bumper & end trim off to check for issues underneath. Hoping it's juts broken trim clips.

Yes that's the idiot. His car is taxed & insured but no MOT since October. He has offered cash, but no figure yet.

His insurance will refuse his claim if he has no MOT. Usually a condition of the policy that the vehicle is roadworthy and has a current MOT. Your son should notify his own insurance company and make a claim, ultimately the other driver will be pursued for the money.

Shame, looks to be in nice nick.

pwood999 said:

Yes that's the idiot. His car is taxed & insured but no MOT since October. He has offered cash, but no figure yet.

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I'd take the cash and keep quiet to your insurance, then report the BMW as on the road without MOT.

His insurance is void anyway, so it'll cost you in the long run.

The only redemption is the Freelander looks an easy fix, but his BMW is a write off.

Were the police called? They would have prosecuted for no MOT, which could have been a contributing factor to the incident?

Looks, from the BMW bonnet dent, as if the spare wheel took a hit. Have a look behind the spare wheel to see if the door has pushed in. That might be why the lower tailgate trim has popped off. If so, budget for a tailgate and spray job.
Looks like the F1 took the impact well. Hope no whiplash results on the occupants.

pwood999 said:

Next job will be to get bumper & end trim off to check for issues underneath. Hoping it's juts broken trim clips.

Yes that's the idiot. His car is taxed & insured but no MOT since October. He has offered cash, but no figure yet.

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Balls to the cash - get the fuzz involved if it isn’t too late.

Freelander 1 a written off whiplashed with traumatic stress quoting Evoque Evoque Evoque drivers should get squillion and one pence for a claim.

Nice looking FL1 that is. I'd be gutted

I'd be in two minds about whether to get my insurance involved and not sure which is best. On the one hand, I'd want it fixed properly and have no hassle, but on the other hand, a car with no MOT means their insurance is void doesn't it?

If you're hit by an uninsured or insurance voided driver doesn't your own insurance have to cover it and therefore your premium goes up significantly at the next renewal?

Would have thought your own insurance company finances the repairs to your vehicle, and then goes after the uninsured driver which might end in debt collectors calling on the uninsured. I wouldn't trust the other driver, who couldn't be arissed to get his car mot'd (maybe it was going to cost too much to fix faults) and who would risk driving outside of his insurance conditions. Could he be trusted to cough up for the promised payment outside of a formal claim?

There's 1 thing for sure - the damage will be worse than it looks!

Get plod involved, or get enough cash off plonker to get a replacement car (and get it now!).

Accept no cash as in the long run, it may cost you more, report the accident asap, also to the police, guys eyes look heavy to me maybe drugs who knows nowa days, also get your son to get himself checked out, and anyone else whom was with him whiplash and strains do not show up right away, do this guy no favours, no MOT he should not be on the road, take in mind close to school as well imagine if he had hit some kids, no mot means insurance , i despise any drivers with no MOT or insurance, car license, did he have a car license? and is it valid.

This situation is a tricky one, as your lad could be penalised by his insurance company because someone else was a moron, driving an unworthy vehicle.
Additionally your lads insurance will most likely write off the Freelander, even if it's just a bumper (I've bought many cars in this situation), as insurance companies seldom fix cars if they're over 5 or 6 years old, unless it's something particularly valuable or rare, so your lad could loose his pride and joy, or at least have to negotiate to keep it and repair it.
Me, I'd take the cash (a civil settlement), to avoid the insurance issues, however this moron also needs reporting to the police, as he's broken the law by using an unroadworthy vehicle, and driving it in a manner where he clearly wasn't able to stop, maybe due to speed, to close, drink or drugs, all of which are illegal.


The lad's Freelander.

The damage does look minor, and knowing the Freelander's structure well, I'd say it's mostly cosmetic (bumper, light, etc), however there will be some evidence of the impact hidden under the bumper.
The rear bumper crash member is made of high strength glass fiber reinforce plastic, which holds up well to impacts. The crash member also absorbs and spreads the impact over a large area of the vehicle structure, including the chassis stiffeners.
There will likely be some minor damage to the panels behind the bumper, but I would think the main chassis stiffeners are fine. Normally if the chassis stiffeners have begun to distort, the rear door gap closes, which it looks like it hasn't.

Until the rear bumper is removed, it's difficult to make a proper assessment of what's underneath, but if I was looking for a salvage FL1 to sell on, then I'd buy one with this amount of damage, simply because I've seen what happens in this sort of impact.

Project Tonga I repaired a couple of years ago had similar back end damage, more actually as the bumper was split in several places, but the under structure was hardly damage, and simply needed pushing back out, and a new bumper to return it to it's former glory.

As to whether to take the cash, or go through the insurance, that's up to your lad, but both have pitfalls and benefits, but the other driving definitely needs reporting to the police.

Surprised the local plod wasn't there anyway, since today's Twitter society spreads like wildfire. As this would have blocked a main road with debris from both parties. Not forgetting both parties discussing insurance company details.
If the insurance is dodgy or none at all, then sure quite the Freelander insurer can still claim from the central pot. I think you can report the accident to the local police station as a matter of course.

Gutted. From my point of view, there is no contest. 100% third party fault, who knows what damage lies underneath! Is the cash genuine? I'd be wary of it. There's no reason not to keep existing no claims

Sorry to see that happen to a nice looking Freelander.
The other driver is in a weak position and faces prosecution should the authorities be notified. Either get a tidy amount of cash quickly off him, that will more than cover the repair and aggravation. I'd be looking at least £1k, possibly more. Or just do what is really the right thing, and let the law deal with him, and hope your son's insurance covers uninsured drivers. You need to make a decision quickly though, because if you fail to report the incident within a certain amount of time after it happened, they could refuse to cover it. So you could end up in a lose-lose situation of failing to report the incident and not be covered, and the scroat not paying up.
Good luck with it, it's hopefully just superficial. Those spare tires act as really good bumpers, crumpling up bonnets. (as AndyFreelandy say, make sure the tailgate is still good)

The insurance company will write off the FL1 for sure.
In my opinion if your son should get a trusted mechanic to check underneath and see if there is any shell damage before deciding.
If there is none and it just needs bolt on parts and the guy is prepared to pay then that's in your son's best interests.
From the perspective of the society yes it's better to report it and claim through insurance, but, if it's easily repairable and the guy is willing to pay then that way is in your son's best interests IMHO.
Check that the tailgate glass still goes up and down because tailgate damage can affect that.

Unless you intend to claim for whiplash don't involve the insurance company. They will screw your son for years to come every time he insures his car.
If you do decide to go the insurance route then 100% claim for whiplash as it's the only way you'll come out even.
I had a similar issue once and got the lad to pay for the car to be repaired and kept plod and insurance out of It, by far this was the best way to go in our circumstance but yours may be different.

How do protected no claims play out in these scenarios?