Easter drivers...are the same in all countries. On Saturday, while approaching the traffic lights in Wroclaw (South-West Poland), an idiot braked in front of me like there was no tomorrow because he saw yellow on a repeater traffic light (he already crossed the main set and the road ahead was free!).

I did manage to brake, stopped about 2in from the idiot's Seicento. But the goods delivery van behind me (Peugeot Partner) was not quick enough (or too heavy) and drove into the rear of my car.

Result: cracked rear bumper cover, unknown damage to towbar beam, dented trunk lid, compressed boot floor (about 1/2in in the middle), 2mm gaps above the rear light clusters, which confirm that the metalwork got compressed in the middle of the boot sill.

On the plus side, the car still drives OK, and thank's to the Supertank's :P weight we mostly heard the impact rather than felt it (my wife and kids were also in the car). Now I am really glad I did not buy the Honda Accord Estate (see rear impact tests for this one to know what I mean).

Of course, as the law stands, the idiot driver just got out, saw that there is no damage to HIS car, and drove off guilt free. Next time if I am alone in the car I won't brake .

Anyway, I still have to drive another 2500+ miles before I can fix the damage

The van driver is insured, so hopefully I don't have to pay any excess.

Insurance garage (Solus) booked for 20th April, does anyone have any experience with Norwich Union / Aviva insurance repairers? Do I have any hope of the damage being fixed within 2 weeks?

PS. If that's not enough, on trip 5 days earlier, a hare decided to jump out and try to cross the road right in front of my car. The hare did not cross the road and I lost left intercooler cover in the impact

Hope you got the Fiat's reg though, might be worth pursuing with the po-po's

The first driver caused the problem, surely that means there is some kind of insurance detail to be exchanged there at the very least? Bad luck on the accident but as you say, good no-one was hurt!

Not in Poland. The law there clearly says that the duty to obey safe distance is with the driver of the following car. So according to this I did keep safe distance, and the driver behind me did not.

Unfortunately, I think this is also the position in the UK, although driving at the so called "safe distance" is unworkable in towns (at 20mph, the 'safe distance' as per 2s rule is 4+ average car lengths, try doing that while approaching traffic lights in London and see what other drivers think of you ).

And the fact that because of the moron in front of me I had to use ABS from 10mph-15mph does not change the law. I spoke to the police and basically the worst he could get is a fixed penalty for obstructing traffic, around stlg10 (!). Compare that to at least stlg1000 worth of damage...

In any case, I have the plate. And the pictures (took photos with a digital camera).

The first driver caused the problem, surely that means there is some kind of insurance detail to be exchanged there at the very least? Bad luck on the accident but as you say, good no-one was hurt!

In the UK, you hit someone from behind, you are liable. Regardless of if they braked hard

I'm sorry to hear that mate :( It's always those of us who care about out cars that end up being shafted.

In answer to your question though, I've claimed through a Norwich Union based insurer (was Arnold Clarke, but insurance was with Norwich Union) and they were very good; although that was probably because they used a local body shop I already knew.

If memory serves I actually requested they used that one as it was easier for me to get to.

dont get me started about norwich union nearly a year since my vectra got totaled and still the claim has'nt been finalllised

some have good experiences while others bad. Its pot luck i guess. Depends on the varying circumstances too

The car is back in the UK today, went to SOLUS this morning. I am still waiting for them to call me with the verdict...

They say picture is worth more than a thousand words...

sure is, its not that bad however still enough to **** one off...

Well, the news came in, total damage according to NU engineer is stlg2200, they're going to let me know how long it will take to fix it within 48hrs. He confirmed all the points I noticed earlier on the car.

I am actually quite relieved, because the car is not written off. To replace it with comparable specification would mean Audi A6 this time and at least stlg36k of expenditure.

And as soon as I have the car back, I am putting a fixed towbar on - hopefully that'll test crumple zones on the next car that's driving into mine...

towbar... i like the idea:rofl:

Glad to hear she's not written off... and looking forward to seeing the next **** that hits you!

Well, I collected the car from Solus in Hitchin last week. The only good thing I can say about the repair is that the paint is of correct colour.

Some of the things that were messed up:

1. bumper strip unevenly fixed - 5mm gap on right side, no gap on left side,

2. missing 1 screw attaching bumper to wheel well liner,

3. snapped 1 snap nut attaching bumper to wheel well liner (screw rotating freely),

4. towbar was removed, but the nuts holding towbar were not removed and were rattling under the underbody covers,

5. missing 2 rubber posts on the tailgate stop buffers,

6. incorrectly assembled tailgate lock - worked on remote, did not work with the key. I had to remove tailgate cover to fix this. Fix was to reposition one lever,

7. tailgate not lined up properly, 2mm height difference left to right,

8.tailgate lock plate not adjusted properly - required slamming the tailgate to lock,

9. cosmetic damage on stainless steel bumper edge,

10. accident damaged plastic lock cover was not replaced,

11. tailgate had 2x M6 numberplate mounts fitted, but not the (much nicer) original Skoda OEM numberplate mounts,

12. and last but not least, they attached the "Skoda Superb" and the "2.5 TDI V6" inscriptions at the bottom of the tailgate, and not at the top. This looks ugly, and I am afraid to remove the inscription in case the paint is damaged underneath.

So in summary, shoddy workmanship and/or lack of experience with VW cars.

To be honest, I was afraid to return back to the Solus workshop, because I was afraid that Solus would have messed up even more things.

I made a complaint to Norwich Union / Aviva, let's hope as a compensation they will fasttrack my excess refund (other driver at fault).

To add insult to injury, the "enhanced courtesy car" option is useless if you travel abroad, as the car cannot be taken out of the UK. And it is an enhanced Ford Focus 1.6 or similar, so quite a downgrade from the Superb.

Anyway, avoid Solus / Aviva accident repairers in Hitchin, at least if you have a VW Group car. But from what I saw they had in the workshop, avoid any Solus, because it looks like they do not stock any VW-specific parts/screws etc. Better to go to a VW/Skoda dealer, even though these are also not brilliant.

Never mind easter drivers, i'm finding its 90% of all drivers are spastics on the road, although at the top of my hit list of late is old people. I must have nearly been hit 3 times this week by oldish women driving way too fast in my village. Drive like demons in the town but like old farts out of town. :mad:

This is what Solus did to the tailgate:

Compare with earlier picture, look at the inscription placement.

This is what Solus did to the tailgate:

Compare with earlier picture, look at the inscription placement.

:doh::doh:

Well, at least it makes your car unique;)