Hi, first post from this Guernsey owner - seems to be quite a few Octavia vRSs over here and see a few visitors.

Pulled over this morning along one of our narrow roads only to hear a squeal of brakes and a thud as I'm hit by a small fiat.

At first sight looks only like damage to rear bumper but closer inspection shows panel gap between wings and boot lid considerably increased and no gap between bumper and boot. Looks like boot has been pushed upwards. Insurer has prefered repair company but is there anything I should be looking at to make sure its repaired back to new?

try Geoff Rowe @ auto collision repairs 235020

Welcome to Briskoda. That's really bad luck you have just had, but a reputable vehicle accident repair specialist should be able to put your car right for you.

Hi' date=' first post from this Guernsey owner - seems to be quite a few Octavia vRSs over here and see a few visitors.

Pulled over this morning along one of our narrow roads only to hear a squeal of brakes and a thud as I'm hit by a small fiat.

At first sight looks only like damage to rear bumper but closer inspection shows panel gap between wings and boot lid considerably increased and no gap between bumper and boot. Looks like boot has been pushed upwards. Insurer has prefered repair company but is there anything I should be looking at to make sure its repaired back to new?[/quote']

I had exactly the same thing happen to mine.

Check all the gaps around the doors on both sides as well as around the tailgate and measure and photograph them. If you can do the same as on an undamaged octy then that helps. It's quite likely your car is now shorter than it was.

Open the boot and take the spare wheel out and look at the metal floor for any sign of creasing as on the attached picture. What happens is that the front end of the car that hit you makes contact with the towing hook under the bumper. This pushes the floor of the boot up and forces the top of the rear wings apart.

There will also be damage to the rear sill of the car so take the plastic trim off and have a look at that for any of the seams that have split. This section can be removed easily. The boot floor would have to be cut out and a new section welded in place if there is any significant damage.

It's a lot of work to sort that out , so make sure that you get a solicitor involved and claim for the reduction in value of your car (I'm getting over 900 quid)

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but it's better that you know what bends so you can make sure its all fixed