Reversed into car by accident

Flaccus

More of less what happened here, happened to me last night

http://wwww.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055114726

Was in shopping centre car space. Reversed into front license plate of aul fella behind me who just got out of his car with his missus and frantically started banging on my roof. He said he heard his front bumper being crushed and his car is destroyed. No sign of visible damage to plate or bumper and not a scratch on my car. Where the crease line of my rear bumper would have made contact with this license plate there is no sign of paint removed or any damage whatsoever. I admit, the noise was rather loud, but I went maybe 4 inches over the line at I would guess under 10km/hour.

Yer man was furious and said there is major damage and is bringing car to his mechanic to get it looked at. He took my insurance details and I took his. He refused to give me his name/address/tel. and said find out from his insurance company. I was polite the whole time. I pointed out on front of a witness that his bumper was full of scratches and he accepted that. Also pointed out there is no visible damage caused by me which but he got furious and brought up the fact my tax is 17 days out and he doesn't want to "screw" me and then proceeded to lecture me about why my car should be taxed within 5 days. Explaining politely insurance and tax are unrelated had nothing to do with it fell on deaf ears. A few minutes later, my mother who was in shopping arrived and he started throwing smart comments about. I kept my cool though felt like knocking his block off.

Anyway, I guess the best thing to do is ring my broker, explain about incident, no visible damage, and I guess they will send me a form to complete. I really get the feeling this guy is out for a quick claim.

Any advice ?

Seth Brundle

Let your insurance company know of him - he is a crank and hopefully any claim will be dismissed.
I'd also let the gardai know about the incident and how you felt threatened by this outburst. Did you get the witness's details?

Flaccus

Yes. I took down his insurance details from his disc. He got aggressive when I asked him politely for his name/address and told me to find out myself from his insurance company. I guess he is not obliged to disclose it.

Anyway, I'll contact my insurance company as soon as they open up for the day, and I'll go to the cops this evening and report it.

I suppose in theory there could be damage. I did hear a crushing noise after all. And light was poor (8pm), though the car park was very well lit up. I really couldn't see any damage to his plate, or under it, and I felt behind and everything seemed normal. He claims that there is severe damage and everything behind the plate is pushed in. Not a mark on my car though.

thanks

andrewh5

Someone did exactly that to me at traffic lights. The basically reversed a 4X4 onto my bonnet. You are entirely at fault and he can (and should) deal directly with your insurers to get his car repaired. Take it on the chin and move on.

joey54

Did you get any pictures after it happened? Just in case he decides to make more damage than there is!

TychoCaine

The old guy is right to expect Flaccus's insurance to cough up for any damage, but there's no reason to go mental over it. Just exchange details and move on. Bumpers are designed to take the odd parking bump without structural damage, and if there was no visible damage to Flaccus's car then there was little chance of damage to the other car.

faceman

Yeah +1 for pictures. Did you have a camera phone?

Yer man should have given you his details, i would have called the gardai if he refused to give his details.

Flaccus

No camera phone with me alas. I went into Dunnes and bought a disposable job but he had taken off by then. Seemed odd, as he pulled up with the missus to do a bit of shopping and disappeared literally 10 minutes after the incident.

Anyway I reported everything to my insurance company who said I could report it to the guards but they would just hold it for information purposes. I'll go to the cops anyway. I also have no problem in my insurance paying out if there is indeed damage to his car. However I do have a problem with someone insisting his car is wrecked underneath from a 6-7km/h collision, and when it's pointed out there doesn't appear to be any damage, insists I am getting thick with him and then gets abusive towards myself and my mother. He was definitely a cranky aul so and so, and his pretty lucky it was someone like me he was dealing with and not some random scumbag.

Why are people like that? now I'd get a little bit peed off if I saw someone reversing into my car but that is just ridiculous.

I just want to warn you of a incident my friend found himself in though, he was stopped at a roundabout and a car went into the back of him, he got out and the lady was very apologetic, he looked at his car and there was no damage so he told her not to worry about it etc but she insisted on him taking her insurance details which he did reluctantly. When he got home and opened the boot there was actually alot of damage inside the car which couldn't be seen from the outside. I wonder if this is a possibility in this case? Although you don't mention him thoroughly checking the car so surely he would have just seen what you saw.

stifz

It likely you've damaged the clips that secure the bumper to the body and have done no damage to the actual bolts that hold it in place. However in this current climate no one seems interested in fixing things and seem to just replace.. a new bumper could be 4-500 euro and labour as its an insurance job will be doubled from an hours work to maybe two...

Bad luck mate. as another poster said take it on the chin and move on. :rolleyes:

Pat Mustard

Flaccus wrote: »

Yes. I took down his insurance details from his disc. He got aggressive when I asked him politely for his name/address and told me to find out myself from his insurance company. I guess he is not obliged to disclose it.

thanks

Without looking it up (lazy today), I think yer man is obliged to give you those details. Do inform your own insurance co. tho. He is entitled to be compensated for whatever damage that you did to his car unfortunately. Sounds like he was a bit of a b*llix about it tho. I wouldn't bother reporting it to the cops when your driving might have been on the careless side, possibly.

biko

This is why I keep a disposable camera in the glove box.
Haven't had to use it yet *fingers crossed*

stek

Surely bumpers are designed to take this kind of hit? hence the name Bumper?? Anyone agree?

coylemj

You can expect to get a fat estimate from a backstreet garage which will be just under the level at which your insurance company would send out an assessor. You will then have the choice of paying the guy cash to piss off or letting your insurance company pay him off and wave goodbye to your no-claims bonus.

Don't expect much sympathy or co-operation from your insurance company, they can't lose either way so they'll probably pay him off to get rid of him if you don't fork out. Whatever money they pay him they'll recoup from your increased premiums over the next few years so they have no incentive to get involved in the rights and wrongs of it. Sorry to be blunt but that's how it works in Ireland and that's why we pay way more for motor insurance than people in the UK, because the people who are corrupt know they can get away with it and the motor trade co-operates all the way.

Flaccus

I checked my rear bumper and it seems solid. Not a mark, not pushed in. In fact. Nothing. Looking at my bumper, the edge of it would have made contact first, and I would have at least expected some paint to be gone, or plastic on bumper to be damaged. I wonder what the crushing noise was ? His license plate I expect. But I was very surprised. I did expect significant damage going by the noise that was made. However, he didn't even examine his front bumper to be honest. He banged on my roof, as he was standing there when it happened, and ranted about how all behind his car is now crushed cause he heard the loud noise it made. A security card who was 15 feet away incidentally said he heard the noise too but could see no damage either. However he didn't want to be involved.

Before I could even open my mouth, immediately out came the pen and paper and he got my details from my insurance disc, all the while giving abuse about my driving, tax disc out of date etc.. I'm sure he'll make a claim and if there is damage then my insurance company will probably pay out. I'm just concerned he will milk it seeing as the condition of his bumper looked generally poor with a lot of scuff marks and scratches, which I pointed out and he agreed strangely enough was old damage also. But no sign of new damage.

villager

similar experience happened to me where i was hit by a car on the rear bumper, there appeared to be no damage to the bumper but when i got the car to a garage their was substantial damage to the body of the car including lock mechanism of the boot. imahine the surprised look on the face of the guy who did hit me when i handed him an estimate for €1200. In hindsight this damage could have been caused by someone else hitting the car when i was not in it and fecking off and this poor unfortunate was good enough to stop and gets done.

Flaccus

coylemj wrote: »

Don't expect much sympathy or co-operation from your insurance company, they can't lose either way so they'll probably pay him off to get rid of him if you don't fork out. Whatever money they pay him they'll recoup from your increased premiums over the next few years so they have no incentive to get involved in the rights and wrongs of it. Sorry to be blunt but that's how it works in Ireland and that's why we pay way more for motor insurance than people in the UK, because the people who are corrupt know they can get away with it and the motor trade co-operates all the way.

So even if there is no damage to the guys bumper or almost no damage, I can expect a trumped up bill ? I know I'm not in the right in this case, but I certainly feel that in the instance where there is minor damage to this guys car then that's all that should be paid for. Surely an assesor from my insurance company will validate any claim this guy is going to make and not just agree to get rid of him ?

biko

The bumper can actually spring back without a scratch even though there is internal damage as I found out in an old car I had.

Flaccus

villager wrote: »

similar experience happened to me where i was hit by a car on the rear bumper, there appeared to be no damage to the bumper but when i got the car to a garage their was substantial damage to the body of the car including lock mechanism of the boot. imahine the surprised look on the face of the guy who did hit me when i handed him an estimate for €1200. In hindsight this damage could have been caused by someone else hitting the car when i was not in it and fecking off and this poor unfortunate was good enough to stop and gets done.

Bummer all right. In my situation, I reversed 4-6 inches at approx 6-7km/h. Car is due to go to garage in 2 weeks anyway so will ask them to take a look. However I've already had the spare wheel and the sound proofing out, and can't feel any damage from inside. Also boot mechanism was too high up to make any contact and is opening and closing perfectly. Bumper on Octavia is pretty chunky I think.

I.S.T.

Flaccus wrote: »

More of less what happened here, happened to me last night

http://wwww.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055114726He said he heard his front bumper being crushed and his car is destroyed. No sign of visible damage to plate or bumper and not a scratch on my car. Where the crease line of my rear bumper would have made contact with this license plate there is no sign of paint removed or any damage whatsoever. I admit, the noise was rather loud, but I went maybe 4 inches over the line at I would guess under 10km/hour.

There could be a lot of damage underneath the bumber which is not visible. Perhaps brackets have snapped or something similar.

Flaccus

Mine or his ? I expect you are talking about his, and yeah, I'd expect there is some damage allright to his.

Jeez..now I'm paranoid. Going to go out on lunch break and look underneath. If brackets are snapped, would I expect some looseness somewhere ?

I.S.T.

Flaccus wrote: »

Mine or his ?

Jeez..now I'm paranoid. Going to go out on lunch break and look underneath.
If brackets are snapped, would I expect some looseness somewhere ?

Either

faceman

If yer man files some mad cap claim your insurance company will send their own assessor to verify. Either way tho a claim is a claim tho, so it would affect your NCD. Fingers crossed yer man doesnt pursue it.

coylemj

Here's an option to bear in mind: Given that there was zero or very little damage and that even if there is a genuine bill to pay and that it's not worth risking your no-claims bonus, what you can do is not fill in the accident form for your insurance company. If they know about it already, tell them it's a nuisance claim (which I believe it is) and that you're going to handle it yourself.

What happens next is that your insurance company will tell the other guy that they can't pay out because you haven't properly reported the details to them, this means that he has to come back to you and at that stage he knows that you are not the same pushover that he was expecting the insurance company to be.

Now the power is in your hands and he has to negotiate with you, if I was you I would give him serious grief over not giving you his name & address and buggering off before you had time to take a photo of the alleged damage. Ask him for the name of his solicitors and say you'll be in touch, then put the phone down.

OldmanMondeo

Flaccus wrote: »

More of less what happened here, happened to me last night

http://wwww.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055114726

Was in shopping centre car space. Reversed into front license plate of aul fella behind me who just got out of his car with his missus and frantically started banging on my roof. He said he heard his front bumper being crushed and his car is destroyed. No sign of visible damage to plate or bumper and not a scratch on my car. Where the crease line of my rear bumper would have made contact with this license plate there is no sign of paint removed or any damage whatsoever. I admit, the noise was rather loud, but I went maybe 4 inches over the line at I would guess under 10km/hour.

Yer man was furious and said there is major damage and is bringing car to his mechanic to get it looked at. He took my insurance details and I took his. He refused to give me his name/address/tel. and said find out from his insurance company. I was polite the whole time. I pointed out on front of a witness that his bumper was full of scratches and he accepted that. Also pointed out there is no visible damage caused by me which but he got furious and brought up the fact my tax is 17 days out and he doesn't want to "screw" me and then proceeded to lecture me about why my car should be taxed within 5 days. Explaining politely insurance and tax are unrelated had nothing to do with it fell on deaf ears. A few minutes later, my mother who was in shopping arrived and he started throwing smart comments about. I kept my cool though felt like knocking his block off.

Anyway, I guess the best thing to do is ring my broker, explain about incident, no visible damage, and I guess they will send me a form to complete. I really get the feeling this guy is out for a quick claim.

Any advice ?

SoundS more like he knows that there was already older damage behind his bumper and he is going to try and get you to pay for it.
As for the tax, I would have told him to f**k off it's in the post.

Speak to your broker and tell them you think the guy is chancing his arm. Something similar happened me years ago, insurance said they would send acessor even if claim was a fiver.

Flaccus

Thanks for all the good advice.

If it's a small claim I can live with it for being dozy at the wheel. But if he makes a bogus claim I'll be unhappy to say the least. I did explain already to the claims handler that I felt the chap was looking for compensation by virtue of the fact that he said his car had been destroyed by me. I explained about no sign of damage to either vehicle. And about the old damage which he admitted on front of my mum. I also pointed out his eagerness to write down my insurance details, and refusing to give me his name address. I don't think there is not much more I can do. Perhaps I should have done nothing, denied it, or said he hit me. But I'd rather deal with it honestly and pay the bill provided it's genuine.

Anyway, to satisfy my paranoia I just spent 20 minutes making a fool of myself in the carpark. Once again examined the bumper. There are 8 clips holding it on from the inside when you lift the tailgate. 4 you can't see, 4 you can see partially. I think they provide resistance. Kind of springy clips. The bottom of the bumper is secured with 6 screws. All perfectly tight. I stripped out some of the soundproofing and examined the weld spots on the inside (behind the bumper), and also the inside of the wings, and they are perfect too. Exhaust system is fine as well. No looseness. Think I'm ok.

I'll tax my car online in a little while.

bazz26

Were there any witnesses to the accident, did you get their contact details? Also did you check with the security company that manages the carpark for possible CCTV footage of the accident?

All these things can be evidence in the event there is a large claim made against your insurance.

Flaccus

Yes, Security guard does not want to get involved though. He witnessed it and said he heard a loud crunch, but when he examined both cars himself casually and he commented on lack of damage. But again he does not want to get involved. The guy whose car I hit is basing his opinions on this loud crunch and is convinced behind the number plate the car is destroyed.

No footage on camera alas. Already enquired. It was side of dunnes near maplins which was closed at the time, so no cctv turned on there.

I think if there is a large claim made against me, the fact I sustained zero damage as far as I can tell must surely mean he could not have sustained much damage either.

Mitch Connor

I may be a cynic - but going by what you have said of his reaction, the bumper already having a number of scratches and him heading off sharpish, I would guess there is some damage to be fixed that will cost a pretty penny, but it won't be damage you caused.

Flaccus

Indeed. However he did admit the scratches on left and right side to his bumper were already there. And Mum was witness to that. I told the insurance guy the same. I'll tell the cops the same. Going to type up what happened and pop into garda station tonight or the morning. Again, as I have zero damage, if he insists his bumper is ruined or some other part of his car, and claims a huge amount, then I hope my insurance send out an assesor.

Mitch Connor

Flaccus wrote: »

Indeed. However he did admit the scratches on left and right side to his bumper were already there. And Mum was witness to that. I told the insurance guy the same. I'll tell the cops the same. Going to type up what happened and pop into garda station tonight or the morning. Again, as I have zero damage, if he insists his bumper is ruined or some other part of his car, and claims a huge amount, then I hope my insurance send out an assesor.

Regardless of what damage was caused - I hope you don't get screwed for what was a mistake. G'Luck.

Drummerboy08

If this guy is serious about his claim then wait until you get his estimate. You can then ask for an independent asscessor to look at his (and yours if you feel the need) You will then at least know you are not being ripped off. It might cost a few quid, but it is better than losing your own NCB. Bear in mind, your own insurance co might want to have their asscessor look at his car too if you make a big deal about it.

At the end of the day, if you get your insurance co and/or an independent asscessor to look at it, and if you genuinely didnt do the damage you wont be stung. If you get this done, and you did do the damage, then unfortunately it is your problem.

coylemj

But if the other guy sends in an estimate for 200-300 euros the insurance co won't send out an assessor, it's not worth it, they will tell the OP to pay up or they'll pay and screw his NCB.

Morlar

In my experience anyone who makes a point of saying they are 'not out to screw you' - are out to screw you.

I had something similair once where there was a ding - literally barely noticeable in terms of the sound. My car had absolutely zero damage and the othercar had a slight mark where the paint was scraped for a few inches. She walked into her local garage and said the magic words 'insurance claim' and the garage went 'KA-CHING'. €1400 later my insurance company sent an assessor and basically their approach was its not worth contesting and paid out. Basically she had her car serviced, headlights re-aligned and anything concievably related was fixed at top dollar. I didnt have a camera phone at the time either but it would have been useful.

Morlar

Morlar wrote: »

In my experience anyone who makes a point of saying they are 'not out to screw you' - are out to screw you.

I had something similair once where there was a ding - literally barely noticeable in terms of the sound. My car had absolutely zero damage and the othercar had a slight mark where the paint was scraped for a few inches. She walked into her local garage and said the magic words 'insurance claim' and the garage went 'KA-CHING'. €1400 later my insurance company sent an assessor and basically their approach was its not worth contesting and paid out. Basically she had her car serviced, headlights re-aligned and anything concievably related was fixed at top dollar. I didnt have a camera phone at the time either but it would have been useful.

why do people do this to other people?? it's so f*cking mean.

Drummerboy08

But if the other guy sends in an estimate for 200-300 euros the insurance co won't send out an assessor, it's not worth it, they will tell the OP to pay up or they'll pay and screw his NCB.

In this case, you can still bring in your own asscessor, it might cost you the 300 quid but if your right and think your right you wont lose your NCB.

dade

OP you said there was very Little visible damage. could you have driven over something that actually caused the noise? maybe a bottle or something. just a thought. Oh and if yer man comes back with an astronomical cost no harm asking can you have your garage assess the damage if he's reluctant he could be getting mate's rates or something

best of luck with it

DonJose

The Mustard wrote: »

He is entitled to be compensated for whatever damage that you did to his car unfortunately.

What do you mean by unfortunately???

OP get your tax in order ASAP!!!

L1011

coylemj wrote: »

But if the other guy sends in an estimate for 200-300 euros the insurance co won't send out an assessor, it's not worth it, they will tell the OP to pay up or they'll pay and screw his NCB.

Depends on the insurer, but this is very true these days. Zurich didn't send an assesor for an initial claim of about €1100 I made (came down to about €900 when all sorted, but still). Even that much money wasn't worth querying in their eyes.

professore

Morlar wrote: »

In my experience anyone who makes a point of saying they are 'not out to screw you' - are out to screw you.

I had an interesting experience too in a car park, my 8 year old daughter opened the back door and banged it against the car beside us. Fair enough there was a slight mark on the other car's paintwork and I would have no problem paying up (but was obviously a bit annoyed).

The passenger in the other car who looked like a guy who was selling drugs got out and immediately began effing and blinding in a Del Boy accent about "the f**king car was destroyed by your f**king sprog" etc etc. I felt like thumping him tbh for being so ignorant about the whole thing especially in front of my kids but that's against the law nd would prob end up knifed or something

Instead I whipped out my camera phone and took pics of the damage from several angles. We also swapped insurance details. Strangely the driver, a guy who looked 18-20, sat in the car all the time, and he was apparently the owner of the car.

Anyway, never heard anything after. My guess was that the young guy was doing something he wasn't supposed to be and if he claimed against me his family would find out. In any event his "mate's" reaction was uncalled for.

There's no point reacting like that anyway - you are just opening yourself to some sort of threatened assault charge and it won't improve your insurance claim.

BTW OP that guy sounds like an a**hole and people like that cause wars.

Flaccus

So assuming yer man makes an outrageous claim which I have the gut feeling he will, and my insurance company think it's not worth sending an assesor and decide to pay out and send my no claims up in smoke, am I at least notified before they proceed ? As it stands now I have only notified the claims specialist. They are not sending out any forms or doing anything unless yer man makes a claim.

Oh..and I will get my tax sorted. Just haven't got around to it. The guy gave me a lecture on how you must have your car taxed within 5 days, and he doesn't want to screw me but could ring the cops if he wanted. When I disputed his so called facts (politely I might ad, I suggested no visible damage on either car) I got accused of being a mechanic, a lawyer, and being thick, and shouted back at incidentally. Other derogatory comments were made at my mother as well. While this will turn out to be a relatively insignificant ordeal in the grand scheme of things, it has resulted in me changing my attitude dramatically when it comes to dealing with arrogant, nasty people such as this person.

what insurance company are you with? If it's Quinn Direct, you're probably screwed. But either way, most insurance companies have a clause in their t's & c's saying that they can pay out on claims without notifying you.

Tea drinker

You reversed into him, cough up for:
1 Check to ensure his vehicle is in roadworthy condition
2 And repairs found necessary as result of these checks relating to your incident.

It's tough that you made a mistake, we all make them. Live with it.

The fact he is an ass will be his life long problem, but if heard a crashing noise after being reversed into, then get out and the guy who did it tells me there is no damage - I would be annoyed.

The bumper could be all cracked to sh1t and brackets bent damaged etc.
I reckon maybe a grand (just for his damage- if your's is equally damaged double that), but then that's what your insurance is for.
Check and see if you have NCB protection on your policy - I used mine recently.

Best of luck with it.

coylemj

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

But if the other guy sends in an estimate for 200-300 euros the insurance co won't send out an assessor, it's not worth it, they will tell the OP to pay up or they'll pay and screw his NCB.

In this case, you can still bring in your own asscessor, it might cost you the 300 quid but if your right and think your right you wont lose your NCB.

Hang on a second - if the 'injured' party sends in an estimate for 300 euros it makes no sense to send in your own assessor, you just pay up, end of story or do like I said earlier, do not report the incident to your insurance which forces him to negotiate with you, I did that once and the other guy just went away.

What's the point in paying 300 euros to be proved right? Even if your assessor reduces the claim to one euro, you're still losing.

Jo King

coylemj wrote: »

Hang on a second - if the 'injured' party sends in an estimate for 300 euros it makes no sense to send in your own assessor, you just pay up, end of story or do like I said earlier, do not report the incident to your insurance which forces him to negotiate with you, I did that once and the other guy just went away.

What's the point in paying 300 euros to be proved right? Even if your assessor reduces the claim to one euro, you're still losing.

The insurance company cannot use the fact the their insured has not reported the incident to them to avoid paying out on a claim. Some of them try to, if the claim is not coming through a broker. They are obliged by law to indenify anybody injured by their insured and that cannot depend on anything to be done by their insured after the incident.

Flaccus

Tea drinker wrote: »

The fact he is an ass will be his life long problem, but if heard a crashing noise after being reversed into, then get out and the guy who did it tells me there is no damage - I would be annoyed.
.
.
.The bumper could be all cracked to sh1t and brackets bent damaged etc.
I reckon maybe a grand (just for his damage- if your's is equally damaged double that), but then that's what your insurance is for.

Thanks Tea drinker for the advice. I accept his car may be damaged. He wasn't in it at the time, but standing alongside my car watching me reverse into it. His missus was there as well by the way and mentioned she heard the crushing noise too. She was not too bothered and walked off. He made it very clear that the car is badly damaged cause he heard this noise and the security guard heard it from 10 feet away and everything under the number plate is pushed in and now his car is ruined over it. This is from a 6/7km/h maneuver over a 6 inch distance. I really doubt there is ANY damage to my bumper and I can't see how a bumper on a small hatcback is going to run 1k unless the damage is more serious or he tries it on. Anyway, it was after this rant from him when I politely commented that there does not appear to be any visible damage to either car and he is welcome to take my insurance and I can provide him with name/address etc.. He then got abrupt, screaming at me why I didn't stop when he started banging on my roof. Then the rant about the road tax. Refusal to give his details. Insults at my mother who actually stood up to him and asked him to mind his own business about road tax etc.. He even started giving out about the fact I left my window down when I went in to get the camera. To be honest, I'm surprised I kept my cool. The fact I was in the wrong, in the presence of my mother, and the chap was probably in his mid to late 60's held me back. But on a bad day, with a different person this would not have been the case and I'd be posting a different set of problems on another forum.

I'm guess I'm annoyed at this guys insulting manner and the expectation he is going to exaggerate the claim. One things for sure...my opinion of people has gone down greatly.

you should do him for damage caused to your roof from him fisting it!

Flaccus

I believe he may used the palm of his hand. No damage anyway.

BoardsRanger

Flaccus wrote: »

I believe he may used the palm of his hand. No damage anyway.

Sounds like he was trying to get you to stop before you did more/any damage. understandable really.
Everybody makes mistakes, thats why you have to be insured! If he makes a claim, then so be it.

Flaccus

Oh yeah..that's definitely true..he was indeed trying to warn me, and no problem with that. It's just the aggressive attitude and probably fact I took it is what's annoying me.

Voodoomelon

I wouldn't worry too much about the large crunch, I reversed into the rear corner of a large van a few months back at less than 10kmph and to me it sounded like a very large bang and smash. Shat myself and drove forwards again.

Got out and there wasn't a mark on my car, but then again I have a massive boot. All i'd done was break his tail light that was already in tatters and I gave him €50 for it, he didn't give two hoots.

Either of your bumpers could have pressed in and then popped out again, making it sound worse than it was.