Should you "fix" a dent in your car sustained from an accident BEFORE

[no_hypocrisy]

you have the insurance agent(s) examine it?

My friend was rear-ended while waiting for a taxi to disembark its passengers ahead of him.

A car plowed into him. The rear bumper was damaged and the trunk wouldn't open. He had his son use a crow bar to unbend the trunk part so he could get into the trunk before he went to have the car inspected for the damage.

Now here's what has me wondering. It's not so much damage to the car. His sister was in the rear, buckled, but she sustained a lot of damage to her neck and spine.

Do you think by the car now showing minimal damage to the eye, the other insurance company will argue (perhaps successfully) that the neck/spine injuries must be a pre-existing condition independent of the car accident and therefore won't pay for what looks like a lot of medical bills. (In other words, if the car is just "cosmetically" damaged, the impact couldn't have been that great and she couldn't have sustained injuries as claimed.)

[suninvited]

1. he should have taken pictures

at least, before he unbent it.

[azmouse]

2. There could easily be damage to the frame of the car.

That dent shouldn't have been touched until the agent saw it. It could have proved any other damage that may have happened to the frame.

[Deep13]

3. Bullshit. It doesn't take much to damage a person.

Even a slow-speed impact involves a tremendous amount of energy. Nothing in our evolution has prepared us for auto trravel and certainly nothing has prepared us for auto accidents.

I'd leave the medical questions to the doctor and not to the insurance adjusters. BTW, tell your friend to stay away from chiropractors. Not only are they not a real therapy, but auto insurers are reluctant to pay them as medical expenses.

[NJmaverick]

4. I seriously doubt this will be an issue

the police report and the doctor's reports will pretty much decide things. The amount of damage really isn't a reliable indicator for injury. In fact many new cars are designed to crumple to absorb the impact energy. So the car can look seriously damaged but the passengers walk away unharmed.