I got into a front-end accident about a month ago. Bumper, grille, headlight, and some plastic inside the engine bay got smashed, but nothing mechanical seemed wrong—no warning lights, no weird sounds, no smoke. The car has been driving fine since then.
Last night, I was rear-ended while driving from NY to PA, and now my car won’t hold coolant.
The adjuster is coming tomorrow, but when I talked to them, they didn’t seem convinced that the rear-end hit caused the coolant leak. They said the only thing working in my favor is that I was able to drive all the way to NY before this happened.
I’m pretty sure something inside the engine bay was already weak from the first accident, but it was holding coolant until I got hit from behind. Now it’s not.
Am I going to have a hard time getting this covered? I’m really stressed about this and don’t want to be denied just because of the previous accident. I have pictures of the original damage and my dash from a month ago. Any advice?
You’re going to have a tough time convincing the adjuster that the coolant leak is from the rear-end hit. Cars don’t just start leaking from the front because they got hit in the back. It’s more likely the damage was already there or something just finally gave out.
@Rowen
I get that, but I’ve been driving fine for a month and a half. I even made a long trip to NY without any issues. Right after the rear-end hit, I’m suddenly leaking coolant. Even if my car was already in rough shape, shouldn’t insurance at least cover getting it back to how it was before the second accident?
@EVERLY
You’re going to have to prove that the hit from behind actually caused the coolant leak. Just saying it wasn’t happening before isn’t enough for them to cover it.
Rowen said: @EVERLY
You’re going to have to prove that the hit from behind actually caused the coolant leak. Just saying it wasn’t happening before isn’t enough for them to cover it.
But I drove for weeks without an issue, then got rear-ended, and now I can’t go five minutes without overheating. Isn’t that proof that something changed because of the accident?
@EVERLY
Think of it this way—if a coolant hose was already cracked from the first accident but was still holding together, and then the second accident just jostled it loose, that doesn’t mean the second accident caused the original damage. Insurance will only cover new damage directly caused by the hit.
Former adjuster here. It’s pretty unlikely that a rear-end collision caused a coolant leak. The cooling system is at the front of the car, and your front-end damage is a much more likely cause.
If you’re going through the other driver’s insurance, you’ll probably need to prove the connection between the hit and the coolant leak, and that won’t be easy.
@Talon
I get that, but the fact that I was able to drive fine before the rear-end hit should count for something, right? If I hadn’t been hit, I wouldn’t be having this issue now.
EVERLY said: @Talon
I get that, but the fact that I was able to drive fine before the rear-end hit should count for something, right? If I hadn’t been hit, I wouldn’t be having this issue now.
I understand, but you had unrepaired front-end damage for over a month, then drove a long distance. From an adjuster’s perspective, it’s hard to argue that the coolant issue is related to the rear-end hit unless there’s clear evidence.
Even if the hit somehow loosened an already broken part, the fact remains that it was already broken. If insurance only covers what their driver caused, they’re not going to pay for pre-existing damage.
Also, driving around with unrepaired front-end damage for a month isn’t safe. It’s not just about insurance—it’s about keeping your car roadworthy.
Zach said:
It’s possible the impact knocked a coolant hose loose. Have you checked under the hood?
I’m not great with cars, so I took it to my mechanic to check it out. If it’s something simple like a hose, he’ll let me know… or maybe he’ll say it’s something bigger and take insurance money, who knows.
@EVERLY
Joking about that is a bad idea. That would be fraud. If a hose was already damaged, insurance wouldn’t owe to replace it completely—just to put it back in the condition it was before the second hit.
@EVERLY
You’re acting like insurance is just going to hand out cash. If they don’t think the damage was caused by the rear-end accident, they’re not paying for it.