Road accident in France? Don’t risk your compensation – MOTOEXPERT provides independent assessments to help you claim your full rights after a traffic accident

Drivers ask

Why are the seats examined at all when the damage is on the outside?

Because the seat is bolted into the structure and moves with it. A rear impact loads the backrest and the rails, a side impact loads the mounting on that side, and a frontal one loads the belt anchor points. None of that has to be visible from outside the vehicle, and none of it appears in a calculation made from photographs of the bodywork.

Can I sell the car unrepaired while the claim is still open?

Technically nothing stops you, and it is often the sensible route. What matters is the order: once the vehicle is gone, the damage can no longer be examined, and anything not recorded before the handover is lost for good. Get the condition documented first, then sell. The reverse order cannot be undone.

The insurer offered a lump sum to close the claim. What am I actually signing?

Usually a document stating that the amount settles the matter in full and that no further claims will be made about that event. It is not the same as accepting a payment on account, and the difference is the whole point. Read what it says about future or hidden damage before anything is signed, because that clause is where the risk sits.

The car pulls to one side after a kerb impact. What is examined first?

The geometry, before any part is named. Wheel alignment is measured on all four wheels, because a sideways impact moves the track rod, the steering arm and sometimes the subframe together. A pull is a symptom of that whole corner, and the measurement is what separates a bent rod from a bent mounting.

What is a structural measurement, in plain terms?

The shell is compared against the manufacturer figures at a set of fixed reference points, either on a bench or with an electronic system. The output is a list of deviations in millimetres, point by point. It is not an opinion about the car; it is a set of distances that either match the specification or do not.

What is different about assessing a vehicle that is used for hire?

Three things: the equipment fitted after registration, a mileage that is far above the market average for the model year, and a comparison market that is smaller than it looks. Everything else is a normal inspection. The difference sits in the valuation, not in the damage.

I taped up a broken window to drive home. Does that weaken my claim?

Not if you photographed the damage first. Making a vehicle safe and weatherproof is expected of you, and the cost belongs in the file. What weakens a claim is a temporary measure with no record of what it covered, because the original state can no longer be shown to anyone.

The registered owner has died and the car is standing outside. What happens to it first?

Practically, nothing happens to it at all, and that is the problem. It stands, the battery discharges, the tyres flatten on one side and the condition drifts away from the day that matters. Recording the state early costs little and preserves an answer that becomes impossible to reconstruct later on.