Do car seats need to be replaced after a minor crash?

[biscuitcat]

I've seen that car seats should be replaced after all accidents, but also guidance that says after very minor accidents it should be OK, so my head is spinning a bit!

Yesterday a car hit me when trying to overtake me on a roundabout from the wrong lane (let's not get into how irritating that is...). My front driver's side bumper has some scuffs and a couple of scratches that expose the metal beneath the paint, but no dents or other damage to the car, it's totally drivable. No one hurt and the airbags didn't deploy - both kids (2.5 and 7 months) were in the car and didn't even make a noise, I swore very loudly! But otherwise didn't even notice the seatbelt having to pull me back. So it really was very minor, more irritating than anything.

In that situation, should the seats be replaced? Any advice much appreciated!

I would contact the car seat manufacturer to be sure. they will be able to advise on what to do next

Personally, I would only replace them if the accident involved a rapid enough deceleration to cause the seat belt tensioners to fire.

I wouldn’t take the chance and would always replace them. Insurance covers it anyway if fully comp.

Agree asking the manufacturer for guidance is best. But if your seatbelt didn't even lock and it was just a scrape rather than any actual damage, I probably wouldn't replace.

if Insurance is involved you might get new ones anyway? mine covers replacement seats if there's any incident no matter how small.

Thank you all! I'll phone the manufacturers tomorrow and see what they say.