Can a clock spring be damaged in collision

Which wheel moved, the steering wheel or one of the tires?

Impact doesn't damage the clock spring. Two things can cause a problem. The first has to do with the fact the internal wound-up ribbon cable has a limited range it can go through. That closely matches the number of rotations of the steering wheel from full-left to full-right. If the clock spring is installed incorrectly, or if the steering shaft becomes disconnected, which allows the steering wheel to be rotated an unlimited number of times, that cable will either reach the end of its travel, then be torn off one end, or it will unwind as far as possible, then fold over on itself. Doing that multiple times will cause it to snap.

The other problem has to do when the steering wheel air bag deploys in a crash. The high heat from the rapidly-burning rocket fuel usually melts the electrical connector behind the air bag. The ribbon cable is still okay, but the clock spring is replaced, along with the air bag, because of that melted connector.

Thank you for your help. The rear drivers side wheel took the impact and was moved forward. The suspension has all been replaced I believe but the panel beater is trying to clear the error that is showing on the dash. There were no error messages before the impact which is why I ask if the hit could have caused the problem so I can tell them to go back to the insurance company and get it fixed properly.

First we have to know which warning light is on so we can know which system and computer is involved. The next step is to read and record the exact fault code number. From that we can look up the definition and figure out the best suspects. As a guess, if the car has anti-lock brakes, there is going to be a wheel speed sensor at each wheel, and if the crash damage was severe enough, the wires going to that sensor could have been torn off. A new sensor would be installed, but on a lot of cars, the fault code that set when the damage occurred will not self-erase after the new sensor is installed. On many cars, a scanner is needed to manually erase fault codes in Anti-lock Brake Computers and often in Air Bag Computers.

I don't have service information for your car model so try to get the fault code definition from your mechanic. We might be able to find it on the internet too.

I will see if he can let me know what the error says or the number. thank you

Please let us know what you find. We are interested to see what it is.