Chain touches plate between pulleys

Based on the picture and the description my best guess is that part of the inner or outer cage plate (part number 3507 or 926) isn't quite straight. A little strategic bending might be in order to prevent the chain from rubbing.

I know this isn't your derailleur but here's an exploded diagram with part names for reference. I couldn't find a Claris diagram.

Either a small part of the cage is bent into the path of the chain or the whole cage is out of alignment. The pulleys and gears should be aligned throughout the shifting range.

• Do some careful analysis on exactly what is bent.
• Determine where force needs to be applied to gain the desired result.
• Then apply only enough force - to get things straight.

It's weird because that metal tab should be there, and the chain should be that side of it, without contact. It's there to catch the chain in case of derailment, and would normally be closer to the outer cage plate.

The two main plates of the derailleur cage don't look parallel to me, which would suggest they are bent out of alignment, perhaps from the crash damage. If that is the case and it is pulling the tab up closer to the chain, this could be why it is contacting the chain.

In theory you could reshape the derailleur side plates somehow, but I practise if they are misshapen like this then it's a case of replacing it. Another unfortunate expense of the accident.

Solved - I've bought new derailleur(claris ~20 eur) and I was able to configure it very easily. The problem in old one is really in broken inner plate geometry. This probably happend during my accident. Plate is bent in X axis towards towards the chain, which makes it really hard to bent back.