It is always fascinating to see the difference in how consumers are treated and protected in the EU vs. the US. Evidently US consumers are not worthy of privacy, ownership, or anything else that is pro-consumer

I was quite surprised at how many people said to not communicate at all with the other insurance company and to direct them to my insurance company. I'm not sure I'd trust 2 external parties to coordinate with each other on my behalf in a timely manner, let alone 1 external party. Just seems like I'd be making it very difficult to resolve things if I just refused to talk to the other person's insurance

Thank you so much for sharing your experience here. I’m really hoping I don’t have to go through my insurance if it means an increase in my premiums. Conceptually, it seems so counterintuitive that someone backing into my car could lead to an increase in my own insurance rate 🙄

I'm definitely taking some of the advice here with a grain of salt. Communication and cooperation all around seem like the logical path me, so I'm not just going to refuse to speak to an involved party. Thanks for the input!

I have a high deductible though, so I guess I'd be out the cash until they manage to get the money from the other insurance company?

I think I'll wait before going that far. The guy is a friend of my girlfriend's, so I'm not trying to cause ill will without justification.

I'll talk to my insurance company more about this and see what the other company comes back with

Edit: I don't think I could sue even if I wanted to. I'm in PA with a limited tort policy

Oh, that sounds like a potential path here. I'll ask my insurance company about that!

Would my insurance company really increase my rate by going through them, even though I was not at fault...?

I don't have an estimate yet, but yeah, I imagine the cost will be close to the deductible.

I'm going to wait a week or 2 and see what happens with the other insurance company. At a certain point, I'll need to make a determination on if I go through mine then. Thankfully, it's quite a minor crack in the bumper, so the car is perfectly drivable, so I have the luxury of time

The issue is that I have a pretty high deductible. I can certainly afford to pay that deductible, but wouldn't I then be out that cash until my insurance company gets paid by the other company?

I didn't realize I could do that. Not sure I'd trust them to do anything in a timely manner, but maybe I'll take that approach going forward on this

I just called my insurance company and they don't seem too concerned. They said I can go through them for it if I want to, then get reimbursed by the other person's insurance company, but since it's not urgent, I'm waiting for them. I don't trust anyone to reimburse me

Hmm...that's concerning. they definitely weren't drunk, and they're the only person on the policy. He was just heading out of his apartment for leisure. Kinda wondering if he's not current on his payments...guess this could go any which way >.<

It's very early in the process, so no estimate on the repair yet (neither insurance company has even asked for pictures yet, which I'm surprised by). It's a Toyota Prius, so I can't imagine the bumper is too much more expensive than average

Yeah, I am planning to call my insurance company today or tomorrow. I imagine they'll advocate for me since it would mean they won't have to pay anything. You'd think this would be a super simple claim...