Avoid small car insurance claim to save on premiums???

GeoFan

I'm in Califoirnia. My insurer is Farmers. I have a basic question, and need your helpful advice.

A few weeks ago, I was in a parking lot, looking for a place to park. A car was backing towards me, and stopped in front of me to wait for a parking place. I maneuvered to go around the car that was blocking me. Their driver-side external rear-view mirror touched my car. No damage was done to my vehicle (a minor mark was easy to remove with wax polish.) The plastic mirror housing on their vehicle was cracked. It seems no damage to the functioning of their mirror occurred, just some cosmetic damage. I asked them to send me an estimate for repairs. When we spoke on the phone, I offered to split their cost of repairs, which the other party said was about $200.00.

Several years ago, I had a different parking-lot incident, and the damage was a few hundred dollars. The claim was handled by Farmers Insurance, and the result was my insurance fees went up by more than a few hundred dollars over a few years. I do not want that to occur again, if it is cheaper, I prefer to pay for repairs myself, and use my insurance only when necessary...

The other party has already filed a claim with their insurer. I want to know if I should pay for their minor damage myself, or go through my Farmers Insurance... but maybe, it is already too late, since the other party filed a claim? My deductible is $500 to save on premiums...

What are my options, if any?

overnetworld

contact the other party ask them to withdraw their claim as you already agreed a settlement, if they decline you have no other choice.

MarkyMarkD

Just because the other party submits a claim doesn't mean that you have to. Their insurers should always write to you requesting settlement, not directly to your insurers, and it's up to you if you pass the correspondence on to the insurers or deal with it directly.

I don't understand why, in the circs, the other party agreed to share the cost - it appears to have been your fault as you were manoeuvring around them. So if their insurers ask you for the $200 I'd settle it.