Girl hit my bumper

There is no reason to hesitate with using your insurance company as they will find out about the incident anyway. As long as the other party's insurance company accepts liability, you will get your deductible back once the claim is done. If you go through the other person's insurance company, they will send out a field adjuster to write an estimate and give you a check, which you can then take to the body shop of your choice and have them handle the repair (and handle any supplements as needed).

Whichever route you decide to take, get the ball rolling.

MB860 ?

 

There's absolutely no reason to try to avoid making a claim with your insurance company. It won't count against you as you weren't at fault and they'll pursue the other party for ALL damages, including car rental. Your insurance company won't lose any money.

You'll have to pay the deductible but you'll get reimbursed.

 

In the case of my bumper being bashed, I didn't have to pay any deductible. The insurance companies agreed before it was fixed, and the other driver payed the deductible.

Tom

 

I agree with everybody else, you're over-thinking this.

Call your insurance company, report it, supply the girl's insurance information and let them handle it. Most likely as qbee said you won't have to pay any deductibles because they'll hammer it out with the other company before or while your car is in the shop.

Several have asked, but can you post a picture? They can do some to repair bumper covers, but generally if the damage is significant or plastic is missing they will just replace the cover. The covers are pretty cheap, here the OEM cover is from an online dealer for like $187:

Toyota Parts - Toyota-Parts.com

Theres not a lot of labor difference between replacing and repairing the cover. They'll remove the cover from the car for either task, and the shop labor to repair the cover would have to be less than that $187 to make it worth it for them to repair it vs replace it. Personally I'd even pay the $187 myself to make sure it gets replaced with the OEM part vs letting them repair it.

My guess is all said and done this will cost $750 or so even if they replace the cover. But, like others have said, let your insurance company make her company handle it. She damaged and devalued your property and she should pay to be sure its put back in the same condition it was in before she rammed it. If you try to fix it yourself its going to look like shit...

 

But you don't have to worry about the deductible...because its her insurance.

By the way...I just got backed into yesterday too. Lady left a note (which was very unexpected) and its all done...her insurance company is paying...my car goes into the shop tomorrow. So...all of it was handled within 24 hours. Less than 24 hours actually...

I uploaded a picture of the damage. This is $1,600 by the way. New cover, paint, a little buff work to the fender edge, and a parking sensor. So don't be so sure about it being less than $500.

 

It will be more than the deductible. Nothing is less than $500 these days.