Auto Insurance Claims: Claim Settlement Dispute, claim settlement dispute, auto body shop

Question
Dear Richard,
My son was involved in a rear-end collision.  Our car is an '05 Nissan Altima and the other car is the IS Lexus.  
The collision was less than 5 miles an hour; the damage to her car was caused by the 2 screws that hold our front license plate.  The damage was about nickel size and only dented it, no puncture was caused.  Also, no damage was caused to our car.  She had previous damage to her vehicle (scratches) that were more noticeable than the damage caused by our car.  At first we were just going to pay for the damage ourselves without going through insurance.  So she took it to a reputable auto body shop someone had told us about.  The estimated damage was $419.  She did not want to share in any of the cost even though she had previous damage and refused to sign a release of liability stating that once we paid for the repairs, she could not come back with anything at a later time.
So, at that point we chose to go through the insurance.
Our insurance sent an adjuster to look at the damage and deemed it to be at $334.
She took it to a different auto body shop than where the first estimate was and the auto body shop then filed an additional claim with the insurance claiming that once they removed the bumper there was underlying damage. The insurance company approved it.
I have been on the phone at least a dozen times disputing this and trying to explain to the insurance company that a) there is no way that with an impact at less than 5 miles an hour, and with no damage whatsoever done to our vehicle could there be any underlying damage to her vehicle.
B) there was more visible prior damage to her vehicle above the area where the screws caused damage by our vehicle. And there was NO damage to our vehicle.

I am so frustrated that the insurance company even approved the additional cost, plus the fact that we are stuck paying for it.  
California law states that if the damage is less than $750, it will not affect our premium.  But with them paying an additional $667, they want to double our premium.
I am ready to file a report with the BBB against the auto body shop for inflating a claim.
Help! Please.

Answer
Hi Cyndi,

You can let your company claims adjuster know how you feel, however, once you filed the claim with your insurance company they control the entire process. It is up to the insurance company to decide what is related or not and what to pay of not. I'm sure they are not inflating the claim just so they can raise your rates. They have damage inspectors that go out to verify the damage. I'm afraid there will nto be much you can do in this case.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh