Auto Insurance Claims: Car accident, minor accident, careless driving


Question
We live in Mexico and traveled to the US on December 28,2009, day in which my wife had a minor accident but our car insurance did not have international coverage. A traffic report was issued and she was charged with careless driving and no proof of insurance, both fines were paid on court.
The car that was hit by our car was insured and after being questioned by police when filling the traffic report, he declared not having any injuries and left the scene with minor damage to his car.
Yesterday we received in our address in Mexico a letter from the department of Non-Injury Claims of the insurance company of the car damaged by us, requesting data on our insurance company or if not insured a claim to pay for the damages paid by them to fix the car of their customer.   No amounts were specified on the letter.
I proceeded to call to the 1-800 of this company to find out the exact amount they were claiming and to my surprise they told me that we owed around $ 3,600.00 which appeared to me as an excessive amount taking into account the small damage i remembered were caused (no appraisal was made at the time of the accident).
But my surprise was even bigger when after expressing my impression of being charged excessively the insurance company employee told me that a 25% discount could be applied to the mentioned account taking into consideration that we live in another country but with the condition of paying the reduced amount in one exhibition (via check mailed or a charge to my credit card).
Honestly (but not being an expert on this field) I estimated damages on the range of $ 1,000.00 to $ 1,500.00 level.
I want to pay the just amount but how should I proceed in order for not being overcharged? and which documentation should I request in order to have the matter settled correctly and not having the contingency of the insurance company come after us requesting the difference between the agreed settled amount and the original amount requested?.
Hope you can guide us through.
Thank you.

Answer
That is a common occurrence.  You are doing exactly what any reasonable person would do.  The insurance company that is requesting payment must be able to document the damages.  I would simply ask for photos of the damages and an estimate or repair invoice that shows the amount they are claiming.  They would much rather get a "lump sum" from you rather than go through all of the red tape involved in attempting to legally recover the money.  

My suggestion is to offer them $1000.00 for the damages, and request a full and final release.  Get your agreements in writing.  It is best to correspond via e-mail so everything can be documented.  If the company will not agree to release you for $1000.00, then ask them to prove up their damages.  I will say that it is almost impossible for a non auto body repair expert to estimate damage amounts.  Don't be shocked if damages that look minor end up costing a lot to repair.  I am always amazed at the increasing cost of collision repair.

I hope this helps.  Information is always free at Petty Details, LLC.