Auto Insurance Claims: Collision and Liability, detail shop, uninsured motorist claim

Question
My car was parallel parked in the city, and when i came back to it, it was sideswiped on the rear side. Probably someone tried to parallel park too close to mine and clipped the rear of my vehicle. The Damage: Part of the panel in the rear and the bumper was scraped and some paint chipped.  Detail shop says they can't fix it, so it's more than a scratch. Cheap estimate says $500 damage, my deductible is $250 for collision, but I'm wondering if this is collision or uninsured/hit and run coverage. What will the insurance company classify this? I'm worried about reporting this to my insurance because I don't know if they will even pay for this, and if they don't, I don't want to go through reporting it. I also would like to know which coverage this should be under...

Answer
Hi Marty,

Generally an insurance company would not consider to be an uninsured motorist claim unless there were eye witnessess that they could actually speak to.

This would be considered a collision claim.  Since the cost of repair is so low, you would be better off to pay the cost your self.  If you have a $250.00 deductible and the cost of repair is only $500.00 the insurance would only pay $250.00. Then if will got on your record as a chargeable accident and your rates will got up for the next 3 years. Better to just pay it and be done.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh