Auto Insurance Claims: car scraped by friend, auto insurer, small claims court

Question
A friend was pet/house sitting at my house.  She was asked to only put the trash that was sitting OUTSIDE the house on the curb to be picked up.  Instead, she dragged the large, heavy plastic, trash can from the garage in order to use it as a "wheelbarrow" of sorts for the outside trash.  the trash can was much bigger than the space she was trying to fit it through and she left a huge scrape on the side of my car.  It will have to be painted.  Is she responsible for the repairs and, if so, is it her auto insurance that we would make the claim through? Thanks

Answer
She was negligent and is responsible for the damages.  However, it could be argued that she was technically acting as an employee of yours and therefore she might have a defense to liability.

Her auto insurance will not cover this.  It would only apply if she was operating a car.  If she has a homeowner' policy, it might provide some liability coverage for this.

Your auto insurance will cover this under Comprehensive coverage, assuming you have this coverage on your policy.  If you have a deductible you will be responsible for it.  Your auto insurer might consider going after her to collect what they pay out.  You could also do the same for the deductible, but you might have to sue her in small claims court to succeed.  This really comes down to how much you value the friendship.