Auto Insurance Claims: Backed Into A Parked Car, auto insurance, auto claim

Question
Expert,
I backed into a parked car in a parking garage earlier tonight and smashed my left tail light along with the other person's left tail light. Just the plastic paneling broke, bulbs still intact, etc. Minor scuffs on each vehicle. The security for the parking lot took down my info, took pictures, and told me they'd pass my info. along to the owner of the vehicle when they came back to their car.

I'm assuming I'll get a call for them tomorrow. I'm fully insured through State Farm and have had no accidents yet or anything to increase my insurance or affect all the good driver discounts I currently have applied. Should I call my insurance company about this or should I first try and settle with the vehicle owner directly? I'm curious as to what would be to my financial advantage here. Thanks for your time.

-Robert

Answer
I cannot address possible rate increases but can tell you that attempting to settle property damage on your own is not a very good idea.  Not only do you risk the possibility of the other party trying to charge you for inflated estimates, but if things go poorly and you later try to get your insurer to bail you out of a mess; they will be able to legally tell you to pound sand.  This is why all insurance policies require that the policy holder promptly report all accidents.  That way, the insurer has the opportunity to mitigate the damages from the start.
Good luck!