Auto Insurance Claims: fraudulent claim?, fraudulent claim, heavy traffic

Question
Hi.  I'm very frustrated by a recent accident and its repercussions.  I rear ended a car at a stop light in January.    In heavy traffic, the car started to go when the left turn arrow lit, but then stopped suddenly.  I had started to go too  and slammed on the brakes when he stopped...but my car could not stop fast enough and I tapped his bumper.  We pulled over and exchanged information.  There was virtually no damage to either car, but the passenger in his car hopped out and vigilantly started taking pictures with his cell phone.  Of course, the passenger filed an injury claim.  I cooperated with my insurance company and provided all details.  I was clear that I believed it was a fraudulent claim, but I recently found out that he was paid $1200 in medical damages.  And as a result, my premium skyrocketed!  I will now pay more than $1200 in additional premium fees in less than a year.  The worse part is that the driver of the car never claimed any damages to his car.
I feel taken advantage of by my insurance company.  Why should they bother to dispute his claim when they can turn it right around and recoup the damages from me immediately?
What can I do?  Is there a way to dispute the handling of this claim?

Answer
Hi Mischa,

Unfortunately there is nothing you can do. It is the insurance company's decision to either fight or settle the claim. Since the amiunt was so small, it is cheaper to settle. In addition, it is not the amount they paid out that determined the increase of your premium, it is simply the fact that an incident occured. Even if nothing was paid out, the fact that an at-fault event had occured and was reported to them is enough to increase your premium.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh