I personally think that you looking at your damage in front of her would scare her enough. Filing a police report will have an accident report on your own vehicle that may show on carfax, devaluing it if you ever try to sell it.

Maybe you can tell her to be more careful as she's parking from damaging your car. Tell her that the scratches suspiciously match the paint transfer from her vehicle to yours and that you would appreciate it if she's more careful about it.

Can you estimate the cost of damage? If it is below your deductible, don't file. Even if it is just a little bit over your deductible, I would recommend not filing either.

Having a dashboard camera is a good idea for when you're driving to determine liability in an accident. However, in order to file a claim with her own insurance (don't file with your own or your rates may increase,) you'll need to know which insurance company she has, which she'll probably not give you. This situation is awkward and pretty tricky to deal with.

 

Just to join the fun. I wish I had a camera too my neighbors cannot park! All park crooked and sideways, door dings, scratches, etc. They just don't care. I like my car. Wish they liked theirs.

But what's the point of having insurance if you can't use it? This system is so messed up. Although the above is right, and you probably shouldn't file a claim or any report, it proves to show how the system takes advantage of you. Punish you when you actual use the service you pay for. This would be considered comprehensive and shouldn't raise it directly, but will go on your record and multiple claims can and will make you a higher risk, even if it's unavoidable. It's dumb.

 

Well insurance is honestly good only for those claims that require a lot of expense, like a major accident where injuries occur or high cost damage repairs. With small claims that only cost a couple hundred dollars, most of the time it isn't wise to claim them because the premium that will go up for a minor collision claim will end up costing more than paying it off yourself without insurance (which is why many people like to settle claims outside of insurance.)

I guess the problem is that unlike healthcare, driving is a privilege, not a right. In Massachusetts, claims stick on your record for SIX years.

If you can, do not contact your own insurance company. Always contact the at-fault's insurance company. Many times they won't contact your own insurance company so your company will never have a "record" of a claim. I've had to do this before and checked my CLUE Report, and these claims were never listed on them. It is a good idea to check your CLUE Report every year. When your insurance reviews your policy, they will not see the claim that you filed with the at fault's insurance and your premium won't go up. CLUE Reports are basically what insurance companies use to check your claim history when you shop for quotes (much like a credit report.)

Once, I filed a claim against my own insurance for a non-at-fault accident. The other party's insurance admitted liability and paid for everything so my insurance never paid a cent. However, my CLUE report showed this claim on my record even though my insurance never paid. You try your best to not have your own insurance involved if you can.

You can check your own CLUE Report here: https://personalreports.lexisnexis.c...le/landing.jsp