Do I contact police or insurance company?

I was parked in a parking lot and the car next to me hit my door. They had a small child in the back seat who was a little overzealous to get out and put a nasty dent in the car. I came out and was inspecting when they arrived to get in their car. The guy denied it (obviously) even though there was a little paint on the bottom of the door. His door, when opened, went to the exact spot of my new dent. Should I contact the police or my insurance company first? I got his license plate number, make, model etc.

If you run it through your insurance company, you will have to pay your deductible. If it costs less than that to fix, I wouldn't even bother running it through your insurance. If you want to try and go through his insurance, get a police report to give to his insurance.

Hello. I am sorry to hear this happened to you, but I've been there and know what its like. The sad part was, my car was hit in a police station parking lot... How ironic. I had just bought my new baby, and I was also moving out of the inner city to the suburbs, anyway, in this particular city you must obtain a moving permit before you can move in or out, so off to the police department I go... I parked, I was inside paying for the permit and getting the signs, I walk out and as soon as I turned the corner, I hear a boom and see my car move a bit. So I went over, sure as ****, there was a guy in a white van putting it in reverse and taking off. I got his plate number and immediately called my insurance agent for advice as I was walking to the car to see the damage. My agent (also a good friend of mine) told me to immediately go inside and alert the police to a hit and run, he said that he'd immediately begin processing the claim. I went in and got the desk sergeant and he said "Oh, look at that, none of our cars are safe out here *chuckle chuckle chuckle*" So I am standing there, signs in hand, getting more and more annoyed at the minute. My agent called me back and said that I should get pictures of the car before its moved, I used my camera phone, filed the police report with the happy-go-lucky cop, my insurance agent got me a rental car, as well set up the repair work for me. About a week later, I dropped the rental car off and picked up my baby. Quite sometime passed. Then late one night, probably 2:30 - 3:00 in the morning my phone rings, I answer, it was the detective who takes care of hit and runs. They had the guy in custody who hit my car, it seems he did this quite frequently since his blood alcohol level was just over triple the legal limit (0.22) our "legally drunk level is 0.08"

So, to answer your question after babbling on about my situation, call the police, then call your insurance agent. They both have jobs to do. As far as you getting the plate number, that's excellent since the police will be able to find out who the vehicle is registered to.

Also, if I wouldn't have gotten my drunks plate number, I would have been stuck paying a $250.00 deductible for a comprehensive claim, this way I paid nothing, my rates didn't increase, and my car rental was actually free under my coverage, which my insurance company went after drunko's for. So ultimately he paid for everything, he also got a DUI, but that was because the police stopped him drunk, they couldn't prove he was drunk when he hit me..... but that's ok. He was still charged for Hit and Run, then since he was drunk and hit and ran on someone else the night the police picked him up.... he is going away for a long time and probably will never see his license again.

the insurance company don't bother the police with that.

Well, both. You'll need to file the police report - I assume he refused to exchange information? And then file the collision claim, with the police report number, with YOUR insurance.

They'll track him down.

It's a little late to call the police as this happened in the past on private property. However you should anyway or else your insurer may refuse to consider this a hit and run accident. Unless you took photos of the guy's door showing paint transfer when he hit your door or you were standing right there when it happened you're going to have a heck of a time trying to prove anything in court because it will be your word versus his. I hope you either know where the guy lives or you took down a license plate number.

or you can call a dent company and get it fixed for $100...just a matter of how much your time is worth.

There is the case for a matter of principle though...

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