[williamsji]

No, I did not call police as the damage was light & I had to get somewhere.

Many states require you to either call police or self-report any non-injury accident that is over $400. Your damage alone will easily surpass this. If there is any injury, no matter how minor... police need to be notified and official reports taken and filed.

ALWAYS call the police, regardless in my view. A police report is going to be relied on by your insurance company and when insured the other parties insurance as well.

Where uninsured motorists are concerned.. I always refuse to discuss remedies and compensation with them, and instead refer them to my insurance company. Reason: most uninsured will try to convince you to just fix it with a bit of chewing gum and a bandaid and they will pay for it (pleading for you to not report it to police or your insurance company).... trying to save themselves money. My insurance steps right in on this, and they help me get my vehicle repaired and back on the road, while also suing the other party for damages and recovery. My insurance also has waived my uninsured motorist deductible too, but that is more about rewarding customer loyalty I think.

 

[williamsji]

Here's why not calling the police for your situation is a bad idea

• Filing a claim under your own insurance is going result in a surcharge at renewal especially when you don't have an official police report stating the at fault driver is uninsured vs your statement alone.
• It's common someone will lie that they don't have insurance to avoid a claim against them.
• Damage to Look For After a Rear-End Collision

In any accident, grab any info you can from the other driver(Driver's License, Plate number, etc), and let your insurance company verify it with the DMV. Call the police unless you have dashcam footage of the accident. Don't trust what the other driver tells you especially when they're at fault.

Agree with all you said, except the surcharge part, in the case of being hit by an uninsured motorist.

Generally, your insurance will only surcharge your policy IF... the accident fault is yours. In the case of an uninsured motorist hitting you from behind.. that is no fault to the policy holder and should not result in a premium surcharge no matter what. Though I bet there are a few states that are very friendly to insurance companies at the expense of the insured owners.

 

[williamsji]

Yes, I understand it's not the fault of the policy holder but in general collision claims($500+) against your own policy will result in a rate increase for the collision portion at renewal.

Illegal for insurance to do this in California. California insists that if you want to sell insurance in the state, no fault = no premium surcharges.

But I could see this happening in more "insurance company friendly" states.