Did your insurance premium go up after an accident that was your fault?

Should I pay the damages myself or go through insurance?

• I hit this lady's car with mine by accident (Saturday). She was not in the car at the moment, I called the police, and the officer (I remember his badge number) advised me to settle it with her since it's a very small damage. Later the lady and I talked and agreed to not go through insurance, and I said I'll pay whatever amount it takes for damage repairs. I did not call my insurance. This morning (Tuesday) I went to meet her and she gave me a fax of a written damage estimate. I wanted her to sign a letter containing the following information: vehicle license plate, accident date, total amount paid, and that this is payment for the TOTAL damage done to the vehicle. She said she's not going to sign a letter and she'd rather go through insurance. So I said I'm not going to pay anything without assurance that I'm paying for the TOTAL damage done to the car, and left. Later. I called her again and agreed to pay with the written damage estimate she showed as evidence. I was going to write "total damage payment for accident" as the memo on the check I was going to write. I went back to her and looked at the damage estimate again, and saw that the vehicle license plate was not there. I asked her to get another one with the vehicle license plate on it. She said she'll call me. What sort of proof should I accept for the fact that I'm paying for the TOTAL damage to the car. I don't want her to charge me later for any other damage she did to her car herself. Is a damage estimate that her mechanic faxed to her, with the vehicle license place number, enough? What will happen if we decide to go through insurance? Will her premium increase as well as my premium? I have another accident within the last year with another parked car which was my fault. I have no problem paying her. I just want assurance that I'm paying for the total damage, and repairs to her car and nothing else, in the form of evidence that will hold up in court. Should I pay her if she comes up with a damage estimate with a license plate number, or should I go through insurance?

• Answer:

  Let your insurance deal with it. That's what you pay them for.