Hi.
My wife was driving with children. At the traffic light, she stopped but when she turned back to watch the kids in the back, the brake was released a bit and bumped the car (Lexus RX) in front of her.
The car in front of her had a dent in the rear bottom bumper.
My wife and the other lady driver (Lexus RX) exchanged the contacts and details. The driver from Lexus RX told my wife that she will go to the repair shop and then advise my wife whether she would contact the insurance company or not.
It has been 2 weeks and we didn't hear from her. After 2 weeks, my wife contacted the other driver and she said that she already contacted the insurance company and my wife would hear from the insurance company.
It is clear that it was my wife's fault but I would like to ask people what we should do next to fix our car. It had a damaged front grille only.
Do we need to call the insurance company and repair via claim?
Do we need to go to the repair shop and fix without insurance claim? At this moment, we don't know how much it will cost to replace the front grille.
Will this increase our insurance cost next year? My wife is registered as the 2nd driver and we have had zero claim rating so far.
Thank you in advance for your help.
Go get a quote for your car. If her damage and yours works out to be cheaper than excess just pay the other company directly. Don't fix your can unless you know this otherwise your company won't pay for your repairs.