Before you go forward with a claim against the other guy's insurance you may want to spend 30 minutes or so looking at reviews other people have about how they treated "victims" in the past.

A few years ago I was hit by a car backing out of a parking space. I filed a claim with the "Like a Good Neighbor" company the other driver was insured by. Before going to Other Guy's Company I had three estimates done ranging from $1050-1500. The Other Guy's Company said it would cost $900 to fix and assigned me 20% liability. I was outraged and told the .......s to not send me any check until I told them to. Of course, they immediately sent me a $200 check for car rental. I voided it and returned to sender certified mail. It was rejected and sent back to me.

So I filed a claim through my insurance company, the geiko, and they said it would take $1600 to fix and I was 0% liable. Since I had filed a claim initially through the Other Guy's Company and both insurance companies didn't agree, the case went to subrogation (basically the companies duke it out with an arbitrator). Initially I had to pay the $500 deductible but I would get at least $400 back no matter what ($100 was the 20% liable the Other Guy's Company said I was), I would get more back if I was assigned less liablity, and no matter what the geiko would eat $700 difference in the two companies quotes. I ended up being assigned 10% liability and was only out $50 in deductible but I ended up getting the car fixed for less than $1600 and the geiko didn't want/couldn't find a way for me to return the extra money.

I suspect I'd have been out nothing if I had gone straight to the geiko and skipped the Other Guy's Company. That 10% liability was just a comprimise. I think the Other Guy's Company would just have paid the geiko what they told them to pay.

It turns out that is was really important that I voided the check and sent it back certified mail. I provided the claim agent with copies of the voided check and the certified mail receipt/returned envelope. I was told this was a "scam" (perhaps I'm using a strong word here) that some companies employ. If they send you a check, when the case goes to subrogation they claim they've paid you money and, therefore, you have agreed to their terms and your company has no grounds on which to be involved. I was livid and quite clear when I told the Other Guy's Company I was not pleased with their assessment and that I didn't want them to send my any repair money until I said so. My conclusion is that the Other Guy's Company knew I would likely file a claim with my company and since I didn't specifically say anything about the rental that she could send that money and would be too stupid to realize what she was doing. That was dirty, dirty, dirty. And I'm sure they've screwed many people this way.

So be very careful, OP! You're the only one on your side.