Anonymous wrote:13:36 here. Should also add that we also have Geico, and when we called the hotline number, the representative we got said that this type of collision doesn't cause a premium increase because it's not a moving violation. I don't know if it matters, but we're in Maryland. Really, just call the insurance company and stop dealing with the shady lady.
Your situation is entirely different. It was not a driving accident whereas OP’s daughter’s accident was.
OP, as a lawyer, I would never speculate as to who was at fault based on a second hand account from someone with a personal stake in the outcome and no actual evidence to review.
That being said, I don’t know what you should do. I’d be concerned about how you are going to prevent this person from extorting more money from you if you pay what you already believe to be extortion. But if you go through insurance, your rates could increase significantly. (I had a teen have an accident and we lost all of our good driver discounts along with having an accident on the record and it caused a few thousand dollars a year increase). Plus after five accidents in three years, regardless of how minor, you get put into a high risk pool which increases the cost for that one kid to almost $13k per year for three years for basic coverage, leaving you vulnerable for excess damage and your daughter isn’t starting out well.