<prompt> Human: On my way home from work, at a red light, I was basically side-swiped by another car. Essentially, I was sitting at the end of a double left turn lane and a women was very adamant about getting in the lane next to me even at this red light, so much so that she popped the curb and proceeded to slowly scrape her vehicle against mine just so she could sit a car lengths in front of me at the same red light. Dumbfounded and absolutely furious, I get out of my car, take a photo of her plate and car, and go to the driver side window demanding she pull over to exchange information. She insisted she didnt touch my car and the fresh scratches, dents, and streaks of red paint was not from her also now scratched red car. The light then turned green, and she drove off. I was beyond livid that someone could look me in the eye and lie to my face. I filed a police report immediately as a hit and run at the advice of my dad. The officer ran the plate but of course the car was a rental, which I suspected from the out of state plate. Ive never been in an accident before so I have no clue how or if I should bring this up to my insurance. Im concerned it could raise my rates and my deductible would probably cover most the damage if I was the one that had to pay out of pocket, so should I even bother contacting them? A friend told me to just contact the rental agency directly to see if they could sort it out, but Im not sure if thats the best route. Any advice is greatly appreciated!Also curious if anyone has any advice about preventing a driver from fleeing the scene in the future god forbid this happens again, though.UPDATE: Thanks so much for the advice and insight. Ill be contacting my insurance agent tomorrow with my dad since Im under his policy and they have a pretty good relationship and will file a claim. Really hoping they can track down this lovely lady and her rates go up for fleeing the scene. Drive safe, everyone! Assistant: Contact the rental agency. Whats likely going on here is that the virus who hit you purchased the collision damage waiver from the rental co but opted out of their liability protection, meaning that for any at-fault accident she would have to pay the damages to the other party from her own insurance. She doesnt care about the damage to the rental car because thats what the collision waiver is for, so Id guess she tells them she was herself the victim of hit-and-run and gets away not owing a dime. Regardless of this womans choice to opt out of the rental cos liability coverage, the rental co is still on the hook for your damages as the owner of the vehicle because the driver would be whats called a permissive operator, and just about every standard auto insurance policy especially corporate ones follow the vehicle itself in these cases. So, with solid evidence that the driver of their vehicle fled the scene, youre going to have a highly motivated rental co who will be happy to turn over the drivers information including whatever proof of insurance she provided when she rented the car. Assuming her insurance is not in a lapse, you now have everything you need to file this claim with the responsible partys insurance company directly. I doubt youll have a problem successfully resolving the claim with the amount of proof you have, so great job on being so quick to act. Not knowing which state youre in, Id recommend against having your own insurance company settle the damage for you. Some states are great: uninsured motorist property damage coverage with no deductible and regulation against surcharging insurance rates for not-at-fault accidents. Unfortunately, in most states insurance companies can and will surcharge you for a paid not-at-fault, especially companies who quote you rates as you shop for a new policy. Plus, many states do not have UMPD and even many that do require a deductible, or youre stuck simply paying your collision deductible. Optimally, your insurance company would subrogate against the responsible party, i.e. they pay you for the repair and seek reimbursement from the other party, but with smaller claims like yours the reality is that they likely wont go to great lengths due to the expense and youre ultimately stuck with having a paid claim on your record for the next 3-5 years and you never recoup your deductible. The satisfying part about this is that this woman, for not wanting her insurance rates to go up due to hitting you, is now going to be charged with fleeing the scene, a HIGHLY surcharged violation for insurance companies. Shudder to think what her rates will be now, assuming she finds a decent insurance co who will accept her with that record. Source: insurance agent with 45 state licensesHuman: Oh wow that definitely makes sense, thanks for your insight! Im in Florida, which I know is a no fault state, and the other car was registered in Michigan. Im technically under my parents policy with State Farm multi-car discount, though everything is in my name and I pay for it and they have a good rep with their agent, though not sure if it would help me out here. Honestly the damage isnt terrible, but the other womans attitude was so infuriating and disrespectful that Id LOVE for her to be reprimanded somehow, good to know karma exists in the insurance world.  <response>: Similarly, a rental driver crashed through my front yard and left behind a license plate. Cops could do nothing as they were not witnesses. I called the rental agency, told them about the tag. The said they would pay any bills, and did. 