Fender bender in a parking lot my fault. Need help deciding to file a claim or pay OOP

[swollenmonkey]

Thanks in advance to any of the wonderful people on this site that take time out of their day to help other people out. It really is amazing.

Policy Info
Geico

2015 Nissan Rogue with 20k miles

2005 Nissan Murano with 112k miles

$1,290.09 6 month premium (216.02/mo or $2,592.24 annually if that helps)

$100k/$300k Bodily Injury

$50k property damage liability

Comprehensive and Collision $1k deductible

No claims in the last 3 years since I've been with Geico. I did have a previous parking lot fender bender and 2 nonmoving violations and 1 moving violation in the past 10 years which caused State Farm to drop me (long story). I got coverage through Progressive for a year before moving to Geico 3 years ago.

I was backing out of a parking space in a parking lot, didn't see the car to the left of me and went too wide when I was turning, and scraped the rear passenger side of the vehicle to. I asked that we not go through insurance initially as to not raise my rates and they agreed and this is the quote the other driver provided from the repair shop that Lexus sent them to. I was advised on r/autorepair that this was a very reasonable repair quote.

Quote came to $2,347 for their vehicle.
Vehicle damage and Quote

My damage is just to the bumper and my guess is around $1k for repairs. 2005 Nissan Murano with 112k miles. KBB says $2,105 Trade-in Value and $1,445-$2,764 Trade-In Range

I could use come help making a couple of decisions. Should I pay for the other vehicle's repair costs out of pocket or should I file a claim with my insurance? I have no idea what my premium would increase to in order to figure out which is the best bet for me. If I file a claim, should I go ahead and have my car repaired through that claim as well? Should I pay theirs and mine both out of pocket or based off the value of mine, is it even worth it? Plan on having keeping it another 2-3 years.

Any help would be sincerely appreciated.

 

[liz869802]

@swollenmonkey I see this was posted some time ago...

With a 1k deductible it may be more worth it to pay him directly, as claim payouts are going to be 1k short of the repair total anyway due to the deductible. That being said 1 accident on record may not affect your premiums as too poorly. In my state, at least (NY), they only look at accidents within the last 39 months, so your record should come up clean, now. It's definitely up to you, as there's not much a way to tell how badly it might weigh on your rate. Some companies rate accidents heavily... while some rate more on credit or vehicle price.

You COULD inquire if he could get an estimate elsewhere, as it may be a more inexpensive fix.

P.S. - If you've been w/ GEICO for a few years, and that was because of a difficult record, I would definitely move yourself to a better company. Even moving from GEICO Standard to Preferred would be advised. This might lower your rate, but as well will make it easier in the future to go to many other companies. If you work with an independent broker they (hopefully) should be able to find you a better policy, as they work with multiple carriers instead of one company (i.e. GEICO, Allstate, Progressive - individually), so they can look at the most competitively rated carriers for you.

Source: I'm a P&C Licensed Agent

Let me know if it all worked out or anything changed. I'd be interested in hearing that you've made out alright!
Best of luck