Totally anecdotal, but I’ve have had Nationwide for 25 years. In that time I’ve had one car totaled in an accident that was the other driver’s fault (who was also covered by Nationwide and this was not in a state which is no-fault), a single car accident in which I slid off the road into a rocky hill and did some damage, and about five years ago an accident in which I collided with another car after going right on red (so the last two accidents were my fault.)
My rates never went up because of any of these incidents. So it certainly isn’t universal that just being in an accident = higher rates :p.
I had 21st Century and had a pretty bad parking lot hit and run, much worse than you describe. I reported it and my premium didn’t go up and in fact it went down about six months later.
I just got rearended in a hit & run on the freeway a few days ago. Really munched the back end of my car quite badly.
One thing: Do Not File a Police Report until you (a) know whether you want to inform your insurance company, and (b) know whether the police in your area automatically contact your insurance company when a report is filed.
I wanted to file a police report, but the officer told me they contact the insurance co. automatically, so I decided not to, because I didn’t want to take the chance that my premium would go up.
If the OP were in the U.K., this would be exceedingly bad advice. You must inform your insurance company of the incident, but what you do is say that you reserve the right to make a claim later. Further, leaving the scene of an accident is a crime over here.
Argh…sorry for the late post but…ask your insurance company what they’d do, ok? It’s unusual (but, admittedly, not unheard of) for a company to smack you for something that’s not your fault. You’re paying good money to someone–find out what they’ll do for you and to you and when before you give them any more.
Seriously. Do it now before this happens to you again. And if it turns out you only have to pay your deductible and that you won’t see your rates climb, file the claim before you lose the right to do so!