Someone smashed my parked car - deal with insurance or call the cops?

Dang, that’s rough. I always thought insurance would just handle it too, but now I’m kinda second-guessing that. Guess it’s better to have the report and not need it than the other way around. Thanks for sharing - definitely learned something here.

Yeah, I used to assume insurance would just magically take care of everything too... until I had someone sideswipe my car in a grocery store lot. Turns out, without a police report, my claim took forever and they kept asking for more proof. Felt like I was on trial or something. Now I’m paranoid and document everything, just in case. Maybe it’s overkill, but at least it saves headaches down the road.

Totally get where you’re coming from. It’s not overkill at all - insurance can be a pain when you don’t have all the details. I started snapping pics of everything too, just in case. Better safe than sorry, right?

Honestly, I get the urge to document everything, but sometimes I wonder if it just adds more stress. I mean, if you call the cops and file a report, doesn’t that cover most of what insurance needs? I’ve read that too many photos or details can actually slow things down with some companies. Maybe it’s just me being paranoid, but I’d rather keep it simple - report, a few pics, and let them handle the rest.

I mean, if you call the cops and file a report, doesn’t that cover most of what insurance needs?

Honestly, I thought the same thing until last year when someone sideswiped my car in the parking lot. I figured, “Hey, police report and a couple pics - done deal.” But my insurance agent acted like I’d just handed her a coloring book with half the pages missing. Turns out they wanted close-ups of the damage, shots from different angles, and even a photo of my sad face (okay, maybe not that last one).

I get what you mean about overdoing it though. At a certain point, you start feeling like a crime scene investigator. Still, I’d rather have too much than not enough. Worst case, they ignore the extra stuff. Best case, they don’t come back asking for more while your car’s still looking like it lost a fight with a shopping cart army.

But yeah... sometimes it feels like you need a degree in documentation just to file a claim.