Will my rate go up more if I claim both cars vs. just the other guy's?

We went through something almost identical last spring. My wife clipped someone in a parking garage and we had minor damage to our own bumper too. We ended up only filing for the other car and just eating the cost of ours out of pocket. Our agent later told us it was one at-fault claim regardless — the number of vehicles involved didn't create a second claim on our record. That said, every carrier is a little different so I'd verify before assuming the same applies to you.

From what I saw working on the inside, the surcharge is almost always tied to the claim event, not the individual payout amounts or how many vehicles are on it. One accident = one at-fault mark. That said, some carriers do have tiered surcharge schedules where a higher total payout bumps you into a worse tier. It's worth asking your agent directly: 'Does adding my own vehicle to this existing claim change my surcharge tier?' Get that answer before the claim closes, not after.

Don't let the adjuster talk you into anything on that call tomorrow. They may frame adding your son's car as 'no big deal' but they're also the ones setting your renewal rate. Ask specifically about surcharge tiers in writing, or at least follow up the call with an email summarizing what they told you so there's a paper trail.

Generally speaking — and this isn't legal advice — most personal auto policies treat an occurrence as the trigger for a surcharge, not the number of vehicles repaired under that occurrence. But your policy language controls, and some states have regulations limiting how much a carrier can surcharge based on claim size. Worth pulling out your declarations page and looking at the 'accident surcharge' section, or just asking your agent to walk you through it line by line.

Honestly if you can swap out his bumper cover yourself for a few hundred bucks, just do it and keep it off the claim entirely. Less for the insurer to look at, and you already have one at-fault mark coming — no reason to hand them more information than they need.

Quick question — is your son listed as an occasional driver or a primary driver on the policy? That might affect how hard the surcharge hits at renewal. Young male listed as primary on a vehicle is already a rating factor; an at-fault claim on top of that could sting differently than if he's just an occasional listed driver.

No injuries mentioned so hopefully everyone is okay physically — parking lot speeds are low but I've seen whiplash claims come out of slow-speed impacts, so glad the other driver seems fine. Unrelated to your rate question but just relieved nobody got hurt!