Should I File With My Insurance or the Other Driver's in California?

The Repair Can Be Opened in Two Places

After a crash in Los Angeles, the same bent metal can be presented in two places. One is a claim on your own collision coverage. The other is a claim against the driver who caused the damage, paid under that driver's property-damage liability coverage.

The claim rules call a claim on your own policy a first-party claim. A claim you present to the other driver's insurer is a third-party claim. You are asking that company about the other driver's liability coverage. The California Department of Insurance describes property-damage liability as coverage that pays for property damage a driver causes to someone else.

The two paths can pay for the same repair. They do not use the same rules for the deductible, a rental car, or fault. This article is the choice between them. A separate guide covers who pays the deductible and the rental once a path is open. Another covers the claim-handling clocks.

This is general information about California claim rules, not legal advice. Your policy, fault, and each insurer's coverage decision control what is paid. A shop cannot tell you which claim you must file.

What Your Own Collision Coverage Pays

The Department's automobile guide, Form 101 revised February 5, 2025, says collision covers damage to your car caused by physical contact with another vehicle or an object. Physical-damage coverage pays the cost of repairs or replacement of your car, minus your deductible. The guide says collision and comprehensive provide compensation based on the market value of the car.

The same guide describes a deductible as the amount of the loss the insured is responsible to pay. Its glossary on that page says the deductible is the amount you must pay before the insurance company pays anything, and that only comprehensive and collision coverage have deductibles. On this path, that amount comes off the claim before your insurer pays the covered repair.

You present the collision claim to your own insurer. That request does not wait on the other driver's insurer accepting liability. What the policy pays still depends on the coverage, the deductible on the declarations page, and any exclusion. The Department's accident guide, revised December 2024, says a standard physical-damage claim generally pays the lesser of the amount necessary to repair the vehicle or its actual cash value. It tells you to read the policy, and to pay particular attention to exclusions and limitations.

Drivers use this path when the car is not safely drivable, when fault is still open, or when the other driver has no usable insurance. You can also use it when you want your own insurer to manage the file. Opening the claim does not, by itself, decide who was at fault.

The automobile guide also addresses the renewal premium. It says that if the accident is not your fault, your insurance company does not charge you more. If you are at least 51 percent at fault, your premium can go up when you renew. The guide calls that increase a surcharge. Ask your insurer how it will record fault on this loss.

Subrogation Can Return the Deductible Later

Subrogation is your insurer's right to recover what it paid from the responsible party. The accident guide uses a collision example. If another party is at fault and you have a collision claim, your company asks that party to reimburse the money it paid. The policy requires you to cooperate with that recovery. You also cannot do anything that jeopardizes it. The example the guide gives is signing a release in exchange for payment of your deductible. Its things-to-avoid list says not to sign anything if the other party offers to pay your deductible.

Title 10, section 2695.7(p) of the California Code of Regulations requires written notice of whether the insurer will pursue subrogation. If it will not, or if it stops, the notice must say that any recovery is your responsibility. Notice is not required in a few listed cases, including a waived deductible, coverage with no deductible, a loss within the deductible, or no legal basis for subrogation.

Section 2695.7(q) says every subrogation demand must include your deductible. Recoveries are shared on a proportionate basis unless you already recovered the whole deductible. The insurer may deduct expenses from that share only if it hired an outside attorney or collection agency, and then only a pro rata share of the allocated loss adjustment expense. The accident guide states the same sharing idea in percentages. A full recovery can return the full deductible. A partial recovery can return the same fraction. The guide says any fees are apportioned if a recovery is made. Where that sentence and the regulation differ, the regulation controls the expense deduction.

That refund is not guaranteed, and it is not paid before the repair starts. No recovery, or only a partial recovery, can mean a partial return or none. Ask your insurer, in writing, whether it will pursue subrogation and whether the deductible is in the demand. Keep that notice with the claim. A separate guide covers the deductible and the rental together.

What the Other Driver's Insurer Pays

You can present the repair directly to the insurer of the driver who hit you. You are then a third-party claimant. The payment, if it comes, is under that driver's property-damage liability coverage. Your collision deductible is not the amount that starts this payment.

The other insurer still has to accept liability, or a share of it. The Department's automobile guide says that in many accidents both drivers share the fault, and that the police, the insurance companies, or the courts decide each driver's share. A partial acceptance is not payment of the whole estimate. Ask for the percentage in writing.

Payment also stops at the property-damage limit on that policy. For a policy or bond issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, Vehicle Code section 16056 sets a minimum of $15,000 for injury to or destruction of property of others in one accident. The Department's automobile guide states the same $15,000 minimum. Many drivers buy more. The guide says you are responsible for damage you cause beyond the limits purchased. On this claim, damage above the other driver's purchased limit remains that person's obligation. A shop cannot promise that the person will pay it.

If the insurer denies the third-party claim, in whole or in part, or disputes liability or damages, section 2695.7 requires a written notice. Written notification under that subsection must say that if you believe the denial or rejection is wrong, you may have the matter reviewed by the California Department of Insurance, and it must include the address and telephone number of the unit that reviews claims practices.

When Fault Is Clear, and When It Is Not

Where liability and damages are reasonably clear, Title 10, section 2695.8(d) says no insurer shall recommend that the third-party claimant make a claim under the claimant's own policy to avoid paying the claim under the insurer's policy. If fault and the damage are reasonably clear, the other insurer should not push you onto your collision coverage just to avoid the bill.

If fault or the amount is still disputed, that subsection does not require immediate payment. You can open your collision claim and ask about subrogation of the deductible, or you can wait on the other insurer. A repair shop does not get to decide which choice the insurer must accept.

The practical difference is who has to move first. Your collision claim can be opened with your insurer while fault is still being argued. A third-party claim waits on that insurer's decision about liability and the remaining limit. Neither path sets a date the repair will be finished. The inspection clocks, the accept-or-deny period, and the payment rule for an authorized repair bill are in a separate guide. That guide follows the regulation where the Department's shorter paraphrase leaves an exception out, including the exception for some automobile repair bills.

A Rental on Your Policy Is a Different Request

Rental coverage on your own policy is optional. The Department's accident guide says the company pays for a rental while your car is being repaired if you purchased rental vehicle coverage. It pays up to a specified amount per day for a specified number of days. Coverage ends when the vehicle is repaired, the loss is paid, or that period ends, whichever comes first. The automobile guide calls this rental reimbursement. If you did not buy it, the collision claim does not add a rental on its own. Ask your insurer to point to the daily amount and the number of days.

Asking the other driver's insurer for a rental is not that coverage. Ask, in writing, whether it will pay for a rental or other loss of use, the daily rate, the number of days, and whether you need approval before you take the keys. That payment still depends on liability, or a share of it, and on the property-damage limit. If your rental reimbursement is already paying those days, tell both insurers so the same days are not paid twice.

A rental contract can make you responsible for damage to the rental car. The accident guide says the rental company, for an additional fee, may waive all or part of that obligation. It calls that fee a collision damage waiver. The amount of the fee and the wording vary. Whether your auto policy covers damage to the rental depends on the policy language. Ask before you accept or decline it. That rental-counter waiver is a different product from the collision deductible waiver on your auto policy, which the next section covers.

When the Other Driver Is Uninsured

If the other driver has no usable property-damage insurance, collision coverage on your policy, if you bought it, is what usually repairs the car, minus the deductible. Insurance Code section 11580.26 is the statute for two related offers on a personal auto policy. A named insured can decline the offer in writing. The section also lists exceptions, including certain commercial vehicles and a policy on which uninsured-motorist coverage was deleted under section 11580.2. Ask your insurer which form is on your policy.

Where the policy includes collision coverage, the offer is coverage that pays the named insured's collision deductible in a collision between the insured vehicle and an uninsured motor vehicle. The Department's automobile guide calls this a collision deductible waiver. It pays that deductible only if the waiver is on the policy.

Where the policy does not include collision coverage, the offer is uninsured-motorist property damage. The statute limits that payment to the vehicle's actual cash value or $3,500, whichever is less. It does not include compensation for loss of use of the vehicle. The automobile guide states the $3,500 limit, says this pays when an identified uninsured driver is at fault, and says you may not need it if you already have collision.

A payment under either coverage has conditions in section 11580.26. There must be actual, direct physical contact with the uninsured vehicle. The owner or operator must be identified, or the uninsured vehicle must be identified by its license number. The accident has to be reported to your insurer or your agent within 10 business days. You must be legally entitled to recover from that owner or operator. If you and the insurer disagree, the statute provides for arbitration when you start it within one year of the accident.

A vehicle that has at least the minimum property-damage liability in Vehicle Code section 16056 is not an uninsured motor vehicle under section 11580.26, even when that limit does not pay the whole repair. A driver who has insurance, but not enough of it, is a different fact from a driver with none. Ask which fact the insurer is using. If the car is insured for both collision and the property-damage coverage in section 11580.26(a)(2), the statute says collision pays the covered loss and that property-damage coverage pays only a deductible collision does not cover, not to exceed $3,500.

You Can Choose the Shop on Either Claim

Insurance Code section 758.5(a) says no insurer shall require that an automobile be repaired at a specific automotive repair dealer. Section 758.5(e) defines a claimant, for this section, as a first-party claimant or insured, or a third-party claimant who asserts a right of recovery for automotive repairs. The choice of shop is the same whether the bill is on your collision coverage or on the other driver's property-damage liability.

Title 10, section 2695.8(e) states the claim-handling version of that rule. No insurer shall require repair at a specific repair shop. After you have chosen a shop, the insurer shall not suggest or recommend a different shop, except as section 758.5 permits. You have chosen a shop, under that subsection, when you have told the insurer the specific shop where you want the vehicle repaired.

The Department's automobile guide says an adjuster may refer you to a body shop, or you may choose your own. Its accident guide says it is your responsibility to authorize the shop once you are satisfied with the estimate and the repair facility. A referral is not a requirement. Choosing the shop does not decide which insurer pays, and it does not set the repair price. The insurer still reviews the estimate. A separate guide covers preferred shops. Another covers what happens when a later supplement changes the first number.

What to Ask Each Insurer to Put in Writing

Send a short list, and keep the answers with the claim file:

• Which claim is open: my collision policy, the other driver's property-damage liability, or both?

• If it is my policy, what is the collision deductible, will you pursue subrogation, and is the deductible in that demand?

• If it is the other driver's insurer, is liability accepted in full or in a stated share, and what property-damage limit remains?

• Is a rental coming from rental reimbursement on my policy, or from a request to the other insurer? What daily amount, how many days, and do I need approval first?

• If the other driver may be uninsured, is a collision deductible waiver or uninsured-motorist property damage on my policy? What date starts the 10-business-day report?

• Which shop have I named?

Read a release before you sign. A release can end the property claim it describes. If the writing does not arrive, the California Department of Insurance takes claim questions. The consumer hotline in its accident guide is 1-800-927-4357.

How MLUX Handles Either Claim

MLUX can inspect the visible damage and prepare a preliminary estimate either insurer can review. The shop does not decide which claim you file, who was at fault, or whether a deductible comes back.

Send photos tonight, get your preliminary estimate the next business day. Once your repair is approved, MLUX provides photo/text updates every 2 business days, plus an estimated finish date. Those updates are the shop's repair communication. They do not decide an insurer's payment. The insurer still decides coverage and the amount. A preliminary estimate is the starting document for an insurance repair.

Official Sources

California Department of Insurance, Automobile Insurance guide, Form 101 (revised February 5, 2025), collision, deductibles, the $15,000 property-damage minimum, uninsured-motorist property damage, the collision deductible waiver, rental reimbursement, comparative fault, the renewal surcharge, and choosing a shop: https://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/105-type/95-guides/01-auto/auto101.cfm

California Department of Insurance, So You've Had an Accident, What's Next? (revised December 2024), the lesser of repair cost or actual cash value, rental vehicle coverage, the rental-car collision damage waiver, subrogation, deductible recovery, authorizing a repair facility, and the consumer hotline: https://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/105-type/95-guides/01-auto/hadaccident.cfm

California Department of Insurance, Fair Claims Settlement Practices Regulations index: https://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/130-laws-regs-hearings/05-CCR/fair-claims-regs.cfm

10 CCR 2695.7, subrogation notice, deductible sharing, and written notice when a claim is denied or liability is disputed: https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/california/10-CCR-2695.7

10 CCR 2695.8(d) and (e), third-party claims and the repair-shop rule: https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/california/10-CCR-2695.8

California Insurance Code section 758.5, the right to choose the repair dealer, including a third-party claimant: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=INS&sectionNum=758.5.

California Insurance Code section 11580.26, the collision deductible waiver and uninsured-motorist property damage: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=INS&sectionNum=11580.26.

California Vehicle Code section 16056, minimum property-damage liability for a policy or bond issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=VEH&sectionNum=16056.