claim

The best course of action would be to call that insurance company and request all paperwork associated with that claim. It should show as a zero dollar payout, which you could show to other companies to dispute the claim. If you want to fight it off your record, you'd need to look up your CLUE report from LexisNexis and open a dispute regarding that claim.

Sorry to hear about the situation. There are a few things to think about here.

These kinds of situations are going to depend greatly on your current finances and insurance premiums. If you've previously had a clean record, an accident will typically increase your rates by about 20 to 30%.

The full amount of damages is to be settled at the time of loss. The insurer giving you a payment option versus taking you to court is already a courtesy they are offering you.

Yes, regardless of police involvement the other party can file a claim against you if you were at-fault. Your insurance will want to settle the claim to avoid a lawsuit.

Insurance never works retroactively; it goes by the effective date stated on the policy. Any incidents that happened prior to the date of binding will not be covered.

Auto insurance will not get involved in this situation unless you were injured in a car accident or something else that would qualify as a loss. If your friend is at-fault for this happening, you could file a claim against the personal liability coverage of their renters or homeowners policy.

Your comprehensive claim will show up on your reports for auto insurance even if it was done for a motorcycle. The good news is if this is your first comp claim, it's considered not-at-fault, and most companies will not adjust your rates.

We have a handy guide on how to determine whether or not to file a claim here. For that amount of damage, it's probably wise to forgo the claim and pay for the damage out-of-pocket. If you go through insurance, you would be classified as at-fault in this incident and you can expect your premium to increase over a period of three years.

I'm sorry to hear about your accident, but I'm glad that you took pictures. It is hard to say if the police will show in some areas for a minor accident.