I got rear ended in traffic in my commuter a few years ago. I had a nice receiver hitch with the ball installed, which hit the other car's frame. My car didn't have much exterior damage, but it broke one muffler hanger and damaged the subframe. My trailer hitch was angled down about 15 degrees after the impact. The insurance low balled me. The car was high mileage, and I wasn't sure if I would ever trust towing again with a unibody, so I wanted them to pay out the claim. Their adjuster low balled me, wouldn't even look under the car to check for frame damage. He said replacing the receiver would solve the hitch issue. They wanted to give me $800, but I had an estimate for double that. They refused to talk, and said they wouldn't consider my estimate.
I sent down to the local courthouse and filed a claim in small claims court against the other driver. Suddenly they wanted to talk. They wanted to see my estimate and documentation. I told them I would see them in court. They ended up paying me out my estimate, filing costs, and $500 for the trouble to avoid having to send a lawyer down to court to deal with me.
My claim was small, but I got what I was after with a little effort.
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