Auto insurance claim question

Yesterday evening, I was driving home from the Stanford Theatre (which is in Palo Alto) with my wife in the passenger seat, going south on 101 in my wife's Tesla Model Y near Mountain View. Some lunatic driver came up behind us at extremely high speed to within inches, causing the Tesla sensors to go berserk. A minute or so later he attempted to pass us on the right, but pulled over too sharply in front of us, and his rear tire area hit the front of our car. It was a pretty good jolt, so there could be no doubt that a collision had occurred, although both cars were continuing on at essentially the same speed. The other driver proceeded to speed up, and it seemed clear to me that he was planning to pull a hit-and-run, which would have been incredibly stupid, as Tesla has cameras everywhere and, besides, it is not possible to outrun a Tesla. I followed him, just close enough so that he'd know I was there, and after a couple of intersections, he gave up and pulled off, eventually stopping in a small shopping area.

The driver then proceeded to act like he did not speak English, and he made a handful of phone calls as I took pictures. I asked him several times for his insurance. When he got tired of acting like he didn't understand me, he insisted that he had insurance, but he refused to show it to me. Eventually several of the people he'd called arrived and talked sense into him, and we got his insurance info, and his (Mexican) driver license info.

The damage to our car looks cosmetic, but in addition to the cosmetic repair, I want to be sure that nothing is bent (rims, tires, frunk, etc., etc.) and that it didn't do any damage to the battery or anything else.

Anyways, my question is, should we file the claim with our insurance company (we have Tesla insurance for that car), or his insurance company (Aspire General Insurance Services)? We do have a $1k annual deductible with our Tesla insurance, but that was already used up replacing the glass, so I don't see any reason to try to deal with his insurance, which seems like a potential major hassle.

Btw, I did file the claim with Tesla insurance already, and they just sent an email suggesting that we should file with the other guy's insurance. This was kind of surprising to me, as the only other time we had a situation comparable to this (somebody rear-ended my wife's car), our insurance (Geico at that time) took care of everything, and never told us that we deal directly with the other person's insurance.

Yikes, sounds like a furstrating exchange.  Glad you are OK, even if a bit miffed. 

Btw, I did file the claim with Tesla insurance already, and they just sent an email suggesting that we should file with the other guy's insurance. This was kind of surprising to me, as the only other time we had a situation comparable to this (somebody rear-ended my wife's car), our insurance (Geico at that time) took care of everything, and never told us that we deal directly with the other person's insurance.

This is strange to me too.  I've also been rear-ended and was also told to let my insurance company deal with their insurance company.  I hope you get everything worked out smoothly!

Had a similar event (without the hit and run part) with my wife’s Tesla. I filed first with the other party’s insurance, but because it was taking too long, I asked my insurance (state farm) to deal with it - they eventually followed up and resolved it.

File with your insurance.   They will go after the other driver or use your uninsured coverage.   I think the Druid per accident not yearly.

I've always alerted my insurance after a collision where I was not at fault (happened a few times in SF) just in case. i was driving an urban assault truck then and never filed claims, I just did it in case the other driver turned out to be a dick.
sounds to me like you did everything right, and I'm surprised Tesla ins wouldn't just take on the whole job instead of handing it back to you....

I've always been advised to file the claim with the other insurance party (when you're not at fault), but let your insurance know what happened and that they should be expecting some communication from the other insurance.  If you file with your insurance, nothing major happens, but it will trigger them to start a claim which means you would have to pay the deductible up front until the case is resolved and you'd be reimbursed if it is found to be the other party's fault.  If you're in no hurry to repair it, just file a claim with the other insurance.

How was the movie?

A few years ago at a local shopping center, a lady backed up her car at a high speed. First she hit a car parked to my left which got pushed to mine. All 3 of our cars suffered some damage.
So we echanged our insurance information. I have CSAA and the lady who started the accident had Geico.  I contacted my auto insurance who told me that since its not my fault to first file claim with Geico. I contacted Geico and was told.they could not do anything until their customer who started the accident opens a claim. After a few phone calls to the guilty person, she filed a claim. After that Geico took care and paid for my repairs.

typically you would tender a claim to your policy, then they would subrogate the claim to the driver's carrier, or otherwise process through UIM (if you have any).  IME, it's atypical for you to reach out and directly tender to the driver's carrier.  But maybe tesla ins works differently.

How was the movie?

It was a double feature: Random Harvest (1942, starring Ronald Coleman) and The Prisoner of Zenda (1937, also Ronald Coleman). They were OK, but not great.

Thanks for all of the info and suggestions.

I'm going to let Tesla Insurance handle it, but I have to say that, so far, they strike me as incompetent. Their app is nice, and I entered all of the info there, only to get an email asking for essentially all of the same info. I sent that in, and nothing but silence since. Good thing that I'm in no hurry, since it can't get into the Tesla shop (in Los Gatos) until October 21. Anyways, I think we'll switch insurance carriers after this is all settled, and I would not recommend Tesla insurance to anybody...

I'm surprised the other driver had insurance.

I'm surprised the other driver had insurance.

Me too, and I’d not be surprised if it turns out to be fake.

I submitted this claim through our Tesla insurance (subrogation, as they say), and Tesla insurance just sent me an email saying that the other insurance company denied the claim, and that we should submit the following:

* Video footage captured by your vehicle
* Police Report
* The other driver's information including but not limited to the other driver's license plate, driver's license, insurance card, registration
* Photos/videos showing the scene of the accident

We previously submitted the video from the Tesla front camera that shows them cutting us off and bumping into our car at high speed. Their license plate is clearly visible on the video. We also submitted pictures showing the other guy's driver's license, insurance info, and pictures of the damage. There is no police report, and it was not possible to take pictures at the scene of the accident.

I submitted this info again, but it seems to me that we're getting the run-around, both from the other guy's insurance and from our own insurance company.

Just curious of anybody has had a similar experience and/or if anybody knows what reasonable options would be available if they continue to deny coverage. It seems like an easy open-and-shut case to me...

You tell them they have one chance to make it right, or the next contacts will all be via attorney.   We did not do that and got screwed on my wife’s RAV4 total.