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Originally Posted by exflirt
This is the realistic answer. Does anyone really think an insurance company is going to devote the man hours to sue someone over a $350 scrape?!?! C'mon, people, use logic and think rationally! And what are the odds that the OP has less than a $350 deductible? If not, they would be required to pay out-of-pocket for the repair, then their insurance company will exercise a good-faith effort to recover the victim's deductible from the other person's insurance as per the usual insurance standards. But this is AFTER all the investigations, arbitration, mediation, etc. are completed, a lengthy process that conceivably could end in any number of different outcomes! Heck, unless that video shows the lines on the pavement where the vehicles were parked, I would be shocked if the guy didn't claim that the OP parked in HIS parking space!
I've had several accidents where the at-fault party was not held responsible, and this happens fairly frequently IMHO. I had one accident where two guys in a huge delivery van pulled into my lane without looking, forcing me to lay on the horn and move into a curb to avoid getting creamed in my little car. My options were to be involved in a major accident likely involving major bodily injury to myself, or hit the curb. I chose to keep my body intact. Well guess what - the delivery driver's passenger stated that I just randomly swerved into the curb. Seriously? My insurance company found me 50% at fault, and I was responsible for my own deductible with my insurance company paying for my car's damages. This is a major, highly-regarded insurance company with a sterling reputation.
Small claims court may be your most likely avenue of receiving compensation for this. Sometimes justice is worth the effort, but many people don't want to bother with the amount of energy and time involved. I'm one of those who would do it to see justice - and to make this guy think twice about acting in this manner in the future. I'd take it all the way to the end as much for me as for the next person this guy walks over. An act of public-service, so to speak 
From the insurance company's stand point, it only matters what is provable and realistic legally for them to pursue. Ultimately it doesn't matter what is right or factual. We can go round and round about what a good insurance company would do, but the bottom line is that this is a $350 door ding claim, likely below the deductible, and insurance companies have bigger claims to worry about. They aren't likely to devote $10,000 in man hours to fight this one out. If they do that for you, congratulations! Stay with that agent/insurance company!
Reality, whether anyone likes it or not.
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You're right, and you're wrong. Don't take this the wrong way, but what is your claims background? The reason I ask is because I've worked unclear liability cases for the last seven years and worked subrogation claims in tandem for four of those years. I currently do exactly what you're saying insurance companies won't do.
Yes, for a lot of insurance companies it's profit and loss... but if the loss is over the OP's deductible (lots of people do carry $250, after all), they can pursue arb. Arb is cheap, and usually effective if the evidence lines up (it appears to). I'm not going to spend $10k in subro efforts, but again... it doesn't take much to send the tool to collections; collections companies only take money from you if they get paid... which they do if they're worth their salt.
There are plenty of low-cost alternatives for the insurance company to pursue... and I know that I can usually negotiate with the third-party insurance. If they don't listen to reason, I write my own arbs. In the company I work for, this is not uncommon... and at least most of the people in my office, busy as they may be, try to take a little extra time to do the right thing. The only way you'd really be stuck is if the damage is under the deductible, which you alluded to. Then, I can do little more than make 'good faith' efforts, because I have no financial interest and no legal ability to pursue.