File insurance claim?

[Andrew Buc]

Today I walked out to my '87 4kq, which is in very nice shape overall, and
found a bit of cosmetic damage. There was a slight scrape at the 12 o'clock
position on the lip of the left rear wheel arch, there was a dent in the rear
bumper, and the cladding below the bumper was slightly pulled away from the
bodywork. I assume someone must have clipped me at some point when the car was
parked. It's hard to imagine that I wouldn't have felt the impact if I'd been
in the car. I know from experience that bodywork isn't cheap, even if the
damage doesn't look too bad. I really don't want to go down the slippery slope
of neglecting this sort of thing until the car looks like hell.

Now, here's the rub. I have a claim incurred 2/19/00 about ready to drop off my
record. That one was my fault--I misjudged clearance and smacked a pillar in a
parking garage, and I figured I'd just have to play straight with my insurance
company (Safeco) and admit it. Coming in with another claim has an obvious
downside, but so does eating it myself. I don't think this one should count
against me, since I'm not at fault, but I don't know if that's realistic. I
imagine I could call my agent on Monday, sound her out, and then decide whether
to file a claim. Any advice is welcome, thanks!