i got a question for guys that works/knows someone that works with auto insurance or have had this experience.

scenario:

You are driving on the freeway. The car ahead of you drops something accidentally from his vehicle. You happen to get hit by the said item. You manage to get the car's information including the license plate and filed a police report.

question:
could you claim this through your insurance even if you failed to get the DRIVER's information? is this going to affect your insurance?

 

Same thing happened to me on 17. A window shutter came out of a pickup truck in front of me and hit me dead center in the front bumper shattering the shutter and a piece hit my windshield. I ended up paying $100 for a new front bumper, new Morette headlight and new windshield. The big distinction that kept this from being $500 for me was that the item was in the air and just fell out of a car and not existing road debris that I ran into. I can't remember what the $100 deductible was called right now (i.e. Collison coverage vs ...)

I didn't have any of the other guy's info

 

Comprehensive. If you hit the debris when it's settled on the road, it's a Collision claim. If the debris flies through the air and hits you, it's a Compehensive claim.

To OP: this sounds like the second scenario from the details you provided, so it'd be a Comprehensive claim if you have a policy that covers these types of claims. You'll pay your deductible on the Comp claim (usually lower than a Collision deductible), and your own insurance company will handle whatever costs are above that. Because you have the other car's info and filed a police report, your own insurance company should be able to get the driver's info from the cops and subrogate against his insurance company, thus getting you your deductible back eventually. If the other driver has no insurance, your own policy's Uninsured Motorist terms (which most policies have) will waive the deductible (i.e. there is no deductible involved if the other driver has no insurance).

As for your premium, most insurance companies only raise it when you are at fault in a collision.

If you have no Comprehensive coverage, you'll have to try to get the other driver's insurance info and claim through him.

Good luck.