Hi everyone, I’m in Ohio and I drive a Mazda CX-5. A few days ago I hit a roadside pillar while driving a friend to the airport early in the morning. It was snowing a lot, the road hadn’t been cleaned yet, and I was going about 30 mph. I braked, but the car slid on ice/snow and didn’t stop in time. The damage seems to be only on the outside， the car still drives fine and there doesn’t seem to be any internal/engine damage. My insurance is Progressive and my deductible is $500. I have a friend’s friend who works at a body shop and offered to fix it on the side for about $1,600–$2,000. He would use good-quality used parts from another CX-5, push out the dent in the hood instead of replacing it, and repaint the scratch. I also got quotes from a few regular body shops. They would order new OEM parts from Mazda and repaint, and their estimates were between $5,000 and $8,000. I’m not sure what to do: Should I file a claim with Progressive, pay the $500 deductible, and go through a regular shop? Or should I skip insurance and just pay the ~$1,600–$2,000 to have my friend’s friend fix it? I’m also worried about my rates going up if I file a claim. My current premium is about $700 for 6 months. Since the accident was basically due to bad road conditions, I’m wondering if Progressive would still raise my rate a lot. Any advice or things I should think about would be really appreciated. Thanks! 🙏

Need advice: use insurance or pay out of pocket for accident repair? (Ohio, Progressive)