DR Rodzinski, I would ask your insurance agent that very question.
In a case like this one (especially because this was serious and your car will surely be totaled), I would think that you absolutely want your insurance to handle everything, including interacting with the other guy's insurance.
But I've gone straight to the other guy's insurance in "small" incidents when I specifically did NOT want to make a claim on my own, and that worked fine. I've done that twice successfully, leaving my policy "clean". First time it happened, I called my agent and they advised me to do just that because making a claim, even for a small amount and when it's not my fault, would still affect my record and my premiums -- which I find completely abominable, but that's how it works.
