My wife backed one of our cars into the other car. Should we contact our insurance company or repair the damage ourselves?

If your wife backed into another car, then she is responsible to repair the other car. If there was no one in the other car, you can consider paying for the repairs to the other car. However, handle this carefully – get a written estimate from the repair shop the other driver chooses. Agree to pay for the repairs and make sure they agree with this solution. If the damage is extensive, you may want to reconsider and let your insurance company handle the settlement of the claim.If the other driver was in the car at the time of the accident, you should submit the claim to your insurance company. The other party could decide at a later date that they were injured. If you try to settle the claim on your own, and they decide they were injured, your insurance company will decline to settle the injury since you would have already jeopardized their standing in the incident.