Less than two months old, and I got my first door ding. I usually park next to cars but leave enough space on either side (ie park right in the middle), and it's worked so far. Today I happened to park in the middle of a space that had empty spaces on both sides because the spots were so tight. I come out later to find a PT Cruiser parked next to me. Somehow, before I even looked, I knew there would be a ding. Sure enough, the mini-hearse was parked very close to my passenger side and I was the proud new owner of a roughly 1/2" ding. Small, but it is still noticeable, however. So, I have a few questions.

1) If you know that it was a certain car that did it to you, how do you go about making them pay? Do you wait for the owner to come out? Do you take the license plate down and leave a note? Do you call the cops to come document it, as in an accident? [This question is more of a hypothetical, because I don't know for sure that it was the PT Cruiser's fault. I tried to guess how the door would have swung out, and it actually seemed like it probably wasn't the person's fault. I also figured that since the ding was about a foot above the rubber (?) strip on my door that it was probably from an SUV or other elevated vehicle. Long story short, I accepted that dinging was inevitable and left.]

2) Should I wait for more dings to get this taken care of, or should I fix it now? Do I need a bunch before I can file an insurance claim? Is it ever worth filing with insurance since you'd need to pay deductibles and the resultant increase in monthly premiums?

3) If I should get it taken care of, any suggestions for Baltimore/NoVA area? (I assume the DIY kits like Dent King aren't going to work with such a small ding.)

TIA.

PS Taking a little trip to NYC this weekend. Any recs on avoiding dents/paint chips/etc on the way up and while in the city? I already know the basics of parking in garages, driving with enough space between me and the car in front, bra (no time to buy one)... Any particular insightful tips out there?