"That doesn't sound right, at all.
Unless you are on the brink of getting dropped by your insurance company for prior accidents, or are under 25 y/o, making one claim may results in minor premium increases for 1-3 years, or in no premium increases at all. $5K worth of premium increases would imply ~$1.67K of extra cost per year. That's just not happening on 1 car policy."
I live in MA. A friend backed her big SUV into my M3 two years ago, doing over $9000 in damage to my car and virtually none to her's except for a dimple in her bumper that she chose not to have fixed. We both own only 1 car. We both have the same insurance company, but have different independent agents. Both her agent and mine said that if the estimate had been under $5000 it would have saved money to have the work paid for out of pocket. Her policy has gone up over $70 a month since the accident, and I believe she said it would stay at that higher rate for about 3 years. Clearly, with a $9000 repair bill, insurance was the way to go, but if it had been under $5000, the higher cost in premiums would have, over 3 years, come close to equalling paying out of pocket.