What to do now? At-fault driver avoids sharing insurance information. Incident in California.
Context: Incident in California. Our family SUV's rear fender and door got damaged in a parking lot while we were shopping. The at-fault driver already left the scene, but, luckily, left a note and his business card. He was responsive through text, admitted fault, and said that he did not want to go through insurance and will pay for repair himself. We procured quotes from body shops and were told that very likely the final cost will be higher than estimate, because parts behind the damaged areas are likely damaged as well. To that end, we communicated to him that we would rather go through his insurance due to the unknown extent of the damage. He cut off contact ever since.
What we have on the at-fault driver:
- Name, work phone, company, car description
- Written admission of fault
- No license plate
- No insurance information
What we are trying to achieve - what would be our avenue to achieve the below outcomes?
- Car repaired back to pre-accident condition, with least paid out-of-pocket in the long run
- Diminished value reimbursement
What we meant by "in the long-run" is that we can comfortably pay costs upfront (e.g., deductible, attorney fees), if doing so gives us a chance to be made whole again in the end.
What we are considering and why:
___Go through our insurance and let them subrogate from the at-fault party. However, we have some concerns. First, the damage estimate is a hair below the deductible limit, so not sure how our claim will work. Second, whether we can pursue diminished value claim through the other party's insurance, assuming our insurer can find the info, if we start the claim through our insurer.
___Our rationale of not fixing the damage ourselves is that, by submitting a claim, we can utilize our insurer's service to pursue subrogation from the other party, even though the outcome is understandably uncertain. Whereas if we pay out of pocket, we probably have to legally sue the other party ourselves to get our money back at all, so very likely we will just absorb the costs ourselves.
Thank you for the help! This is our very first incident with such situation.