Suing in Small Claims for Totaled Parked Car - anything I'm missing?
My parked car got totaled by some teenager on a learner's permit here in Florida (along with damage to 3 other parked vehicles). GEICO (insurance of the teenager's parent that owned the vehicle) just notified me they accepted liability, but they have the minimum coverage of 10k, and given the multiple cars involved, I'm expecting my cut to be close to maybe 3-4k if even (they also said it'll take many more months for them to determine my cut). My 2018 Honda Civic was deemed a total loss (by GEICO's adjuster) with:
- ACV/value: ~$14,500 (per GEICO valuation)
- Repair estimate: ~$10,500 (also per GEICO's own adjuster who determined this to be a total)
- I sold it as salvage to Peddle for $5,050 (got a bunch of pictures beforehand)
- Rental costs: ~$1,050
- Towing: ~$150
- Storage: ~$400
So my net damages are still around ~$11k.
I did NOT have collision coverage.
I’m considering refusing the settlement/release and instead suing the driver/vehicle owner directly in Florida small claims court for part of the uncompensated damages (which I know caps at 8k), but first I'm just gonna send them a demand letter for the full damages (minus salvage ofc).
A few questions:
- Am I missing anything major strategically?
- If GEICO already accepted liability, is this basically just a damages/collection issue now?
Seems dumb for me to sign a release for a few thousand, obviously there's the question of if they're judgement proof, etc. but they were driving a relatively new Genesis G80, so they likely have assets to be pursued.