Legal Question in Insurance Law in California

Unfortunately you have found your way into a detail of insurance law that most people never encounter. Insurance companies' obligations are purely contractual. Therefore, their obligations are only, and I mean ONLY to their insureds. They have absolutely zero obligation to the other party to an accident. Normally that is irrelevant, because their insured makes a claim for indemnity, and that obligates the insurance company to take care of the victim of the insured's negligence. Or the victim makes a claim on their own insurance and their insurance makes what is called a subrogation claim against the negligent driver, triggering a duty to cover. In the rare instance, like yours, where the insured doesn't make a claim for coverage, the insurance company has no obligation to cover the claim.

Fortunately that does not mean you can't get coverage. It just means you can't without hassle and delay. The way the third party (you) can trigger coverage is to sue the other driver. So that is what you are going to have to do. If your total losses, repair to your car, rental car costs, and any incidental costs directly caused by the accident, add up to less than $10,000, you can do it yourself in Small Claims Court. If it is more than $10,000 you'll need to file in the Limited Jurisdiction division of the regular court system. Either way, send a copy of the lawsuit after you file it to the insurance company, as well as serving the other driver which is required. It will speed things up a bit.