Legal Question in Personal Injury in Florida

Today, I awoke to find my car had been hit in the middle of the night. My surveillance cameras captured the time that the vehicle was hit, and you can see it was a dark colored sedan. The car was parked with the right side tires touching the grass, way up in the gutter, so it was in no way my fault.

Here's the best part: the car is uninsured.

I had called the cops to report a hit and run, and spoke to the deputy who then gave me a form to mail away. He then when searching the neighborhood for the culprit.

When I was cleaning up the mess, a man approached me and told me he was the one that hit the car, a few appologies later and he said he would like to pay for the damages so his insurance rates wouldn't go up. I never told him I didn't have insurance. I said that would be fine, but I took all of his insurance and registration info which he gladly gave me. I saw the cop again and said that's fine, unless he fails to pay, then mail the form.

The kbb value of my car is only $2000, but the body damage could be close to $1500. Not to mention the car was pushed back four feet from the impact, so there could be problems with the transmission. And the axle and suspension is bent because his car caught my tire. I won't know for sure how much the damage would cost to repair, but I'm sure it would be more than the value of the car, totalling it.

Should I try and file a claim with his insurance, and if I do, is their any chance of receiving a payout? Or should I just get the estimate of a repair, and ask him to pay me the kbb value of the car, and cut my losses.

If it makes any difference he admitted he was reading a text. He seems like a good kid, who lives with hin parents. I live in Florida btw.

I just hope I'm not screwed.

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