Legal Question in Insurance Law in Pennsylvania

1- If you have collision coverage on your own auto policy use that & let your company get its money back from the other insurer.

2- If #1 not available you have 2 choices. A- Take the $5,000 & then you're out the rest. B- File a small claims lawsuit against the other driver (OD) & try to obtain a judgment for the amount of your loss. The OD's insurer will have to pay the $5,000- make sure you don't sign a release document. Then you'd have to try to collect the balance from the OD. It is very difficult to do that, depending on the finances of the OD.

3- If #1 not available, lesson learned. You have to have sufficient coverage on your own policy since many people only carry the state minimum coverage (or are uninsured) which in many cases is insufficient to fully compensate.