I need legal Advise

Sorry to post it here, but I recall that we have a few lawyers in the board or maybe some who can point me in the right direction. Here it goes:
About a year ago, I was driving home late at night from work Going NB highway 1 by Skyline/Pacifica Area. A vehicle from the opposite direction was driving recklessly and hit the center divider sending debris my way. My truck suffered some cosmetic damage while the other party totaled their vehicle. I filed a claim thru my insurance. They paid for the damage repair but I had to pay $500 deductible.
After a year, my insurance co informed me they have to close the claim since the other party wouldn't pay. I told them to send me all the information as I would like to take him to small claims court instead. I found today this other driver was a: driving drunk/drugged  b: have no insurance and c: was recklessly driving around 80-90mph that night.

So, my questions:

1.) Whats the process of taking someone to small claims court?
2.) Would it be wise to contact this person first? My insurance Co gave me his personal info (phone, address,  police report etc). I was thinking if     maybe I should talk to him and collect from him directly.
3.) The damage cost $2,600. I paid $500 out of my pocket and the insurance paid the rest. Am I only suppose to sue him for my $500 or the whole $2,600??

Thank you for all your help. Sorry this is not my dept and very clueless in this subject.

I believe all you could attempt to collect is the $500.  It would be up to your insurance if they want to collect for the amount they paid ... I believe.  I would NOT suggest contacting the person directly.  I'm no lawyer but it doesn't sound like a good idea.

If the guy had no insurance he is probably an irresponsible person to begin with. You may be able to get a judgement, but getting paid is another thing all together. Is it worth the time and aggregation of going to court for this? I'm sure someone better qualified will speak up soon. Good luck.

bump...F'n loser...no Insur, drunk n drugged out...seems open and closeed... good luck!!!

Why did your insurance company charge you the $500 deductible if you were not at fault?

Why did your insurance company charge you the $500 deductible if you were not at fault?

I think because during that time, the investigation was still pending. The driver was in the hospital for his injuries and I wanted my car fixed right away not knowing he didn't have insurance.

Did you make a claim under your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage? 

As unfair as this situation is to you,  if it was me I might just chalk it up to bad luck.  $500 is a lot of money to anyone, but on things like this,  I tend to try to live and learn a little bit from it.  The aggregation and emotions that I feel about stuff like this gets me really worked up and will generally cause to me to ruin a few good days.  Things like this never work out well for me so now I choose to move on ASAP.

If you need the money badly,  go get it.  If you are going to be all emotionally involved and let it consume you,  I would forget it.  I think answering Krusty's question might help you out.  It seems like you should have something in your policy to help you out more with this.
 

I think the County clerks office is your first step to file in small claims.

Did you make a claim under your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage?

I do not have uninsured motorist coverage. I opted out of it when I signed up for coverage.

Did you make a claim under your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage?

I do not have uninsured motorist coverage. I opted out of it when I signed up for coverage.

Now I see.

Uninsured or under insures is worth buying ,at least for me or i would be paying a $12.000 medical bill  that was caused by some one not covered.

There should be a small claims facilitators office at the county court house where you can make an appointment or go in during drop in hours. You insurance company probably has a surrogate on clause that would require suing him for the whole amount and paying back the insurance company if you collect.

It doesn't sound worth it to me, and you will expend a lot of energy with no guarantee or even likelihood of collecting on a judgment.

This is why you carry uninsured motorist coverage.

Did you make a claim under your uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage?

I do not have uninsured motorist coverage. I opted out of it when I signed up for coverage.

There goes your lesson learned. Uninsured motorist would cover up to 3k and cost very little on your premium. My advice would be to chalk it up as well. Chances are slim to none that the person would pay u even if u got the $500 judgement. Waste of time if u ask me.

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I have 2 different medical insurances so medical bills was not my concern at the time.
I will however consider uninsured motorist insurance. Thank you all for the helpful advices. I'm pretty sure I can win the case given the circumstances. Only problem would be the money collection.

Sorry to hear about this BS Herb.   That guy is a piece of crap, and I think it'd be hard to actually collect the money. 

But +1 on the uninsured coverage.  Believe it or not, in a span of 6 days, I've had 2 uninsured motorists hit my car.  Talk about awesome luck. BUT if it wasn't for that coverage, I would have paid close to $8K for all the repairs.

If this was a few years ago, I'd go collect for you but those days are done.