People i know with minimal insurance are still paying off their totaled cars. Totaled means it cost more to fix than it is worth, so while one guy's car could be fixed for a few thousand dollars, he's still paying it off and without a car.
With the other person clearly at fault, maybe you get it paid off by their insurance.
So that's the bleary headed diddly i can think of right now.

Check the blue book value for the car. We had an instance when the insurance company wanted to total the car, but they were giving a very low value for the car.

When hubby checked blue book - he found they were low-balling it. They were required to give blue book value, and since the cost of the repairs were less than that, they had to pay up and we had it repaired. This was about 10 years ago, so things may have changed.

Have a garage you trust give you the cost of repairs too...

Good luck - it's no fun to go through all the hassle.

the insurance company pays out the value of the car.
if the car is encumbered by a loan, the lendor has first claim to the insurance proceeds. so:

if the car is worth more than the loan, the insurance company will pay off the loan and you get what's left.

if the car is not worth more than the loan (this is called being "upside down" on the loan), you will still owe the bank whatever is owed after the insurance payout.

When my ex totalled our car, it happened just like quonsar said.

The insurance company sent the blue book value of the car to my leinholder (the bank). After covering the rest of my loan, the insurance company sent a check for the balance made out to me and my bank. I had the bank sign it over to me so I could deposit it.

In my experience (well, in the experience of two friends who just had their cars totalled recently), it goes just like quonsar says, except that he uncharacteristically left out the part where they send you a fish to put in your pants.

There is something called gap insurance. See whether you got it with your car loan. If so, the gap insurance will pay for any difference between the value of the car and what you owe on it. Gap insurance comes with your financing though, NOT with your auto insurance. (It's kind of like PMI for cars.)

If you don't have gap insurance, try to get the most you can for your car from the insurance company. Argue using values from Kelly Blue Book or Edmunds (both online). If you don't get as much as you owe on the car, you are sadly liable for any difference required to pay off the loan.

Oh... I forgot to mention that I got gap insurance "for free" with my last car loan. The credit union offered a discount of 0.25% if I got gap insurance. The cost of the gap insurance was almost exactly equal to the difference in car payment with the lower rate. Either way I paid the same, but one way I got the gap insurance. So check with whomever you send your payment to as to whether gap insurance was part of the loan deal.

If you have a car you love, and want to repair, you may be able have the insurance co. reduce the payment by the salvage value, and keep it. Not usually worth doing. Also, the insurance co. will offer an amount. You have the right to negotiate. Maybe your car was low mileage or just had lots of expensive work.

What a pain. No one was hurt, right? that's a good thing.

Yeah, what technically happens in one transaction is actually several:

1. The insurance company pays you for your totaled car.

2. They technically take possession of it and are entitled to the Title.

3. They get quotes from salvage yards as to the worth of the car.

4. They offer the car to you for what the salvage yard would have paid.

5. You pay what the salvage yard would have paid.

6. You get to keep the car, albeit with a Title indicating it was totalled.

So what it actually looks like is you get a smaller amount and when you eventually try to put it back on the road you do so with a "Salvage Title" that indicates it's been totaled out. We did this with an Escort that that was pretty good mechanically but had a lot of cosmetic damage; my sons are still driving it.