My Car Was Hit By A Woman Whose Insurance Refused To Pay Because They Say She Was Doordashing, But I Have Her On Video At The Scene Of The Accident Saying She Was Not Doordashing.

Location: Ohio, USA

My car was parked legally along a public street. A woman drove past, hit my car, and I believe would've driven off except my neighbor was outside and she saw him and stopped. The police were called, and while the woman was found at-fault for the accident, she was not cited. She claims she just bought her car the day before, something was up with the steering and she was on her way home, and the car jerked itself to the left, into my car. She cried a lot when the cop was there, and the cop told me after she'd left that he, "didn't see the point in citing her and making her financial burden worse."

While crying at the scene, she told the cop that she had been DoorDashing, but that she'd stopped and was going home because of a malfunction with the car (the malfunction that caused the accident, allegedly). My wife heard the woman repeating that claim to anybody who would listen and recorded her saying it, in video. You can see the woman clearly, can clearly hear her say she was not DoorDashing, she was on her way home.

Her insurance refused to pay for the damage (which ended up being just shy of $5,000) because she was DoorDashing and her policy didn't cover that. My car was brand new, we'd just made the first payment on it three days before it was hit, so I had full coverage and my insurance kicked in and paid for everything except for my $1,000 deductible and the $500 I incurred in car rental fees for the 10 days my car was being repaired (I did not at the time have rental car reimbursement; I do now).

My insurance told me to reach out to her insurance's adjuster and send him the video I had of her denying she was DoorDashing and requesting any evidence they had that she was. I did so, and was summarily ignored. My insurance also told me that they would negotiate with her insurance and try to get them to pay; if they paid, I'd get my deductible back, but if they didn't, there wasn't much to do. They said give them three months to negotiate (accident happened early May of 2025).

So far I've heard nothing. I asked my insurance back then if they would sue her personally if her insurnace didn't pay, and they said that was a different department and they would have to see when the time came.

I've heard nothing for months, and have received no compensation for the $1,500 out of my pocket to fix a car somebody else drove into.

My question is this: should I lean on my insurance company to go after her for damages, or should I try to recoup them through the court myself? I have no idea what's possible, what to do with whatever is possible, nothing. I can't afford an attorney, so that option is out. My understanding, also, is that this woman doesn't have a lot of money and might not be able to pay even if a judgment was leveled against her, so I suppose I could go through a whole bunch of trouble, get an award, and still never see a dime of the money I spent fixing the damage she caused.

Should I try to sue, since I'm assuming that's my only recourse, or do I just eat the $1,500 and take the lesson learned to have lower deductibles and better rental reimbursement on my insurance (which I've already done)?

TIA.