Auto Insurance Claims: multi car property damage, property damage coverage, auto body work

Question
My car and my neighbor's car were hit while parked in front of our homes on the street. My neighbor's car was totalled while mine had about $4000 in auto body damages. We both had to file claims under our own collision to get the process started and our cars fixes/replaced. I had a $1000 deductible and no rental reimbursement so my out-of-pocket costs were approximately $2200. The at-fault party only has $10,000 in property damage coverage. His insurance company (G-O) is the same as mine. Thought this would help. NO. They did pay the balance on the auto body work (less my $1000 deductible). They are now offering me approx. $800 from his $10,000 policy, claiming that my neighbor's insurance is claiming approx $21,000 in damages and that MY policy needs to be reimbursed, also. Is this copasetic? With the $800, I'm still out $1,400. I haven't agreed yet. If it IS copasetic, what should I do about trying to get the rest of the damages back from the at-fault party? (I have his information from the police report; unfortunately, it is a 21-year old male. Thankfully, nobody was hurt, but I'm not sure I understand how the at-fault party gets off by being underinsured. What do I do? Thank you!

Answer
Hi Law,

The answer to this can be quite complicated. I will try to do me best. Depending on the state you live in, if you have uninsured/underinsured motorist property damage coverage then you can claim the balance of your losses through that coverage. If you do not have this coverage, then you can assert your "First Right To Be Made Whole". This simply means that you have the first right to be compensated before your policy is reimbursed by the at fault policy. You can do a Google search on "The Made Whole Doctrine" to find a better explanation of this as well as some supporting information.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh