My Car Was Totaled Last Week By An Uninsured And Unlicensed Driver In Texas And I Have A Couple Questions.

My car was totaled last week after another driver failed to yield the right of way. I learned from the police report that she is uninsured and also has no driver's license.

(This paragraph may be an entirely different discussion, but I'm including it just in case it's relevant) I already expect to have to hire an independent appraiser in order to get a fair payment, because the car has roughly half the mileage of any similar cars which are selling for considerably more, and the car was recently repainted and was immaculate. Prior to the collision, the car had a single door ding the size of a quarter. The car is financed and I owe $6,000 and have no GAP insurance.

The police report has a diagram and a description written by the officer that states the other driver failed to yield and caused the collision, but only cited her for FMFR and driving with no license.

I have tried to research the subject before coming here to ask, but I still have a couple questions:

1: I read that filing a small claims suit is an option, but the driver likely has no money to pay. I have read that it may be possible to collect from tax returns or other income, but is this true or practical?

2: What amount does the law allow me to sue for? Would it be the total cost of the repair estimate, the difference between the car value and payout from my uninsured motorist claim, or something else entirely?

3: I reported this to the DPS which states they can prevent the driver from obtaining a driver's license and can put a hold on registration renewals. The license thing won't have any significance to her, but what about the registration? The vehicle she wrecked belongs to her husband, who is insured. Would the DPS be able to do anything helpful in this case?

Thank you for the advice, and yes, I learned my lesson regarding gap insurance and now have it for my new car.