At fault in car accident, just received attorney letter requesting contact

Back in January I was in automobile accident where I was at fault. I rear ended a woman on a freeway after I hit a surprise batch of traffic and stayed with her to exchange information. We took pictures and had a police officer come by, the works.

I did everything by the book, I made my insurance aware, filed with the dmv, took part in the interviews, etc.

A few months ago I got a letter from an attorney requesting my information, I obliged. Then months of radio silence.

Yesterday I got a call from my insurance agent telling me I've been requested to contact the other party's attorney regarding the remaining balance for her auto repairs. I came home to see a letter from the same attorney requesting that I contact them in an effort to settle the amount owed of $8.8K or this could possibly move into litigation and I could be subpoenad and be summoned to court.

I don't have $8.8K. Not even for myself. I don't make a whole lot of money to begin with, I'm living paycheck to paycheck. I can't afford time off from work, let alone an attorney and im starting to get worried. Any advice on what I should do or what I should expect would be greatly appreciated

Should I contact the office? Should I stay put and let my insurance take care of this?