What to Do When Someone Hits Your Parked Car

Here is what to do if someone hits your car and leaves, commonly known as a hit-and-run car accident:

1. Stay at the scene of the accident.
2. Contact the police and file a report.
3. Collect evidence of the damage including pictures and notes about the time of day, the location, and so on.
4. File an insurance claim if you have uninsured motorist coverage. collision coverage, medical payments coverage, or personal injury protection (more on that below). Or, if you want your insurance agent to file a claim for you, notify your insurance agent to begin the claims process.
5. If you filed a collision claim, pay the deductible.
6. Get your car repaired.
7. If your insurance provider covered the claim, wait for them to reimburse you for repairs.

If They Leave a Note

A hit-and-run is a much better situation if the driver who hit you leaves a note. If that’s the case, take the following steps:

1. Contact the person who hit you to get their insurance information.
2. File a third-party claim for your property damages and bodily injuries, if any.

If They Don’t Leave a Note

If the party that hit you doesn’t leave a note, take the actions listed below:

1. File a first-party claim with your insurance provider.
2. If you lack uninsured motorist or collision insurance, pay out of pocket for your repairs.
3. If you lack medical payments coverage or personal injury protection, pay out of pocket for your injuries or get your health insurance to cover them.

If You’re Injured

If you are injured in a hit-and-run, here’s what you should do:

1. Call 911 to summon an ambulance if needed.
2. Get medical attention for your injuries.
3. If you have medical payments coverage or personal injury protection, file a first-party claim.

Will You Have to Pay?

You may or may not have to pay for the damages or injuries from a hit-and-run; it depends on what coverages you have and the limits for those coverages. If you have collision, medical payments, or uninsured motorist coverage, you could get some or all of your injuries and damages covered, and vice versa if you don’t.

Do You Have to File a Police Report?

Your state’s laws determine whether or not you have to file a police report. Find your state’s accident-reporting requirements below.

From the years of 2015 to 2019, nearly 4 million drivers in the U.S. experienced hit-and-runs, which is 2 percent of all licensed drivers³. Here’s how those hit-and-runs break down:

• Fatal hit-and-runs: 0.004 percent
• Hit-and-runs with injury only: 0.47 percent
• Hit-and-runs with property damage only: 1 percent

As you can see, 73 percent of hit-and-runs cause only property damage, which is preferable to injuries or fatalities⁴.

If you have the proper coverage, insurance can cover someone hitting your parked car.

Uninsured Motorist Coverage

Hit-and-runs fall under uninsured motorist coverage — insurance for accidents involving people who are driving without insurance. If you can’t get the person’s insurance information, they’re an uninsured motorist as far as the insurance company is concerned.

Any claim that you file with your own insurance provider could increase the cost of auto insurance, even if the accident wasn’t your fault. That includes hit-and-runs. However, if the person left a note and you filed a third-party insurance claim, your rates won’t increase.

If you hit a parked car, follow these steps:

1. Remain at the scene to avoid being accused of a hit-and-run, for which you could be held legally and financially liable.
2. Try to find the car’s owner by going into nearby stores, describing the car you hit, and leaving a note with employees, if need be. You can also ask employees to announce the information on a loudspeaker.
3. If you find the other driver, exchange insurance information so they can file a third-party claim with your provider.
4. If you’re unable to find the other driver, write a note that includes your phone number, name, and a description of the accident. Leave it somewhere secure, like between the car’s windshield and wipers.
5. Call the police.
6. Document the accident.
7. File first-party claims for your damages or injuries, if any.

If you witness a crash in a parking lot and want to help out, do the following:

1. Help the victim document the damage.
2. Give them your contact information. That way, you can stand in as a witness if the insurance company needs further proof of the hit-and-run.⁶

There are two common defenses for hit-and-runs:

• The person says that they didn’t know if they hit a person or vehicle, or that there was no damage from the collision.
• If the victim was present at the time of the hit-and-run and said there were no damages at the time, the driver can use that as a defense, even if they left without giving any contact or insurance information.

These defenses may or may not work in the court of law, but if you get hit, assess the damages before you let the perpetrator run off without exchanging information.

What to do in a hit-and-run is one of the most frequently asked questions about car insurance. Although you can’t help someone hitting your car when it’s parked, having more than the minimum coverage is necessary if you don’t want to pay out of pocket for injuries and damages.