Someone hit my parked car. What should I do next?
First, assess the situation. If there are injuries or the accident is blocking traffic, call 911.
If the person who hit your car is on site and willing to exchange information, or has left their contact information for you, then be sure to take photos of the damage to both vehicles, as well as of the other driver’s insurance information, license and license plate. Avoid being confrontational during this process as accidents are unpleasant for all parties involved and the situation can escalate. If this occurs, it’s best to return to your vehicle and simply call the police.
Once you have the other party’s information, you can either contact their insurance company (assuming they are insured) or work through your own insurance company. If you choose to work through your own insurance company, your Collision deductible will apply until your carrier is able to recover its costs from the at fault party’s insurance carrier, at which point they will refund your deductible. However, going through your own carrier gives you the ease of working with your agent and a known process versus going through the other party’s insurance and hoping you receive the same quality of care as that to which you are accustomed.
If the other party does not have insurance, your insurance carrier will cover the repairs under Uninsured Motorist Property Damage (UMPD) if you have this endorsement on your policy. They will assess a $100 deductible if you have information that helps them identify the at fault party (hence the photos of ID and license plate) or a $300 deductible if you don’t know who the other party is. If you don’t have UMPD, then it would be covered under Collision (again, assuming you have Collision coverage) and would be subject to whatever your Collision deductible is. Even if it is covered under Collision, most carriers do not regard something like this as being the same as an at fault accident. If you do not have UMPD or Collision coverage on your policy, any damage to your vehicle would have to be paid out of pocket.
If the person who hit your car is not on site nor left contact information, then take photos of the damage as your insurance company will want to see them. It’s never a bad idea to report the incident to the police on the non–emergency line, but it’s unlikely to get any action. Nevertheless, some carriers prefer to have file a report just so there is some additional documentation. Your policy will cover the repairs as described above under UMPD or Collision, if you have those coverages on your policy. If you do not, then any damage will be your responsibility.
There are some limitations here – UMPD will cover damage up to the limit you have selected for your policy. If that damage exceeds that amount, it will be covered under Collision and the Collision deductible would be applied. If you have UMPD but not Collision then the policy would pay the UMPD limit and anything beyond that would be your responsibility.
To best protect your vehicle, it’s important to review your auto policy regularly and be sure that you have all the protection you’ll need if it is ever damaged or destroyed.