My car got Hit and Run by somebody! Help!?

Question

I was shopping for grocery and when I got out, a witness said they just saw my car got hit by someone and the person just drove away in high speed and fled the parking lot. The witness could only provide me with the description of the car, and a rough idea of the license plate number. They called and talked to the police before I arrived. Since it is at a private property, they told me that the police would not come. I walked back to the grocery and asked if they have some survillance camera and they said they have. But they said it would take time to sort out the footage to see if they caught the license on tape. I only have the lowest insurance coverage and the insurance company will not cover my damage.

so my question is does anyone know the process of this sort of problem?

1) Will the police be able to find the car easily?
2) If they find him, what will they do?
3) Is hit and run illegal to the driver himself (serious offence)?
4)Will the police contact me when they find him (the witness only told them my car's license plate since I wasn't there)?
5) Do I have to go to court for these kind of cases? Or will the insurance just give me an estimate?
6) IF the police can't find him, what can I do?

Thank you for your help, this is my first accident and I don't know what to expect.

Answer 1

Just a brief bit of info.....because it happened on private property, in our county anyways, police do not respond unless there are injuries or your vehicle is not drivable. This is because of no fault insurance,no fault of anybody. Here you go to the local PD, pick up a private property accident report form, fill it out and send it back to PD to have an # issued. Once the # is issued, you give that to your insurance co.

Answer 2

It could be worse ... you could have been in the car & injured when it happened.
The main issues are
* how much it will cost to get your car repaired ... this determines how much effort you need to make with the owner of private property, the police, the higher ups over the police, your insurance company, the grocery store's insurance, etc.
* this claim that the police do not have jurisdiction over private property ... you need to find out what the facts are there, which I suspect vary by state and county all over the USA & perhaps the world

You need to find out what the laws are where you are.
It is always posible that whoever said this was ignorant.

I have had bad experiences when on "public roads" through "private property"
... go thru a stop sign, get ticketed
... some other motorists wrongs me ... police take no action because it is private property
... judge issues an order regarding some bad behavior going on there ... police say they cannot enforce it because it is private property

So ... can you murder someone on private property & get off scott free because it is private property? I think that if the owner of the private property objects to this, the police may answer the call of the owner, be it some retail establishment or whatever, but it sure sounds like if it is Ok with the owner, there's all kinds of bad stuff can be done & the police can say "Oh this is private property, so we have no jurisdiction."

Remember the woman who went to a hospital, she was dying, they would not help her. Various people called 911 from the hospital and 911 refused to help because if a person is already in a hospital, it is not an emergency. So she died. Does anyone get charged over this? No, it is private property. The worst that might happen is the hospital will lose its license to practice medicine, but unlikely because the people need a hospital & that's the only one in the area.

The grocery store might be slow to figure out from the tape, because they do not want the hassle. Your insurance company might have the clout ... your insurance company might not want to pay the damages for something that was the responsibility of the grocery store ... their private property remember?

If someone slips and falls in your home ... it is your responsibility to pay their medical bills, even if it happened because they were being careless.

Likewise, your car got damaged on the property of the grocery store, so it is their responsibility to pay the damages, provided it can be proven this did happen on their property ... you do have the witness statement don't you, can give copy of it to your insurance company.

Ok, your auto insurance company will get the grocery insurance company to accept it is their responsibility to pay the damage to your car, but they know that it was really done by the hit & run driver, so they are motivated to get the police on the case to try to find that driver, because if that driver can be found, then they can try to get the repair money out of that person.

Another person says you can't prove from the grocery tape who was driving the car. Doesn't matter. Someone OWNS that car. The owner of the car is responsible for the damage done with it, unless it has been stolen.

If you loan your car to a friend or relative, and they go have an accident or do something reckless with the car ... they can get a ticket for bad driving, but you are responsible for the damage that was done using your car.

But this all depends on the amount of damage to your car ... is it worth doing all this?

Answer 3

Well, I'm really sorry this happened to you. People who do that are usually low life jerks and are doing really stupid things all the time. Specifically:
1) Will the police be able to find the car easily?
Keep on the store to run the the tape. Usually it's the security guys who do it for you. File a police report as soon as you can and keep the names, addresses and phones of your witnesses.
2) If they find him, what will they do?
If the evidence is good, charge him/her with Hit/Run and take him to court.
3) Is hit and run illegal to the driver himself (serious offense)?
Very serious--jail time is possible.
4)Will the police contact me when they find him (the witness only told them my car's license plate since I wasn't there)? No. File as complete report as you can with the police if only to document everything. Quickly.
5) Do I have to go to court for these kind of cases? Or will the insurance just give me an estimate?
Court-maybe (If they find him/her) to document the extent of the damage. Insurance should give you an estimate but beware: Even if they don't pay anything they will sometimes raise your rates!
6) IF the police can't find him, what can I do?
Well, you need to absorb it, get your car fixed and move on. But...check with your insurance claims office as soon as you can. If you have uninsured motorist coverage, it will likely cover the damage but only if you have the police report you filed. There will probably be a deductible but at least you'll be partially covered.

I hate irresponsibility. It's a shame it happened. I wish you the best.

Answer 4

Its not the AMOUNT of insurance you have. It's the TYPE that matters. Liability insurance, which is what the state requires, covers damages YOU cause to property owned by someone else. Comprehensive/collision insurance covers damages to YOUR property.
1. If they can get a license number, they cars owner can be located easily. If not, they will never find it.
2. The driver will be liable for your damages and criminal charges for 'hit and run'. If he has no insurance and no money, there is nothing to collect.
5. NEVER accept any estimate from an insurance company. Get an estimate from a repair shop.
6. If they can't find the driver, and your insurance won't pay, you can pay for your own repairs, or don't repair your car.

Answer 5

I am sorry to tell you that you are not likely to get any help from the insurance company. If this is not insured by collision coverage under your policy, your insurance company won't even get involved.
I don't know who told you that the police won't come because the grocery store is on private property. That sounds strange. File a police report. But without any reliable witness to identify who hit your car, how can the police find the one who did it? Unless, of course, it was caught on the surveillance camera.

Answer 6

Unfortunately, even if you have the video tape clearly showing the car's license plate, you still cannot prove who was driving it at the time of the accident. Don't bother to file a claim with your insurance company - it will only make your rates go up and it won't benefit you at all. Get your car fixed when you can afford it, and chalk this one up to bad luck.