What If Someone Hits My Car in a Parking Lot and Leaves
You can still file a claim, but without the other driver's information, you'll likely be filing it against your own policy.
Report it to the police and your insurer, even without a license plate
Call the police before you leave the lot. A hit and run report, even for a parked car, gives you an official record of what happened and when. Most insurers ask for this report before they'll pay a claim, so making it isn't optional if you want coverage to apply.
What your policy pays depends on what coverage you carry. If you have collision coverage, it typically pays for this kind of damage regardless of who hit you or whether they're found. If you only carry liability coverage, which pays for damage you cause to others, you may have nothing to file against since liability doesn't cover your own car.
Whether you have collision coverage decides what happens next
Collision coverage pays to repair your car after it's hit, whether the other driver is identified or not. If you have it, this is the coverage that applies here. You'll pay your deductible, and the insurer covers the rest.
Some policies also include uninsured motorist property damage, which in a number of states can cover a hit and run specifically, sometimes without a deductible. Whether this coverage exists on your policy, and how it interacts with collision, is worth asking your insurer about directly.
If you don't carry collision or uninsured motorist property damage, a hit and run in a parking lot usually means paying for repairs yourself. This is the gap that catches people who dropped collision coverage on an older car to save on premium.
What you do in the first hour matters more than it seems
Look for anything that identifies the other car before you leave. Paint transfer, a broken piece of trim, a witness who saw the make or color. Parking lots often have security cameras even when there's no attendant, and asking the business to check footage the same day is far more likely to work than asking a week later.
Write down everything while it's fresh. Where you parked, what time you returned, what the damage looks like. Your insurer will ask for this, and the police report will ask for it too.
Tell your insurer promptly rather than waiting to see if the other driver turns up. Most policies have a window for reporting damage, and waiting can complicate a claim even when the coverage would otherwise apply.
Questions people ask about this
Will my insurance rate go up after a hit and run that wasn't my fault?
It depends on your insurer and whether the claim is paid through collision or uninsured motorist coverage. Some insurers treat not at fault claims differently and won't raise your rate, but this isn't universal. Ask your insurer directly how they classify hit and run claims before you file.
Can I claim on my insurance without a police report?
Most insurers require a police report for a hit and run claim, since there's no other driver to confirm what happened. Without one, the insurer has only your account of the damage, which makes the claim harder to support. File the report as soon as you discover the damage.
What if there are no witnesses or cameras in the parking lot?
You can still file a claim using your own coverage, but identifying the other driver becomes unlikely. This usually means the claim goes through your collision coverage rather than anything that depends on finding who hit you. Document the damage yourself with photos and a written account.
Does it matter if the damage is minor?
It's still worth reporting, since what looks minor can cost more to repair than expected once a shop examines it. Filing a small claim also establishes the record in case the damage turns out to be worse. Your deductible may mean it isn't worth claiming at all, which is something to weigh once you have a repair estimate.
Should I get a repair estimate before contacting my insurer?
Contact your insurer first, since many want to see the damage or direct you to an approved shop before repairs begin. Getting an estimate on your own first can work against you if the insurer later disputes the cost. Ask what their process requires before you take the car anywhere.
See what collision and uninsured motorist coverage would cost before your next renewal.
File a police report this week if you haven't already, even if the damage seems small, since most insurers won't process a hit and run claim without one. Pull up your policy or call your insurer to find out whether you carry collision coverage or uninsured motorist property damage, since one of these is what pays for damage when the other driver isn't found. Take photos of the damage and the location, and write down the date, time, and anything you noticed about the other vehicle while it's still fresh. If the lot has cameras, ask the business to preserve the footage now rather than later. Once you know what your policy covers, you'll also know whether it makes sense to file at all given your deductible.
