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This is never a pleasant thing to discover, but the good news is that you aren’t necessarily stuck with the cost of repairs. Depending on your insurance coverage, you may be able to get compensation.
What to Do When Someone Hits Your Parked Car
An accident where another driver hits your parked car should be addressed like any other kind of accident. You and the other driver should remain at the scene, exchange contact and insurance information, and call the police to report the collision. Be sure to take pictures of any damage to your vehicle.
Basic liability insurance is required for motorists in Georgia, but around 12 percent of drivers do without it anyway. If the other driver doesn’t have insurance, you may still be able to file a claim with your own insurance company. An experienced car accident lawyer can help you navigate this process or search for other alternatives.
Attorney Ali Awad knows all the tricks insurance companies use to avoid paying claims and wants to help you avoid them. He founded the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm just a few years ago and quickly expanded it into one of the fastest-growing law firms in the country. When he’s not working on getting his clients the biggest settlement possible, he dispenses insightful legal knowledge to more than a million followers on social media. If you’re struggling to get compensation after a car accident, please contact the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm for a free consultation to learn more about your options.
How Does Uninsured Motorist Coverage Work?
Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage is intended to be a “safety net” you can use if you’re in an accident with someone who doesn’t have insurance. If you know who hit your car, you should get their name, address, phone number, and driver’s license number, as your insurance company will want to know these things. They will also want to see your pictures of the damage.
You will also probably need a copy of the police report on your accident – it may be a few days before this is ready. Contact the local law enforcement agency that responded to the accident, and they should be able to tell you how to get a copy of your report. Often these are available digitally, but occasionally you may need to pick them up in person. If this is inconvenient for you, it’s also possible to buy a copy of any accident report online for a small fee.
Uninsured motorist property damage (UMPD) does cover vehicle damage so long as you can identify the other driver. The reason is to give the insurance company the option to pursue the other driver to compensate them for compensating you. This is a process known as subrogation. Fortunately, it shouldn’t involve you much other than providing information to the insurance company.
Once you’ve supplied all the necessary documentation, the claims process should be easy, but occasionally issues arise. Sometimes the insurance company will decide the accident isn’t covered for some reason. If this happens, your car accident lawyer may be able to help.
What if You Don’t Have Uninsured Motorist Coverage?
Then hopefully, you have another type of coverage called Collision insurance. This will pay for property damage to your vehicle no matter who is at fault. If you don’t have Collision insurance either, your options will probably be very limited. However, it’s worth checking with an attorney to see if there is anything else that can be done. Occasionally there may be other possibilities.
What if Your Car Was the Victim of a Hit and Run Accident?
Sometimes a driver without insurance will hit a parked car and just leave the scene, hoping no one saw them. You return to your vehicle and find a huge dent, a broken headlight, or other damage. Now what?
Here are some steps to take when dealing with a hit and run on your parked car:
- Get pictures of the damage right away. Try to cover all angles to show the damage as completely as possible.
- Look around and see if there were any witnesses. If you were in a shopping center or public parking lot, you might ask people working in the nearby buildings if they saw anything. Get the names and contact info of any potential witnesses.
- Contact the police and file a report.
- Call your insurance company and explain what happened. They will let you know if you have coverage that will take care of the damage. If not, they will also let you know.
Uninsured motorist coverage will usually take care of your property damage if an uninsured driver hits your parked vehicle, but it does not cover hit and run accidents. However, if you have collision coverage, once again, you should be able to make a claim for a hit and run on your parked vehicle.
What if You Were Injured in an Accident While Your Car Was Parked?
This isn’t very common since parked cars are usually empty, but it does happen occasionally. You can get hurt if you are sitting in your parked car and another vehicle hits it hard. In this case, your medical expenses should be taken care of by your uninsured motorist coverage. If you don’t have uninsured motorist coverage, you may be able to turn to MedPay, another type of insurance that will cover your medical bills in an accident regardless of fault. Uninsured motorist and MedPay policies still work in the event of a hit and run. However, they are not required under Georgia law, so you may need to check your insurance policy to see if you have them.
Contact the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm
If you or a loved one have been the victim of a car accident, you need solid legal advice to protect your right to compensation. Please don’t hesitate to contact the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm for a free consultation. There is no obligation, and if we take your case, we’ll work on a contingency basis. That means we don’t charge you anything until we secure a settlement for you. Call us at 833-254-2923.