Legal question on a hit-and-run

Short version: Daughter lives in a college town about 3 hours away. Her car was victimized by a hit-and-run in her apartment complex parking lot last night. A witness saw it all and filed a police report, leaving that info in a note on her windshield.

Daughter talked to her today, and got the whole story. An obviously drunk driver came home, tried to park on the sidewalk, then scraped all down her car as he backed up to park again. The guy's car is still right there, with matching damage.

Daughter called the responding officer and is waiting on his callback to get her information added to the report.

My question: On a hit-and-run like that, what's the chances of something happening? Like a citation, his insurance taking care of it, etc.? Guessing it will have to be a small-claims court situation, where there's little chance of getting a judgment paid out?

Damage seems significant, with the front quarter-panel, both driver's side doors and rear quarter-panel all needing to be replaced. Our insurance has a $1,000 deductible, and wondering at what point do we cut our losses, pay our deductible and deal with the rising insurance rates, vs. chasing down this fuckface for money that likely will never come.

 

I think you’d file a claim with the other driver’s insurance first.

 

Oh, yeah, put it in other party's insurance company's lap.

Does your state require insurance to have a car legally registered? If so, I would think state motor vehicles department would be able to provide the insurance company and necessary information. It could be that she/you don't need to deal with the derelict driver.

Obviously ... document the damage with photos. Overcommunicate regarding police report. Hold police accountable for getting information you might need (driver's name, home address, name/address of owner - possibly parent of derelict driver?).

Start researching body shops now*, whether you get it fixed in college town or hometown. At least in my state, insured is under no obligation to use the body shop recommended by the insurance company (the thinking being, there's a reason that body shop is recommended by a payor ...)

Buy reporting party a coffee.

* - From experience, I'd recommend researching the financial stability of any shops you're considering. Probably don't want a shop that invoices for OEM-equivalent parts but uses cheap crap ... pockets the difference yet still can't pay its bills and folds its tent a few weeks later.

 

Yes, insurance is legally required in this state. And this dumbass left his car parked 2 spots away from my daughter's. My daughter was taking photos of her car when this witness came out and told her everything that she saw. They are now fast friends.

The responding officer apparently is on his way back out to get my daughter's information, and I told her to walk the officer over to the guy's car and point everything out, while taking photos. Maybe the motherfucker has sobered up enough to come out and face the music.

I just didn't (and don't) know if all that is enough to get his insurance to pay without a big legal fight.

* It's the same in this state. They can have 10 estimates in hand, but it doesn't matter, as we get to choose who does the work, no matter the cost (within reason, I'm guessing).

 

Assuming he’s insured, I can’t imagine his company will fight. What would their grounds be? Daughter had no expectation of not being struck by drunken asswipe?

Had a couple of minor bumps in daughter’s HS parking lot. Turned out no claims were filed, but other parties’ ins companies actually appeared quite interested in my satisfaction. YMMV, of course.

 

I'm just praying the asswipe's car is still there when the officer comes out - and that the witness is there. Would seem to be pretty clear what happened, but in the absence of video (and there is none), I could see the other insurance company digging their heels in and saying, "prove it"

 

Even if the car is moved I think you have a pretty solid case. Assuming the guy has insurance, they should pay out.

 

Daughter should slash his tires to make sure he can't drive off.

And we're going to need continuing updates on this.

 

Document everything, (obvious but do not forget the license plate). Police report is important because it documents everything from a neutral 3rd party source.

Try everything you can to get the driver's insurance company information. Remember the insurance company has no responsibility to you, technically they only have an agreement to reimburse the driver for any damages he/she is found liable of causing.

If the driver's insurance doesn't fold or come easily, then make the claim on your policy and have them chase the other side down. I know a $1000 is a tough pill to swallow but remember that's why you buy that insurance and pay for the uninsured coverage, to help you when the other side doesn't not cooperate.

Here's hoping that the driver cooperates because in CA, a hit and run of over $500 is a felony, which seems to be what happened in your case.

Good luck. Feel free to DM me if you have other questions.

 

With the driver's insurance company liable for repairs, have a dealership for that brand do all the repairs. Might take a little longer, might not. But it's victim's choice, if your state is like mine,* and so why not go straight to the source? Authentic factory parts, dealer warranty on repairs, etc.

* EDIT: Just saw your note above confirming this.

 

Definitely will update, and without outing, I am guessing you may have knowledge of this complex.

Anyway, officer who was coming out was called away on an emergency, so they are waiting for the original responding officer to come out when he's back on duty Friday.

Daughter took photos of everything - her car and his - with the matching damage, license plates and all. Said when the officer called to say he couldn't come out today, he mentioned citing this guy for leaving the scene of an accident, so that gives me hope. Seems there's no disputing what happened.

My only fear is there's a police report filed, yet there's no way to know his insurance information so it basically stops there. Hoping his insurance info is on the report, and I'll just dump everything with them and pursue from there.

Thanks to all for your help!

Told my daughter to make sure she buys a Christmas present for this witness, no matter what happens. She saw this accident sometime after 10 pm, called the cops and stayed up to come outside and give a statement about what she saw. Classy young lady.

 

Once the police report is filed, both drivers usually are required to provide/exchange insurance information. Have the police confronted the other driver yet? It will all come forth then.