Hit and run: what to do first - what actually happens next.

The crisis: why hit-and-run collisions are rising

In 2023, 15 percent of all US police-reported crashes involved a fleeing driver, a record high per the AAA Foundation. That year, 2,872 people died in hit-and-run crashes, roughly 7 percent of all US traffic fatalities. About 25 percent of pedestrian deaths in 2024 involved a hit-and-run driver. If your vehicle is hit and the driver leaves, you now face a collision without a defendant.

The first hour defines the outcome. Your actions determine documentation, what your insurer sees, and your claim path. The myth that finding the driver is prerequisite for compensation is false. Insurance processes through collision or uninsured motorist coverage, neither of which depends on police catching anyone. What matters is documentation and prompt notification.

The first hour: what you should do (and who does what)

Evidence is most durable in the first hour after a hit-and-run. If the collision is happening now, prioritize safety: move vehicles to a safe place, activate hazard lights, and call emergency services if anyone is injured. For property-only hit-and-run (the common case), your next steps are direct and time-sensitive.

Document the scene immediately. Photograph or video-record the damage to your vehicle, the scene, nearby surveillance cameras, road markings, traffic signals, weather conditions, and the location itself. Timestamp everything if your phone allows it. Collect contact information from any witnesses (names, phone numbers, brief descriptions of what they saw). This evidence window closes in minutes as traffic clears and conditions change. A systematic scene checklist helps ensure you capture critical details.

Report to police or file online. In California and most jurisdictions, a vehicle collision legally requires the hit-and-run driver to stop and exchange information (CA Veh. Code 20002). The fleeing driver violated that duty, not you. Call the non-emergency line or file online through your jurisdiction's portal. For parked-car hit-and-run, police accept phone or online reports; for moving-vehicle collisions, they may dispatch. Either way, you get a report number (your official record). Police are not required to investigate property-only cases. A report number alone is sufficient for insurance.

Notify your insurer within 24 hours. Most policies require prompt notification, and 24 hours is the safe threshold. Waiting days to report can create claim complications. Early notification also triggers your insurer's investigation process and preserves evidence like camera footage, more on that below.

Your documentation vs. the missing driver

The absence of the at-fault driver seems like a critical gap. In reality, your insurance claim's success rests on evidence of the collision itself, not on identifying the driver. For collision coverage, the evidence bar is straightforward: your vehicle sustained damage consistent with a traffic collision. For uninsured motorist (UM) coverage, the evidentiary requirement is higher but still achievable without identifying anyone. UM claims generally require evidence of physical contact between vehicles, plus corroboration such as a witness statement, damage pattern, or police report, depending on your state.

UM coverage applies when a hit-and-run driver is legally defined as uninsured (you cannot verify their insurance). The physical-contact requirement is serious: most states enforce strict physical-contact rules for UM hit-and-run claims. This means damage to your vehicle plus corroborating evidence (witness, police report, debris, paint transfer) strengthens your claim. Evidence preservation and documentation that stands up in review is what moves claims.

Collision coverage, by contrast, pays regardless of who hit you or whether that driver is insured. Collision covers damage to your vehicle from any moving vehicle collision, and the at-fault driver's identity is irrelevant to that payment. If you carry both coverage types, insurers generally route the claim through the coverage that pays most efficiently, usually collision, depending on your policy.

Notifying your insurer: what prompt really means

Insurance policies use the word "prompt" when specifying when you must report a loss. "Prompt" is not a legal definition; it depends on your specific policy language, your state's law, and your insurer's practices. In practice, 24 to 72 hours is standard, and most claims are processed without issue if reported within that window. Unreasonable delay (days or weeks) can create problems, particularly with UM claims where the insurer needs time to preserve evidence like camera footage.

If your parked car was hit while unattended, act from the moment you discover the damage, not from the unknown collision time. Insurers evaluate promptness from when you reasonably could have reported. Finding the damage days later does not sink the claim if you notify quickly once you find it.

Your insurer expects a few basics in the initial report. Provide the date and time of the collision (or parked-car discovery), the location, a description of damage, witness information if available, and the police report number. Your agent will walk you through a formal loss notice and may assign an adjuster. From this point, the insurer's investigation machinery engages: preservation requests for camera footage, contact with witnesses if provided, and damage assessment. Your role is to provide complete initial information and cooperate with investigation requests.

Parked car hit and run: why police often won't come

A parked-car hit-and-run is property damage only, with no accident scene to investigate and no immediate danger. Police departments treat these as low-priority misdemeanor property crimes. In many jurisdictions, an officer will not dispatch to the scene. Instead, you call the non-emergency line, describe the hit-and-run, and file a report over the phone or through the department's online portal. Some jurisdictions mail a formal report; others simply provide a report number for insurance purposes.

The absence of an officer at the scene does not weaken your insurance claim. The report number serves the same evidentiary function: it documents the incident officially. Your damage photographs and (if possible) witness statements or nearby business camera footage substitute for police evidence.

When police won't file an online report, document your efforts to report and submit your claim anyway. Your insurer will proceed on your documentation alone, which is often sufficient for collision coverage approval.

Clearance rates, unsolved cases, and subrogation

Hit-and-run clearance rates are grim. An NBC 5 Investigates analysis of Chicago's traffic data and the police department's own arrest portal found 37,226 hit-and-run crashes in 2021, leaving 36 people dead and 4,807 injured, against just 306 arrests on fleeing-the-scene charges: fewer than one arrest per 100 crashes. Las Vegas police reported 440 hit-and-run investigations closed out of 1,995 in a mid-2025 traffic report, a solve rate under 25 percent. These figures measure different things (arrests per crash versus investigations closed), and no national aggregate exists. The practical takeaway: police solve only a minority of hit-and-run cases, and waiting for closure is futile. Your claim should file immediately, independent of police investigation progress.

If police later identify the at-fault driver, your insurer may pursue subrogation, recovering paid claims from the at-fault driver's insurer. Subrogation is your insurer's right, not your financial obligation; you do not withhold your claim pending subrogation. File now, get paid, and let your insurer pursue recovery if the driver surfaces. If subrogation succeeds, you may be reimbursed for your deductible if state law requires it. This process takes months, so it should not delay your own claim.

Camera footage and evidence preservation

If the collision occurred near a business, ATM, traffic intersection, or residential property, surveillance cameras may have recorded the at-fault vehicle. The critical constraint: most camera systems operate on automatic overwrite loops, and retention is not guaranteed. A Federal Highway Administration review of agency video practices documents recording loops as short as 72 hours, video kept only "for several days," and systems that overwrite automatically when storage fills. Small single-camera venues sit at the short end of that range; larger commercial and bank systems typically hold footage longer. Camera-by-camera retention windows and how to request footage are covered in our guide to getting camera footage of your accident. The clock is ticking the moment the incident occurs.

Generally, the best course of action is to request preservation in writing from the business, property manager, or location owner as early as possible, ideally the same day. A written request (email or letter) is commonly used, depending on the business and your situation. Include the date, time, and location of the hit-and-run, and request that all camera footage covering the incident location and time be preserved and not overwritten. A formal written request creates an obligation that informal phone calls do not; businesses receiving written preservation notices take them seriously for legal reasons.

If you locate footage, your insurer can request it or you may obtain it yourself. If the business refuses or footage is deleted, your claim proceeds. Camera footage strengthens UM claims but is not required for collision. A guide to locating and requesting camera footage is available separately.

Rate impacts and claim outcomes

Rate impact after a hit-and-run claim depends on your location and insurer. Under California’s Proposition 103 rating rules (10 CCR 2632.13(c)(4)), a driver whose vehicle was damaged by a hit-and-run operator is rebuttably presumed not principally at-fault — but only if the accident was reported to legal authorities within a reasonable time. That determination feeds your driving safety record (Proposition 103’s first mandatory rating factor) and your Good Driver Discount eligibility, so in practice a reported hit-and-run generally should not count against you as an at-fault accident. The presumption is rebuttable, and whether it applies depends on your insurer and situation — which is why the police report matters twice over. In other states, the result varies based on state law and policy language. Before filing, confirm with your agent whether your state and policy treat hit-and-run claims as not-at-fault, or ask about rate implications explicitly.

Your deductible applies to collision and comprehensive claims, typically $250 to $1,000 per incident. If the at-fault driver is identified and subrogation succeeds, you may be reimbursed for your deductible, though that process takes months or years.

Simple hit-and-run claims (clear damage, police report, witness, camera) typically resolve within 4 to 8 weeks. Claims without corroboration take longer. Subrogation cases remain open for months or years while the insurer pursues recovery.

Regarding insurance type: approximately 21 jurisdictions including 20 states and Washington DC require uninsured motorist coverage by law. If you reside in a state with mandatory UM coverage, you likely have it. Comprehensive coverage does NOT apply to hit-and-run vehicle collisions; comprehensive covers non-collision perils like theft, weather, or vandalism. Collision coverage and UM coverage are the applicable policies for hit-and-run property damage.

Approximately 15.4 percent of US drivers are uninsured, with rates as high as 28.2 percent in Mississippi and as low as 5.7 percent in Maine. In hit-and-run cases where the driver is unidentified, UM coverage is the natural fit, hence why preserving evidence of contact and corroboration matters for UM claims.

Frequently asked questions