Does a Hit-and-Run Affect my insurance?

Q: I walked out to my car this morning and someone hit my car overnight and didn’t leave any car insurance information. If I file this with my car insurance company, will it affect my rates?

A: The unfortunate answer is, yes it can. Anytime you file a claim on your car insurance policy it has the potential to increase your rates, regardless as to whether it was your fault or not. There are two pieces of good news for you though. One, if you have uninsured motorist coverage and you file a police report for the hit-and-run, your insurance company will pay out under the uninsured motorist coverage and you may not have to pay a deductible. Two, if the amount of your damages are minor and the cost of repairs come in under a certain dollar amount, your insurance company may not increase your rates. Like always, the threshold varies from company to company and it is always good to check to see as to what threshold your car insurance company has.

If your car was parked in an apartment parking lot or in a residential area, most likely the person that hit you lives near you. So it would be a good idea to go around and look at other people’s car to see if you can find damage that matches up to yours. If you can, then your car insurance company will have someone to go after, which can save you the rate increase, as well as being able to get your deductible back if you did end up paying that out of your own pocket.