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Not necessarily. In Nevada, for example, uninsured motorist only covers medical payments if you or someone in your car was hurt by an uninsured driver. There is no property damage coverage under the uninsured motorist provision here. You would need to have your own collision coverage to get your car repaired.
That's true in nearly all states. Uninsured motorist covers only personal injury.
In most or all states, you are required to report to the police any accident in which there is property damage, within a day or two. You can actually be fined for failing to report an accident. So if the 24 or 48 hours has elapsed, it is too late to report the accident without exposing yourself to a fine for failure to report, and you'll wind up worse off than if you swallow the $200 in damages and keep your mouth shut. .
As mentioned, hit and run is illegal so file charges.
Got to small claims and get the judgement and turn it over to a collection agency.
Probably won't get anything out of it and it is a bit of work but I would imagine after his dealings with the police and having his credit ruined, he will think twice before doing another hit and run or at least driving w/o insurance.
That's true in nearly all states. Uninsured motorist covers only personal injury.
In most or all states, you are required to report to the police any accident in which there is property damage, within a day or two. You can actually be fined for failing to report an accident. So if the 24 or 48 hours has elapsed, it is too late to report the accident without exposing yourself to a fine for failure to report, and you'll wind up worse off than if you swallow the $200 in damages and keep your mouth shut. .
A good number of states offer UMPD
The District of Columbia, New Hampshire, New Jersey, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia, require the purchase of UMPD coverage.
Alaska, Delaware, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and West Virginia require UMPD coverage but allow policyholders to reject it.
Ten states require insurers to offer UMPD coverage and give policyholders the option to reject it. They are: Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Ohio, Oregon, and Utah.
The remaining states, including Connecticut, do not require insurers to offer UMPD coverage.
First, I would call the guy. He made a mistake, he may just pay you. If so, problem solved. If not, take him to small claims and get the judgement against him. Even if he didnt pay, he will still have the judgement against him.
Why would the guy show up and threaten you? This would be a very unlikely scenario.
I think I'd try to do this but if he didn't pay I'd probably stop right there. Small claims court, all that time, taking time off from work, it isn't worth it for $200. If the guy was a hoodlum or or drugged up or there were risks for me even trying to contact him (he finds out where I live) or something I might not even call him.
Back in 1977 I got in a head on collision with a drunk driver, no insurance, no license (and yes he was an American not an illegal alien, just an alcoholic or something like that). He skipped town. Our 1968 Chevy Biscayne was totaled. He was in a Toyota pickup so I walked away complete unhurt. His face got smashed up.
I think I'd try to do this but if he didn't pay I'd probably stop right there. Small claims court, all that time, taking time off from work, it isn't worth it for $200. If the guy was a hoodlum or or drugged up or there were risks for me even trying to contact him (he finds out where I live) or something I might not even call him.
Back in 1977 I got in a head on collision with a drunk driver, no insurance, no license (and yes he was an American not an illegal alien, just an alcoholic or something like that). He skipped town. Our 1968 Chevy Biscayne was totaled. He was in a Toyota pickup so I walked away complete unhurt. His face got smashed up.
I'd still pursue. The likelihood of the guy getting upset and doing harm to the OP is very slim. At the very least, get the other guys info, check public records. Maybe they do own and if so, throw a lien on the property. If the guy does indeed turn out to be a low life, no property, druggie, etc, then it would be best to just drop it as far as collecting.
All the police should be able to do in this case is cite the guy, and let the judge impose the penalty, which will most likely be a fine.
got the victim of a hit & run while parked. The police caught the guy though and he is not insured.
So my insurance won't help me and the cops are no help. Through the report I know what car he drives and where he lives.
The amount to fix the damage is about 200 so not big enough to file it to the small claims court.
What can I do to get the money without bringing me at risk by having the guy show up at my house or threaten me??
1. Write him a letter demanding the money and threatening to sue him if he doesn't come up with it by a specific date.
2. You say you don't want to sue in Small Claims Court. Are you aware the court will award you your filing fee and service of process fee in addition to the amount owed?
3. If neither of these ideas work, there is probably nothing you can do. The world isn't set up to protect people in your situation. I made a choice to have a $500 deductible on my collision coverage too, to save money. However, I understand that this is one consequence that could result from my choosing that. In fact, I am unaware of a deductible lower than $250 anyway.
Good luck, but if the worst thing that happens to you is that you lose $200, its just not a very serious problem.
The rate of uninsured drivers varies greatly by state and is related to a variety of factors including:
1) Unemployment\economy
2) How expensive insurance is in the state (some states have higher minimums and other regulations etc.
3) The "rural" nature of states where there are fewer or no alternatives to driving.
4) Yes, as one poster noted states with higher levels of illegal immigrants for obvious reasons.
5) Severity of penalty for driving uninsured.
This list is a little old but it's fairly shocking how high the rate is in some states. My friend got hit and only had liability because they are poor and their car was only worth maybe 3-4k but was reliable. It was a huge financial hardship getting back to owning a reliable vehicle.
The person that hit her was driving a new PT cruiser and was a soccer-mom type....irresponsibilty is everywhere. Sigh.
This happened to us, except that the car was totaled. We had UMPD, I filed a claim on my insurance. They are still trying to collect from the woman who hit the car...I don't suppose that will ever happen. I had the woman's address and it was not far from us. I considered stopping by to talk to her, but honestly we were too angry about the accident...our car wasn't parked, she hit the back tire and spun our car sideways, then she pushed it off the road with her car so she could drive off. My husband could feel the motor revving against his door. A witness followed the woman to her house and called police, who went to her door but she wouldn't open it. Her insurance had lapsed three days before the accident, and she paid it and was covered again two days after, but her insurance wouldn't pay because she wasn't insured during the accident. I didn't think I could discuss it with the woman calmly and she seemed like a total lowlife who rented a shack in a bad neighborhood, so it didn't seem like she would have anything that we could go after. Karma will have to take care of her.
I actually bought the body panels and tail lights that I needed for the repair off a junked car someone was parting out on Craigslist, and painted them in my garage. We had to replace all four tires and one wheel. Because the car was totaled, we had to get a salvage title also. All together, the cost of the repairs, tires and the salvage title was almost exactly what our insurance paid out after our $500 deductible. We drove the car for a year after that, and then sold it.
It's probably not worth trying to get your $200...chalk it up to bad luck and don't spend more money trying to get it back.
Hit and run is against the law where I come from. You say the cops are of no help????? At least make him face the legal consequences even if you wont be paid. It is a matter of self respect
Not only is hit and run illegal, but in most states it's illegal not to have insurance!
The cops aren't at least charging him with those things?
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