Hummer

I was involved in a hit and run accident. Now what?

My wife and myself went to see a movie at the theater today. We parked our car on the general parking lot which is pretty big. Anyway, when we got out we found our car had been hit! It looked like someone had taken a hummer and driven over the hood of our car. To our help came this lawyer who had witnessed the whole scene. He'd been waiting for the cops to show up since he'd called it in himself. He said he'd seen a middle aged woman in an SUV back into our car. She then apparently got out of her car, checked our car, and then took off (without leaving any information). The lawyer had thankfully taken down her plate number. He also gave us his contact information as a witness. Anyway, we stuck around until the cops showed up. We gave them all the information, they took a bunch of pictures of the car and then they OK'd us to drive it home. It still drives, but it's definitely not in good condition. My wife and I have comprehensive insurance on our car (which includes non-insured drivers) and it's an 04 Dodge Neon SRT. We live in Utah. So here are a few questions: 1) Do we have to claim this on our insurance, or do we wait until the cops bust the lady and then get her information that way? 2) If the lady is not insured, is it best to just claim it on our own insurance or to sue her for the damages? 3) What are the consequences? Will we have to go to court and testify or anything? Will the lady have to go to court? 4) Will the lady get arrested or just sent a letter and be asked to come to court? Any information is appreciated. We're pretty confused right now as to what to do. Good thing is that we have insurance, we reported it, the cops took pictures and we have a witness who took down the lady's license number and car description.

Public Comments

1. Report it to your insurance company and get your car fixed immediately. They will pay to fix your car and take the woman to court to recover what they paid you. It should be of no concern to you at this time if she's insured or not. You may have to pay the deductible but you will get that back when the other drivers insurance settles. If she doesn't have insurance you will be out the deductible but can sue her in small claims court to get that back. She may lose her license, get a heavy fine, or even go to jail but none of that puts money in your pocket. You will give your insurance a statement but you will not need to go to court since you didn't see what happened and have no firsthand knowledge that would be useful. Your witness will also give your insurance company a statement but it is unlikely he will have to go to court either.