A parked car hit by a driver who left, traced weeks later

Attorney Answer

Yes, you deal with his insurer directly — and with liability-only coverage on your side that is not just an option, it is the only route. The good news is better than it looks: the delay has cost you nothing that matters, and the fact he left is now somebody else's problem rather than yours.

You are a claimant, not their customer, and that distinction explains most of what follows. The other driver's insurer owes its duties to the person it insures. To you it owes what its insured owes you — which is why it will want to establish that its insured was at fault before it pays, and why its adjuster is not working on your behalf even when they are perfectly pleasant about it.

Take the three parts of your question in turn.

Can they deal with you directly? Yes. This is a third-party claim and it is ordinary business. You contact his insurer with the date, the location and his details, and they open a claim. Your own insurer has no part to play, because liability coverage pays other people for damage you cause — it does not repair your car. There is nothing on your side for the two companies to settle between them.

Will they send their own estimator? Usually yes, and they are entitled to satisfy themselves about the damage before paying for it. That is normal and not a sign of trouble. What matters is that their estimate is not the only number in the room: get two of your own first, so that when a figure arrives you are comparing rather than reacting.

Where do you get it fixed? It is your car. An insurer will commonly suggest a shop or a network, and there can be genuine advantages to using one — warranties on the work, direct billing, less chasing. But a suggestion is what it is. If you would rather use your own repairer, say so early and get the figure agreed before work starts rather than after.

There is one Alabama feature that works strongly in your favor here, and it is worth understanding because in most cases it runs the other way. Alabama applies contributory negligence: a claimant whose own negligence helped cause the harm recovers nothing at all — not a reduced share. It is the harshest rule in the country and it is the first thing a defense looks for. A lawfully parked, unoccupied car gives it almost nothing to work with. You were not driving, not moving and not making decisions. Where the car was parked can occasionally matter, but the ordinary route by which Alabama claims fail is largely closed to them here.

On the hit-and-run itself. Alabama requires a driver involved in an accident to stop and to give name, address and registration under §§ 32-10-1 and 32-10-2. That he left is a matter between him and the state, and it is not something you have to prove or pursue to be paid for your car. It does, though, make the police file worth having: the investigation that identified him is the evidence that he was the one who hit you, and it exists whether or not he is ever prosecuted.

The delay has not hurt you. Your claim is against him and his insurer, and it did not begin running out while you were in hospital or while the police were working out who he was.

What you can do

1. Get the police report and the detective's case number. That file is what establishes he was the driver, and you are entitled to a copy of it. 2. Open the claim directly with his insurer, giving them the report number rather than your account of an incident you did not see. 3. Photograph all the damage before any repair, and keep the photographs even after the car is fixed. 4. Get two independent repair estimates of your own before discussing any figure with his insurer. 5. If you would prefer your own repairer, say so at the outset and have the amount agreed in writing before the work begins. 6. Ask about a rental or loss-of-use while the car is off the road; it is commonly payable on a third-party claim and is commonly not offered unless raised. 7. If the insurer stalls, denies without explanation or stops responding, file a complaint with the Alabama Department of Insurance rather than continuing to chase it by phone.

⏱ Time limits apply. Ala. Code § 6-2-38(l) gives two years: “all actions for any injury to the person or rights of another not arising from contract and not specifically enumerated in this section must be brought within two years.” Evidence goes sooner — footage is overwritten and memories fade — so the practical deadline is usually much earlier than the legal one.

An Alabama attorney can tell you quickly how the facts here line up, and most will look at a matter like this at no cost.