Property Damage Claims After a Hit-and-Run Driver Flees

Attorney Answer

Filing the claim was the right first move. The live questions now are whether your insurer is meeting the deadlines California puts on it, and whether the driver can still be pursued for the damage.

Two separate things are in play. Cal. Veh. Code § 20002(a) requires a driver involved in a collision resulting only in damage to property, including vehicles, to stop immediately at the nearest location that will not impede traffic, and the section then sets out the steps the driver must take to get identifying information to the other owner. A violation is a misdemeanor carrying up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both. That is the criminal side, and it belongs to the police and the prosecutor. Your money claim is separate and does not depend on anyone being charged.

On the claim itself, California's claims regulations set clocks your insurer has to meet. Under Cal. Code Regs. tit. 10, § 2695.5(e), within fifteen calendar days of receiving notice of a claim the insurer must acknowledge it, provide the necessary forms, instructions and reasonable assistance — including specifying what it needs from you for proof of claim — and begin any necessary investigation. Under § 2695.5(b) it has fifteen calendar days to give a complete response to any communication from you that reasonably suggests a response is expected. Under Cal. Code Regs. tit. 10, § 2695.7(b) it must accept or deny the claim, in whole or in part, no more than forty calendar days after receiving proof of claim; if it needs longer, § 2695.7(c)(1) requires written notice of that within the same forty days and again every thirty calendar days until it decides. Once it accepts, § 2695.7(h) allows thirty calendar days to tender payment. A written denial must also tell you that you may have the matter reviewed by the California Department of Insurance, and give that unit's address and telephone number — § 2695.7(b)(3).

If you paid a deductible, Cal. Code Regs. tit. 10, § 2695.7(p) requires the insurer to tell you in writing whether it intends to pursue the other driver, and § 2695.7(q) requires it to include your deductible in any subrogation demand and to share recoveries with you proportionately.

What you can do

1. Ask your insurer in writing which coverage is handling this claim and exactly what it still needs from you. Keep a dated copy.

2. Keep every estimate, photograph, repair invoice and rental receipt. If the car has already been repaired, the photographs taken beforehand are the record.

3. If forty days have passed with no written accept-or-deny and no written notice that more time is needed, ask for the decision in writing and reference Cal. Code Regs. tit. 10, § 2695.7(b) and (c)(1).

4. Ask, in writing, whether the insurer will pursue the driver and whether your deductible is included in that demand.

5. If no police report was taken, ask the local law-enforcement agency whether one can still be made, and give them whatever you have — a partial plate, video, witness names.

6. If the handling stays unreasonable, file a complaint with the California Department of Insurance. Under Cal. Code Regs. tit. 10, § 2695.5(a) the insurer must give the Department a complete written response within twenty-one calendar days.

7. Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts with someone who handles these cases in your area is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. A claim for damage to your vehicle runs on Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 338(c)(1)'s three years; if anyone was hurt, Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1's two-year period governs that part and is the shorter of the two. The regulation deadlines above are duties on your insurer, not your deadline to sue. When your period started, and whether anything changed it, depends on facts this page does not have — have a California attorney confirm the dates. This page does not compute them.