Your Insurer's Duties After a Hit-and-Run Rear-End Crash

Attorney Answer

Your insurer is not free to stall. California's claims regulations put hard, countable deadlines on it, and if it misses them there is a specific place to complain.

First, the driver who left. Cal. Veh. Code § 20002(a) required that driver, in a collision resulting only in property damage, to stop immediately at the nearest location that will not impede traffic and take the identifying steps the section sets out; a violation is a misdemeanor. Where a person other than the driver was injured, the far more serious Cal. Veh. Code § 20001(a) applies. That criminal side does not control your insurance claim.

Now your claim. Under Cal. Code Regs. tit. 10, § 2695.5(e), within fifteen calendar days of receiving notice of your claim the insurer must acknowledge it, give you the necessary forms, instructions and reasonable assistance — including specifying what it needs for proof of claim — and begin any necessary investigation. Section 2695.5(b) gives it fifteen calendar days to respond completely to any communication from you that reasonably suggests a response is expected. Under § 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 within that window and again every thirty calendar days until it decides. Section 2695.7(h) allows thirty calendar days to tender payment after acceptance. A denial must be in writing, list all its bases and, where it rests on a policy provision or exclusion, explain how that provision applies — § 2695.7(b)(1) — and must tell you that you may have the matter reviewed by the California Department of Insurance, with that unit's address and telephone number — § 2695.7(b)(3). Section 2695.7(d) reads: "Every insurer shall conduct and diligently pursue a thorough, fair and objective investigation and shall not persist in seeking information not reasonably required for or material to the resolution of a claim dispute."

On coverage, keep two things apart. Cal. Ins. Code § 11580.2(a)(1) requires every policy of bodily-injury liability insurance issued or delivered in California to contain, or add by endorsement, uninsured motorist coverage at limits at least equal to those set in subdivision (m), unless it has been deleted by written agreement on the forms the statute prescribes. That coverage is for bodily injury — it is not repair money for your car. Damage to the car runs through your collision coverage, a policy question, with the auto-claim standards in Cal. Code Regs. tit. 10, § 2695.8 governing how a total loss must be valued and repairs handled. Whether a driver who fled qualifies as "uninsured" under your policy is a definitional question this page cannot answer — ask the insurer to show you the language.

What you can do

1. Put every request in writing and keep dated copies — Cal. Code Regs. tit. 10, § 2695.5(b) gives the insurer fifteen calendar days to respond completely.

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

3. Ask for your declarations page and ask which coverages apply — uninsured motorist for injuries, collision for the car.

4. If you were hurt, get medical care now and keep every record and bill.

5. If the car was declared a total loss and you cannot buy a comparable car for what was offered, tell your insurer within thirty-five calendar days of the payment or final offer; Cal. Code Regs. tit. 10, § 2695.8(c) then requires it to reopen the file.

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 answer the Department in writing within twenty-one calendar days.

7. Talk to a local attorney before giving a recorded statement or signing a release. 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. Injury claims run on Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1's two years; vehicle damage on § 338(c)(1)'s three. Your policy may also set its own, shorter deadline for an uninsured-motorist claim: Cal. Code Regs. tit. 10, § 2695.7(f) requires at least thirty days' written notice before an insurer relies on such a time limit to deny a UM claim, and sixty days for other claims — but that notice is no substitute for knowing your own deadline. Which periods apply, and when they started, depend on facts this page does not have — have a California attorney review your policy and the dates. This page computes no date for you.