Transcript

Hey, this is Brother Rutter from Rutter Mills.

I want to talk to you today about hit-and-run accidents. By that I mean, what happens when somebody runs into you or your car and then flees the scene.

Who’s insurance is going to pay for that?

Well, many times, believe it or not, the police are able to identify hit-and-run drivers.

Sometimes there are witnesses or other evidence you’re able to give the police a little identification that they are able to use to investigate and find the person.

What that happens the hit-and-run defendant’s insurance policy is likely to be first. Meaning it would pay for your damages.

Now, your own insurance or the insurance of the car you’re in could also come into play, and that can happen in two different ways.

First, if they find the hit-and-run driver and that person does not have enough insurance, your own insurance or the insurance of the car you’re in (in case you are a passenger) may be used to supplement the insurance of the defendant.

That’s important to know because even though you may not realize it, you’ve been paying, if you’re paying for auto insurance, for uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage.

That’s something required by Virginia law. And just like what it says, if the defendant is uninsured, has no insurance, or underinsured (meaning they don’t have enough) you can use your own policy to supplement, to help pay for your damages.

Now, nobody likes to use their own insurance but you’re paying for that coverage, so talk to us about how to use that.

The second way that your own insurance or the car you’re in may come into play is if the defendant can’t be found, so it’s just like they’re uninsured, or if we do find them but their own insurance company says they were using their car for a criminal act or an intentional act for which their own auto insurance may not apply.

There are kinds of exclusions to coverage in an insurance policy and sometimes a hit-and-run means that we can’t count on the defendant’s insurance.

So we’d have to use your insurance or the car you’re in.

This can get tricky, it can get complicated, but we deal with it everyday.

We love figuring out these insurance issues to make sure there’s as much money as possible for you and your family at the end of the day.

So if you’ve been a victim of a hit-and-run, call us, let’s talk it through to make sure we maximize your insurance recovery.

Thanks.