What Happens If You’re Hit by an Uninsured Driver Who Flees the Scene in Alabama?
Getting rear-ended is bad enough. Finding out the other driver has no insurance, and drove off before you could get their information, makes it worse. It’s a more common scenario than most people realize, and attorney David Greene recently joined Studio 10 to walk through what Alabama drivers should do if this happens to them.
Call the Police First
David’s advice starts before any conversation about insurance. Call the police and get a report. That report becomes the foundation for everything that follows, from an insurance claim to a potential case. After that, get medical treatment. Even if you feel fine in the moment, injuries from a rear-end collision don’t always show up right away, and a documented visit close to the date of the crash matters later.
Once those two things are handled, talk to a lawyer. Not every hit-and-run needs one, but knowing your options costs nothing and can save you from missing a deadline or a coverage detail you didn’t know existed.
Alabama Requires Insurers to Offer Uninsured Motorists Coverage, Not to Include It
Alabama requires drivers to carry liability insurance, but liability only protects the other person if you’re at fault. It does nothing for you if someone hits you and has no policy at all, which is exactly what happens in most hit-and-run cases once the driver is identified, or never identified at all.
Insurers are required to offer uninsured motorist (UM) coverage on every policy. They are not required to include it automatically, and Alabama law allows drivers to reject it in writing. A lot of people do this without meaning to. It happens during an online quote, a rushed phone call, or a renewal where a box gets checked without much thought.
Why People Waive It Without Realizing It
The coverage itself is inexpensive, often somewhere in the range of $25 to $30 a year depending on the policy. Compared to what it protects against, that’s a small amount to save. Yet it’s one of the most commonly declined coverages on an Alabama auto policy, largely because nobody explains what’s being given up when the rejection box gets checked.
Pull out your declarations page and look for UM or UIM coverage. If it says “rejected,” “waived,” or isn’t listed at all, call your insurance company today and ask them to add it.
How UM Coverage Works After a Hit-and-Run
If the driver who hit you can’t be identified, or is identified but has no insurance, your own UM coverage steps in. It functions almost like it’s defending the other driver’s side of the claim, except the money comes from your own policy instead of theirs. That’s the part people find confusing: you’re not filing against yourself. You’re using coverage you already paid for to fill a gap the at-fault driver left behind.
This applies whether the other driver has no policy, an expired one, or coverage limits too low to cover your medical bills. Many drivers let a policy lapse after the first payment, sometimes because of financial trouble, sometimes because of a suspended license or outstanding warrant that makes them more likely to flee after a crash. Whatever the reason, it leaves the other driver with nothing to pay you with, and that’s exactly the situation UM coverage exists for.
Multiple Vehicles Can Mean Stacked Coverage
If your household has two or three insured vehicles, those UM policies may be able to stack, increasing the total coverage available to you after a serious wreck. Whether stacking applies depends on the specific policies involved, so it’s worth asking an attorney to look at your coverage before you assume it does or doesn’t apply.
What to Do Today
If you’re not sure whether you have UM coverage, don’t wait until after a crash to find out. Call your insurance company, ask directly, and if it’s not on your policy, ask what it costs to add it. Coverage applies based on what’s in place at the time of the wreck, so there’s no adding it retroactively once you’ve already been hit.
Talk to Greene & Phillips
If you’ve been in a hit-and-run, or you just want someone to look at your policy and tell you plainly whether you’re covered, Greene & Phillips offers a free consultation and there’s no fee unless we recover for you. Reach the Mobile office at 251-478-1115, the Birmingham office at 205-955-7558, or call toll free anytime at 1-888-510-1020.
