Expert: Claims Guy - 3/20/2010

Question
I stayed over a friend's last night who lives in the city of Baltimore, MD.  I parked my vehicle via on-street parking.  Upon returning to my car this morning I noticed that someone ran into my passenger side, it looks as if they weren't paying attention and bounced off of my vehicle.  My questions are as follows:

What type of coverage will cover this?

Is this considered a hit and run, and if so, was I required to call the police, etc.?

Also, back in December I had 2 claims; 1 was forgiven because I had never been in an automobile accident, the 2nd was considered my fault, but due to weather conditions I hydroplaned and rear ended another vehicle - this happened before my vehicle was repaired from the previous accident and since the airbag deployed, the vehicle was totaled.

How will a new claim affect my insurance?  Will they drop me?  Will my rates sky-rocket again?  Or will this be considered a "no-fault" accident?

Your assistance in this matter is greatly appreciated.

Answer

What type of coverage will cover this?  

Should be Uninsured Motorist coverage.


Is this considered a hit and run, and if so, was I required to call the police, etc.?  

Yes, it is a hit and run.  Calling the police is a good idea but they probably would not do anything other than take a report.  Some policies require a police report in this scenario, presumably to make sure you are not making it up.  But most insurers do not require it.  If they require it, you can always call later and do it then.

Also, back in December I had 2 claims; 1 was forgiven because I had never been in an automobile accident, the 2nd was considered my fault, but due to weather conditions I hydroplaned and rear ended another vehicle - this happened before my vehicle was repaired from the previous accident and since the airbag deployed, the vehicle was totaled.

How will a new claim affect my insurance?  Will they drop me?  Will my rates sky-rocket again?  Or will this be considered a "no-fault" accident?

This is a no fault accident and is not surchargeable.  But they can look at your overall risk profile and may consider you a higher risk with this frequency of claims.  I cannot say what they will do because every insurer handles this stuff differently.