Expert: webfoot - 8/14/2006

Question
Hi, before I begin, I would just like to thank you for volunteering your time. Well my husband was involved in a hit and run accident, he was on his way to work with a co-worker/friend, when a car ran a stop sign, taped the rear of the car and spun my husband out and the car hit a pole totaling our car. A witness did get the plate number and gave it to the police. it will be a week tomorrow. after the accident i found out that we didn't have underinsured driver on our policy. our car was being financed and we looked up the blue book value of the car and it is about 2,000 dollars less than what we still owe on the car, and no we didn't have gap insurance. My question is; What can we do to assure that we don't come out owing money on our car, is this other person relyable for our losses? losses including medical, and the time off work that my husband has had to miss over his injuries. If you could give me any kind of advise on this i would apprecati it.
Thanks again,
Julie

Answer
What an unfortunate situation Julie.  Hopefully your husband's injuries were not too serious.  If you'll read some of my older posts you'll see that I harp on UM coverage a lot and this is why.  Add it for the future and set the limits high.  

Can I assume that because the vehicle is financed, that you are carrying collision coverage?  If so, it's time to go ahead and file a claim for your insurer to handle the property damage to your vehicle.  You will have to pay a deductible but if they are able to track down the other person and collect from their insurance company, you'll get that deducible back.  If the other party is uninsured, then there is a good chance that you'll never see the money.  For the most part, the folks who hit and run are uninsured dead beats.  It's possible though that the person had a drink too many and just made a poor choice.  As long as the other vehicle wasn't stolen, then the witness’s info should be able to track down the driver.  However, this will take some time which is why you want to go ahead and use your own coverage.  
If you happen to have medical payments coverage, you can use that for the meds and if not, your personal health insurance may kick in.  
As far as wages, pain and suffering etc., the only source for that would be from the other driver or his insurance company, if found.

Lastly, you are only owed the value of the vehicle, regardless of who is paying for the loss.  Unless you have Gap insurance to cover the loan balance deficit, it will have to come out of your pocket.  You may want to add Gap on your next car loan.  It may not seem fair, but you have to realize that the person that hit you is only responsible for actual damages, not the fact that the car has depreciated faster than its loan balance has dropped.
Good luck!