Being hit by a driver who flees the scene feels doubly unfair — you’re injured, and the person responsible is gone. The good news is that in New Jersey, a hit-and-run does not have to leave you without recovery. Your own auto insurance has a built-in protection designed for exactly this situation, and knowing how it works — and how to protect it — is essential.
Uninsured motorist coverage to the rescue
New Jersey auto policies include uninsured motorist (UM) coverage, and a hit-and-run driver is treated as an uninsured driver. That means you can turn to your own policy’s UM coverage to recover for your injuries when the at-fault driver can’t be identified. In effect, your insurer steps into the shoes of the missing driver.
What to do after a hit-and-run
- Call the police right away and make sure a report is filed — this is often a prerequisite to the UM claim.
- Get medical attention and document your injuries.
- Gather what you can — partial plate, vehicle description, direction of travel, and any witness names and numbers.
- Look for cameras — nearby businesses, traffic, and doorbell cameras may have captured the fleeing vehicle (and they get overwritten fast).
- Notify your insurer promptly — but be careful, because even your own carrier is adverse on a UM claim.
Your own insurer becomes the opponent
This is the part that surprises people: on a UM claim, your own insurance company is effectively the defendant. It has every incentive to minimize what it pays — disputing fault, the existence of the phantom vehicle, or the extent of your injuries. If it unreasonably denies or lowballs a valid claim, that can raise bad-faith issues, including under New Jersey’s Insurance Fair Conduct Act for UM claims. Having someone in your corner against your own insurer matters.
Coverage, thresholds, and sometimes finding the driver
Your PIP coverage pays initial medical bills regardless of the missing driver, and the verbal threshold may govern pain-and-suffering recovery. And sometimes investigation — cameras, witnesses, and police work — actually identifies the fleeing driver, which opens up their liability coverage too and exposes them to leaving-the-scene charges.
Hit by a driver who fled? You still have a path to recovery
Don’t assume a hit-and-run means you’re on your own — your UM coverage exists for exactly this. We’ll protect the claim, fight your insurer if needed, and investigate whether the driver can be found. The consultation is free.
Part of our complete guide: For every related New Jersey offense, claim, and defense in one place, see our NJ Car Accident Guide.