To find out if someone has auto insurance, you can ask them. Drivers are legally obligated to provide this information after a car accident. If they refuse or they flee the scene of the crash, you will often need their license plate number to find out if they are insured. You can also just let your car insurance company deal with it.
1. Ask the driver for their car insurance information
After a car accident, the drivers involved are legally required to provide their contact and insurance information.
For example, according to the California Vehicle Code, after a car accident:
“The driver of any vehicle involved in an accident… shall immediately stop the vehicle [and] notify the owner or person in charge of [the other vehicle] of the name and address of the driver and… upon being requested, present his or her driver’s license, and vehicle registration… The information presented shall include the current residence address of the driver and of the registered owner.”[1]
Failure to uphold this obligation and leaving the accident scene amounts to a hit-and-run accident. This is a criminal offense.
The personal injury lawyers at our law firm have found that asking for the other driver’s name and their driver’s insurance information is the best way to get them. After a car crash, they will usually provide this information, along with their:
- insurance card,
- insurance policy number,
- insurance provider,
- driver’s license number,
- contact information,
- phone number,
- family member’s name, if they own the vehicle, and
- proof of insurance.
If they refuse, our attorneys have found that they are likely to be uninsured. Drivers carry insurance for these precise situations.
2. Use the driver’s license plate
If the other driver flees the scene of the crash, you can use their license plate to identify the car’s owner and find out if they have insurance. This can be very difficult for you to do in the immediate aftermath of a car crash. If you did not see the license plate or do not remember the letters and numbers that were on it, you can:
- ask any witnesses to the accident if they saw it, and/or
- check for surveillance video that caught the accident.
If you have the license plate information, then you can:
- file a police report for the accident, or
- request insurance information on the vehicle from your state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
Even if you do not the vehicle’s license plate number, you should still report the accident to police. By fleeing the scene and not providing you with their insurance information, the other driver has committed a crime.
File a police report for the car accident
After the accident, go to the police station or call 911 to create a report of the accident. Tell the police officer everything you can about the other vehicle, like:
- the license plate number, if you have it,
- its color,
- its manufacturer and model, if you are confident that you have them correct,
- the basic vehicle type, like an SUV or pickup truck, and
- any other details you recall about the vehicle, like bumper stickers, tinted windows, or how many occupants were in it.
With this information, police may be able to find out who owns the vehicle and whether they are insured.
Police will also be able to tell what sort of damage the other vehicle likely sustained from the scene of the crash. This can help them track it down.
Request auto insurance coverage information from the DMV
In most states, the DMV has to provide a driver’s auto insurance policy information for a valid reason. A car accident is a valid or legitimate reason to request this information.
You may need to provide the accident report from the police in order to prove that there was a car crash.
In your request for the driver’s auto insurance information, you would provide the DMV with as much information that you can about the vehicle. The DMV would then check their files to see if the vehicle has auto insurance coverage.
3. Let your insurance company handle it
You can also just let your insurance company handle the situation.
After the accident, you need to inform your auto insurance company of the crash anyway. This initiates the claims process. Tell the insurance adjuster all that you can remember about the vehicle that hit you. Let them go through the process of finding the vehicle, its owner, and whether they are insured.
Our car accident lawyers have found that this is often the best way to proceed, especially if your auto insurance policy has uninsured/underinsured coverage or personal injury protection (PIP). Insurance adjusters deal with these situations frequently. They will have their own ways of finding the vehicle.
In the meantime, your own insurance company would cover your losses with your uninsured driver coverage. This includes your medical expenses, if you suffered a bodily injury, and property damage. If your insurer finds the driver that hit you, they would demand repayment from them.
Why insurance information is so important
Insurance information is important because it lets you file an insurance claim against the at-fault driver’s liability insurance coverage. If you do not have uninsured motorist coverage and you do not know who hit you, you can struggle to recover the financial compensation that you need to cover your losses from the crash.
Nearly all states require drivers to carry car insurance coverage that includes liability coverage, though many states differ on how much collision coverage is required. This is to ensure that victims have a source of compensation to turn to after getting hurt.
Legal Citations:
[1] California Vehicle Code 20002 VC.
