Hit and Run in Arizona: How Your Own Policy Steps In

After a hit and run, the first instinct is to focus on the driver who fled. The practical path usually runs the other way — through coverage sitting on your own policy.

Why your own policy is usually the answer

When the at-fault driver is never identified, there is no liability policy to claim against. Arizona law anticipates this: under A.R.S. § 20-259.01, every insurer writing auto liability coverage in Arizona must offer uninsured motorist (UM) coverage, and a hit and run is one of the core situations it exists for. If UM coverage is on your declarations page, your claim for injuries is made under your own policy — which is exactly what that coverage was purchased to do.

If UM coverage is absent from a policy, it was generally declined at some point, often without the policyholder remembering. The declarations page answers the question in one line, and the coverage can usually be added going forward.

The steps that protect a hit and run claim

Reporting the crash to law enforcement promptly matters twice over: it documents the incident while details are fresh, and the report becomes part of the evidence supporting the UM claim. Beyond that, a hit and run claim is built the same way as any injury claim — medical treatment documented from the start, photos and witness information preserved, and the claim valued on the full picture of the injuries rather than the first weeks.

The rules that still apply

Arizona's usual framework governs a UM claim. Most injury claims must generally be filed within two years under A.R.S. § 12-542. Arizona's pure comparative fault rule (A.R.S. § 12-2505) reduces a claim by an injured person's own percentage of fault rather than barring it. And the claim is evaluated by an insurer the same way other claims are — the standard of proof doesn't drop because the policy is your own.

Underinsured coverage: the sibling that matters when a driver is found

Sometimes a hit and run driver is later identified — and carries minimal coverage. That is where underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage, the second half of the same statute, can pay the difference between the at-fault limits and your own. The two coverages work together, which is why reviewing the declarations page for both is the standard first step after any serious crash.

This guide is general information about Arizona insurance coverage, not legal advice. Policy language controls in every case; reviewing your own declarations page and policy documents is the only way to know what applies to your situation.