My Parked Car Rolled Away and Hit Something: Does Insurance Cover It?

If your parked car rolls away and hits something, insurers generally handle it as an at-fault collision, even though nobody was behind the wheel. Your property damage liability coverage pays for whatever the car struck, and your collision coverage, if you carry it, pays to repair your own car minus the deductible. Comprehensive coverage usually does not apply, because the damage came from a collision.

Which coverage applies

The answer follows from how regulators define the coverages. California's Department of Insurance says collision covers damage to your car caused by physical contact with another vehicle or an object, such as a tree, rock, guardrail or building. Washington's Office of the Insurance Commissioner describes it as paying for damage to your car if you collide with another car or object. A car that rolls down a driveway into a parked truck or a retaining wall fits those descriptions.

Comprehensive, by contrast, is defined by what it is not. California describes it as covering damage caused by something other than a collision, such as fire, theft, vandalism or falling objects, and adds that it does not cover mechanical breakdown, normal wear and tear, or maintenance. So neither coverage pays to fix a worn parking brake or a faulty transmission that let the car move. Insurance pays for the crash damage, not for the part that failed.

Damage to other people's property falls under liability. The Illinois Department of Insurance says property damage liability pays for damage to another person's car or property such as fences, buildings, utility poles, signs and trees. If you carry only liability, the things your car hit are covered up to your limit and your own car is not.

Why the owner is usually responsible

State traffic laws make securing a parked vehicle the driver's job. New York's Vehicle and Traffic Law section 1210 says no person driving or in charge of a motor vehicle shall permit it to stand unattended without first stopping the engine, locking the ignition, removing the key, and effectively setting the brake, and, when standing on any grade, turning the front wheels to the curb or side of the highway. Washington's RCW 46.61.600 uses almost the same words.

Florida's section 316.1975 is similar: a vehicle may not be left standing unattended on any perceptible grade without stopping the engine, effectively setting the brake, and turning the front wheels to the curb or side of the street. Florida treats a violation as a noncriminal traffic infraction punishable as a nonmoving violation. With duties like these on the books, an adjuster's starting assumption is that the person who parked the car is responsible for where it ended up.

What you have to do when it happens

Finding out that your car rolled into something creates the same obligations as hitting it while driving. Washington's law spells this out: the most recent driver of a vehicle left standing unattended, who learns that it has become set in motion and has struck another vehicle or property or injured someone, must comply with the state's rules for reporting a collision with an unattended vehicle or property, or its rules for accidents involving attended vehicles and injuries. Other states handle it through their general accident-reporting laws, so check the rule where you live.

• Make sure no one is hurt and that the car is secured so it cannot move again.
• Find the owner of whatever was hit, or leave a note with your name and contact details.
• Call the police if your state requires a report or if anyone is injured.
• Photograph where the car started, where it stopped, the slope, and all the damage.
• Report it to your insurance company promptly and describe exactly how you left the car.

If the cause was a defect or a recent repair

Sometimes the driver did everything right and the car still moved, because a part failed or recent brake or transmission work was done badly. Tell your adjuster if you suspect that, and keep the repair invoices. Your insurer would normally still pay the claim under your policy and can then try to recover from whoever was responsible. California's Department of Insurance calls that process subrogation: one insurance company pays a claim and then tries to get reimbursed by another. It is also worth checking whether your vehicle has an open safety recall.

If someone else's car rolled into yours

Then you are the claimant. The owner's property damage liability should pay for your repairs, and the Texas Department of Insurance notes that you do not have to pay a deductible for claims against another driver's insurance company. If that company delays or denies the claim, Texas regulators say your own collision coverage will pay your repair costs, and your insurer will try to recover what it paid. If it gets anything back, you might have your deductible reimbursed.

Will it raise your rates?

It can, because it is typically recorded as an at-fault accident. The Texas Department of Insurance says insurance companies will charge you more if you have had accidents. State rules differ. In California, the Department of Insurance says your premium can go up at renewal if you are at least 51 percent at fault, and that your company does not charge you more for an accident that is not your fault.

The bottom line: a rollaway is treated as a collision you are responsible for. Liability coverage pays for what your car hit, collision coverage pays for your car, and nothing pays for the failed part itself. Secure the car, leave your information, document the scene, and tell your insurer if a defect or a repair shop may be to blame.