In either of these situations, there is a government ‘fund’ that comes into play. The Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund (MVACF) steps in and acts much like any defendant’s insurer.
If you are injured in an accident where the other driver takes off before you can get their identification you can still make an injury claim under the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Act. The most important thing to know is that if you are injured by an unidentified driver (and you don’t have any details on ownership of the car), you must notify the Administrator of the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund within 90 days of your accident. This is so the Administrator has an opportunity to investigate the accident and see if the Administrator can determine who the other driver was and/or who owned the other vehicle.
Once you have notified the Fund, there are specific procedures and policies that you must follow in order to be able to make a claim for compensation from the Motor Vehicle Accident Claims Fund. This is not something I would recommend attempting without a lawyer, as there are numerous ‘pitfalls’ that could lead to the MVACF denying payout of your claim.
The MVACF will pay out damages for injuries suffered by people in two distinct situations:
First, where the other driver or owner is known, but there is no insurance on that vehicle or person.
Second, where the other driver and owner are unknown, because they drove off before you could get their driver’s license or vehicle license plate number.
There are significant differences between these two scenarios.
In the first scenario, in order to be able to get funds paid out of the MVACF, you must sue and obtain a ‘default judgment’ against the at-fault driver/owner. Typically this is done by suing the at-fault driver/owner and then serving them with the Statement of Claim. If there is no Statement of Defence filed within the time allowed under statutory time period, you can ‘note in default’ the driver/owner. The Administrator of the MVACF is then notified and you carry on the claim with the Administrator taking over the defence on behalf of the at-fault driver/owner.
In the second scenario, the first thing you must do is notify the Administrator of the MVACF within 90 days of the collision the fact that you were in a collision with an unknown driver/owner. This is a statutory requirement and you may be denied coverage under the MVACF if you fail to notify the Administrator of your collision within 90 days of the crash. The 90 day notification period is designed to ensure that the Administrator has an opportunity to investigate the circumstances of the collision relatively quickly after the event (to try to see if the Administrator can track down the unknown driver/owner of the at-fault vehicle). Where the driver/owner of the at-fault vehicle is unknown, you must file a Statement of Claim within two years of the date of the accident. The Administrator of the MVACF is named as the ‘Defendant’. The Administrator will defend the action and file a Statement of Defence. You then deal with the Administrator as you would with any Defendant.
These situations involving an uninsured or unknown driver/owner of an at-fault vehicle can become complicated very quickly. It is important in such situations to seek out the advice of an experienced personal injury lawyer.