Parking Lot Accident, What to Do (and Who Pays)

Parking lot accidents are some of the most common, and most frustrating, accidents in the Antelope Valley. Antelope Valley Mall, Lancaster Marketplace, Vons, Walmart, Costco. Every weekend brings us new parking-lot damage. Here’s what to do when it happens to you.

Scenario 1: Someone Hit Your Parked Car and Left No Note

You come back to your car and find a dent, scrape, or paint damage. No note on the windshield. No witnesses. This is technically a hit-and-run, and yes, it counts even though no one was in the car.

What to do:

1. Look for security cameras. Most malls and big-box stores have cameras covering parking lots. If you report the incident to mall security or the store, they can sometimes review footage and identify the offending vehicle. This is your best shot at finding the responsible party.
2. Check for notes elsewhere. Sometimes the note blows off the windshield. Look around the car and under the wipers.
3. Take photos of the damage from multiple angles. Wide shots and close-ups.
4. Photograph the parking space and any nearby landmarks, license plates of cars parked next to you (in case they were witnesses).
5. Ask nearby drivers / store employees if they saw anything.
6. File a police report. Even though they likely won’t catch the person, the report documents the loss for insurance.
7. File a claim under your comprehensive coverage, most carriers process parking lot hit-and-run under comprehensive (or under UMPD if your state allows). Coverage applies with your deductible.

Scenario 2: You Hit Another Parked Car

You’re the moving vehicle. You hit a parked car. You’re almost certainly at fault. Here’s what to do:

1. Don’t leave. Leaving a parking lot accident is a misdemeanor in California (Vehicle Code §20002), even on private property. The penalties are real.
2. Leave a note with your name, address, phone, insurance carrier, and policy number on the windshield. Put it under the wiper, not on the windshield (wind blows them off).
3. Photograph everything, both vehicles, damage, parking space, your note in place.
4. Call your insurance and report the incident. Same-day if possible.
5. Their insurance will contact yours. Don’t worry about the back-and-forth, your carrier handles it.

The other driver’s repair is covered by your liability insurance. You pay no deductible on third-party claims.

Scenario 3: Both Vehicles Were Moving

This is where fault gets murky. In California:

• The vehicle backing up is generally presumed at fault if it hit a vehicle in a driving lane.
• The vehicle in the driving lane is generally presumed to have right-of-way over a vehicle backing out.
• Both vehicles backing is usually 50/50, both share fault.
• Both vehicles in driving lanes depends on signage, painted markings, and right-of-way at intersections.

What to do:

1. Move to safe area if possible.
2. Exchange information with the other driver.
3. Photograph everything, damage, position, parking lot signs, painted markings.
4. Look for witnesses, other drivers, pedestrians, store employees.
5. Call the police if there’s significant damage or any injury. They can take a report on private property if you ask.
6. File with your insurance and let the carriers determine fault.

Scenario 4: You Witnessed Someone Hit a Parked Car

Be the person you’d want there if it happened to your car. Take a picture of the offending vehicle’s license plate. Write down what you saw. Leave a note on the victim’s car with your contact info and what you saw. This is what good neighbors do, and it’s exactly the kind of witness statement that resolves hit-and-run insurance claims.

How Insurance Pays for Parking Lot Damage

Comprehensive Coverage

Pays for hit-and-run damage (you don’t know who hit you), vandalism, falling objects, theft. Subject to your deductible.

Collision Coverage

Pays for damage you caused by hitting another car or object. Subject to your deductible.

Other Driver’s Liability

Pays for your repair when another driver hit you and is identified at fault. No deductible to you on third-party claims.

Your Uninsured Motorist Property Damage (UMPD)

If you were hit by an identifiable driver who has no insurance, UMPD covers your repair. Subject to a small deductible (often $250).

Common Parking Lot Damage We Repair

• Door dings and shopping cart scratches, paintless dent repair if paint is intact, otherwise dent + paint refinish
• Bumper scuffs from low-speed contact
• Side-swipe scratches along doors and fenders
• Cracked bumpers from harder impacts
• Damaged side mirrors, common when the offending vehicle is wider than expected
• Wheel and rocker panel damage from over-curbed parking

Most parking lot damage is in the $300–1,500 range, often hovering right around the deductible threshold. We can give you a free estimate to help you decide whether to file or pay out of pocket. Submit photos online →

The Bottom Line

Parking lot accidents are usually small, frustrating, and resolvable. Take photos. File the police report. Use your insurance the way it was designed. And add comprehensive coverage to your policy if you don’t have it, parking lot hit-and-run is exactly what it’s for.