🏃 Hit and run and Verkehrsopferhilfe
In brief
The person who caused the accident has fled or has no insurance? Then help is available.
- Call the police and report the hit and run. Note the number plate, vehicle type and witnesses.
- If the person responsible is unknown or uninsured, the Verkehrsopferhilfe e.V. may be responsible.
- If the vehicle is unknown, property damage is only compensated if the fund also pays for a death or serious injury arising from the same event. There is an excess of 500 euros.
- Compensation for pain and suffering is generally not paid if the vehicle has not been identified, only in cases of particularly serious injury where it is necessary to avoid gross unfairness.
You must make it credible that you cannot get compensation from any other source.
Step by step
- PoliceReport the accident and the flight immediately; have a report taken.
- Collect cluesRecord parts of the number plate, vehicle description, witnesses, camera footage from the surroundings.
- Your own insuranceCheck whether comprehensive cover (Kasko) or accident insurance covers the damage.
- VerkehrsopferhilfeRegister the damage there (form on verkehrsopferhilfe.de).
Deadlines
- The Verkehrsopferhilfe is a fallback: you must make it credible that you cannot obtain compensation from the keeper, owner, driver or property insurer.
- If the vehicle has not been identified, property damage can only be compensated if the fund is obliged to pay, or has paid, compensation for a death or serious injury arising from the same event (§ 12 Abs. 2 Satz 3 PflVG). Compensation for pain and suffering is only paid in cases of particularly serious injury.
- Report the flight promptly so that the driver can still be traced.
- You too must stay at the scene under § 142 StGB: fleeing can result in up to three years' imprisonment.
In depth · legal basis, figures and practice – for advisers and professionals
Compensation fund, § 12 PflVG
Since 2024 (BGBl. 2024 I Nr. 119, implementing Directive (EU) 2021/2118), § 12 Abs. 1 Satz 1 PflVG has six numbered items. Among other cases, the compensation fund pays if the vehicle that caused the damage cannot be identified, the required liability insurance is missing or the insurer does not pay because of intentional conduct. The injured party must make it credible that they cannot obtain compensation from the keeper, owner or driver, from a property insurer or from the Deutsches Büro Grüne Karte (German Green Card Bureau).
Vehicle not identified, § 12 Abs. 2 PflVG
Under Satz 1, compensation for pain and suffering (§ 253 Abs. 2 BGB) is only paid if this is necessary to avoid gross unfairness because of the particular seriousness of the injury, so generally not. Property damage is only compensated if the fund is obliged to pay, or has paid, compensation for a death or serious injury arising from the same event (Satz 3); an excess of 500 euros applies.
Limitation, § 12 Abs. 3 PflVG
The provision regulates limitation as a special rule: what matters is knowledge of the circumstances. The limitation period is suspended until the claimant receives the written decision or the settlement proposal under § 26 PflVG.
Verkehrsopferhilfe e.V.
The VOH describes itself as the guarantee fund for accidents in Germany caused by unidentified or uninsured motor vehicles or by intentional use of a vehicle as a "weapon"; it is also responsible if the insurer is insolvent. It is also the compensation body for accidents abroad under § 12a PflVG (Directive 2009/103/EC as amended by Directive (EU) 2021/2118). Report damage via verkehrsopferhilfe.de/unfallmeldung. No general postal address is given on the home page; the website is the documented contact point.
Criminal law
On § 142 StGB, see the page on what to do at the scene.
A question about your situation that this page does not answer? Write to us or use the contact form – we will tell you which office is responsible and what to bring. Free of charge, without individual legal advice.