Auto Insurance Claims: Accident/Insurance, scrape marks, halloween night

Question
ok so I really really need help. I am a 19 year old college student and this year was my first year having my car at school. Well long story short halloween night I parked my car in a parking lot and left my keys under my seat. [I only did this because I knew I would not be able to drive home that night and I knew that I would not try if I did not have my keys with me] Also some of my friends know that I do this just in case they need my car to take someone home who cannot drive. Well halfway through the night I got sick at a party and my boyfriend was also there so he took my back to his place to take care of me for the night and he would just bring me back to my car the next morning. I came back the next morning and drove back to my place I slept a little more just before getting a phone call from an officer saying that my car had been involved in a hit&run accident that night and when i went outside sure enough on my passenger side at the very front there were scrape marks. he came to talk to me blah blah blah and I proceeded to ask any of my friends did any of them use my car the night before of course nobody admitted. ok so I get a call from my dad today saying that he called our insurance company and apparently they wont fix any damages for either car if there is not a driver named. WHAT CAN I DO?! im almost positive nobody will come forward and tell me and I cant take the blame for it myself with the insurance because then they'll tell the police and that would turn into a whole other deal and I would go to jail. We contacted the lady who got hit but she has not answered her phone. If she doesn't file then we will just pay for the damages since they aren't major. idk what to do!

Answer
Hi KH,

This is a difficult situation. The only thing that I can think of is for you to report your vehicle as having been stolen. However, keep in mind that the police will finger print your car and if one of your friends shows up they will be arrested and you must be willing to prosecute in order to get your insurance to pay.

I think your best bet is to find a way to make contact with the person who owns the other car and make arrangements to pay the damage out of pocket. Then there is no involvement of police or insurance. You could try sending the other driver a letter explaining that you want to pay for the damage.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh