Actual contact between two or more vehicles is no longer required in order to pursue and recover money damages in a claim for uninsured motorist benefits. The prior law said that there had to be contact between vehicles, mainly in an effort to prevent a fraud situation where a person claimed there was an accident caused by a no-contact vehicle when in fact there was not.

Under the new law, if an unidentified hit-and-run vehicle causes an accident that causes injury, the injured party can still recover money under their uninsured coverage as long as an independent third party verifies that there was an accident. For example, if you swerved to avoid a collision with another vehicle that crossed the center line headed right toward you, and in doing so, ran into a tree, you would still have a claim as long as an independent witness confirmed the events.