If the driver stayed (or left a note)
You're normally 0% at fault — a legally parked vehicle is one of the cleanest scenarios in Ontario's Fault Determination Rules. Report to your insurer within 7 days, and your repair runs through DCPD (your own insurer pays), usually with no deductible. Your premium can't be surcharged for a not-at-fault claim.
Get the driver's name, licence, plate, and insurance details — or from the note, the plate and phone number at minimum. Photograph the damage, the position of both vehicles if they're still there, and the surroundings.
If they drove off with no note
Now it's a hit-and-run, and the path changes:
- Report it to police promptly — in most municipalities through the Collision Reporting Centre. This matters: an unreported hit-and-run can be treated very differently by your insurer.
- Hunt for evidence fast — nearby doorbell or security cameras get overwritten within days. Knock on doors, ask the parking lot's management for footage, look for witnesses.
- Coverage: with the other vehicle unidentified, DCPD can't apply (it needs a known insured vehicle). Your repair typically goes through your collision coverage with your deductible. If the driver is later identified, your insurer can pursue them and your deductible can come back.
Parking lots: the 50/50 myth
People assume parking lot collisions are automatically split 50/50. They're not — the rules have specific parking lot scenarios. A car backing out of a spot into a vehicle driving down the lane is normally fully at fault; two cars backing into each other is the genuine 50/50. If your parked car was hit, none of that ambiguity applies to you.