After a Crash in Missouri — Official Resources
This is general information, not legal advice.
Missouri’s state crash-report duty is aimed squarely at uninsured drivers. Under RSMo 303.040 you must file a written report (Form 1140) with the Department of Revenue within 30 days if the crash involved an uninsured motorist — or if you were uninsured — and caused injury, death, or damage to any one person’s property over $500. It covers parking lots open to the public, not just roads. Missouri also gives victims a real lever: under RSMo 303.030 and 303.042, an at-fault driver who does not pay for the damage can have their license and plates suspended for one year. Highway Patrol crash reports cost $6 and are usually available about 10 business days after the crash. And Missouri follows pure comparative fault, so you can recover even if you were mostly to blame, reduced by your share.
Most states ask everyone to report. Missouri asks a narrower question first: was anybody in this crash uninsured? That single fact decides whether you owe the state a form — and it also unlocks something most drivers never hear about, a mechanism that can take an at-fault driver’s license away if they refuse to pay you. Both are below, along with the report, lawyer referrals, free legal help, and insurance complaints. The first-steps checklist covers saving your dashcam clip before the camera loops.
Report the crash — 30 days
Per the Missouri Department of Revenue, you must report a crash to the Driver License Bureau when it involved an uninsured motorist, or when you did not carry liability insurance, and it caused property damage over $500 or someone was injured or killed. The statute gives you 30 days.
Use the Motor Vehicle Accident Report, Form 1140, available from the Department of Revenue website or any Missouri license office, and mail it to the Department of Revenue in Jefferson City.
Two details worth having. The statute reaches crashes on streets and highways and on any publicly or privately owned parking lot generally open for use by the public — so a supermarket lot counts. And DOR notes that even if a crash did not cause $500 in damage or any injury, you may still file a report if an uninsured motorist was involved, which lets the bureau act under RSMo 303.041.
If the at-fault driver won’t pay
This is the part worth reading twice. Under RSMo 303.030 and 303.042, per the Department of Revenue: if a driver is at fault for the accident and does not pay for the damages, their driver license and license plates will be suspended for one year.
The suspension can be lifted inside that year if they pay a $20 reinstatement fee and send the Driver License Bureau proof that they settled the accident loss — which is precisely the pressure. For someone being stonewalled by an at-fault driver with no insurer to chase, this is a real remedy that costs nothing to invoke.
Separately, if the Director of Revenue determines an operator or owner didn’t maintain liability insurance, that person is mailed a Notice of Suspension under RSMo 303.041. Anyone facing suspension can request an administrative hearing, and if the request arrives before the suspension begins, it is placed on hold pending a final order.
Get the crash report
If the Highway Patrol investigated, request the report through the Patrol’s crash report page. The fee for a basic crash report is $6.00. Requests for crashes from 1997 onward, including certified copies, can go to the troop headquarters where the crash happened or to the headquarters nearest you.
Reports are typically available about 10 business days after the crash; complex investigations take longer. Additional fees apply for reconstructions, photographs, and certified copies. If a city police department or county sheriff worked your crash, request the report from that agency instead.
Note that RSMo 43.253 sets the $6 figure as a statutory minimum and permits small periodic increases capped at $10, so confirm the current amount when you order.
Hit-and-run
Call police immediately — and note how a fled driver interacts with Missouri’s rules. An unidentified driver cannot be shown to carry insurance, so treat the crash as one involving an uninsured motorist and file Form 1140 within the 30 days; DOR expressly allows filing even below the $500 threshold when an uninsured motorist was involved.
Save your clip and note the time and location while they’re exact — on I-70 or a rural Ozarks two-lane there is often no second camera, and the plate your dashcam caught is the only lead. If police later identify the driver, the license-suspension lever above becomes available to you. In the meantime, uninsured-motorist coverage is required on every Missouri policy, so you almost certainly have it — check its hit-and-run notice deadline, which is typically much shorter than thirty days.
Find a lawyer
Missouri splits this by region. The Missouri Bar runs a statewide referral service and a free LawyerSearch tool that lists attorneys accepting new clients by practice area and location — but the metropolitan areas have their own services. In St. Louis, the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis operates an LRIS that has run for more than 70 years, makes over 13,000 referrals annually, and is one of the few in the country meeting American Bar Association standards. Kansas City and Springfield run their own as well.
Before hiring, use the Missouri Bar’s Lawyer Directory to confirm the attorney is in good standing with the Supreme Court of Missouri. The Missouri courts’ guide to finding and hiring a lawyer lists the referral systems and advises discussing the fee at your first meeting.
Free legal help
For income-qualified civil legal aid, LawHelp.org routes to the Missouri programs serving your county — Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, Mid-Missouri Legal Services, Legal Aid of Western Missouri, and Legal Services of Southern Missouri each cover a region.
The Missouri Bar’s public resources site, missourilawyershelp.org, carries free law-related brochures and the Client Resource Guide, plus a Fee Dispute Resolution Program that resolves disagreements with a lawyer over fees at no cost to the client.
Insurance problems
The Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance takes complaints against insurance companies and agents, and states its purpose plainly: if you believe you have been wrongly denied an insurance claim, they can help. The complaint forms and contact information are on their consumer complaints page.
Uninsured when it happened? Missouri’s system is built to find that out, and the consequences run through the same statutes described above — a Notice of Suspension under 303.041, and a one-year suspension under 303.030 if you were at fault and don’t settle the loss. Reinstatement generally requires a $20 fee plus filing and maintaining an SR-22 proof of insurance for a period. Request the administrative hearing before any suspension takes effect rather than after, and get legal advice early.
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Dashwatcher is a dashcam company, not a law firm, and nothing here is legal advice or a substitute for a licensed attorney. Reporting rules, deadlines, and programs differ by state and change over time; verify everything with the official source before you rely on it. Links go to government agencies, bar associations, and nonprofits. Dashwatcher receives no payment from any organization listed.
From the team at Dashwatcher.
Last verified: August 4, 2026