Whose insurance pays if an Uber or Lyft driver hits me?

Whose insurance pays if an Uber or Lyft driver hits you?

When an Uber or Lyft driver hits you in Florida, whose insurance pays depends on the driver's app status. Once the driver accepts a ride, the law requires at least $1 million in primary liability coverage; while logged on and waiting, at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident; with the app off, the rideshare insurance rules don't cover that time.

If you own a car that must carry personal injury protection (PIP), your own PIP insurer generally must pay PIP benefits for your injuries in Florida, whether you were in a motor vehicle or were walking when one hit you. Who pays if you don't own a car is explained below.

Pain and suffering damages from the owner or driver of a PIP-insured vehicle are allowed only for certain permanent injuries listed in section 627.737, Florida Statutes, or death. See Can I sue the other driver after a Florida car accident if I have PIP?

Can you sue Uber after an accident? If the rideshare driver caused the crash, you may have a claim against the driver; what the law says about the company itself is covered below. The page on rideshare accident lawyers in Melbourne has more. If you were riding in the Uber or Lyft, see What happens if my Uber or Lyft driver crashes while I'm a passenger?

What does Florida's rideshare law say about insurance?

Florida's rideshare law is section 627.748, Florida Statutes. It covers any "transportation network company," or TNC: a company operating in Florida under that section "using a digital network to connect a rider to a TNC driver, who provides prearranged rides." App-based ride companies that meet this definition, such as Uber or Lyft, fall under it.

Beginning July 1, 2017, the driver, or the TNC on the driver's behalf, must keep primary auto insurance that covers the driver while "logged on to the digital network of the TNC" or "engaged in a prearranged ride."

A "prearranged ride" begins "when a TNC driver accepts a ride requested by a rider" through the app, continues while the driver transports the rider, and ends "when the last rider exits from and is no longer occupying the TNC vehicle." So the drive to pick up a rider is part of the ride. Taxi and street hail service, carpools and some other trips the law lists are not included.

The law sets these minimums for primary liability coverage:

• Logged on, with no ride in progress: "at least $50,000 for death and bodily injury per person, $100,000 for death and bodily injury per incident, and $25,000 for property damage."
• During a prearranged ride: "at least $1 million for death, bodily injury, and property damage."

These minimums are the least coverage the law requires, not a measure of what any claim is worth. See How much is my personal injury case worth? The coverage may come from insurance kept by the driver or the car's owner, insurance kept by the TNC, or a combination of the two.

If the driver's insurance for the logged-on period or a ride has lapsed or does not provide the required coverage, the TNC's insurance must provide it, "beginning with the first dollar of a claim," and defend the claim. The TNC's coverage "must not be dependent on a personal automobile insurer first denying a claim."

Who pays when the app is off, on, or a ride is underway?

Hit by an Uber driver, or a Lyft driver hit your car? These general examples are not predictions about any case.

Your medical bills

Section 627.736, Florida Statutes, sets whose PIP insurer must pay:

• Yours, if you own a car that must carry PIP: for injuries in Florida while in a motor vehicle, as driver or passenger, or while not in a self-propelled vehicle, such as when walking, if the injury is caused by physical contact with a motor vehicle.
• If you don't, a relative's: the PIP insurer of a relative who owns a vehicle pays in those same situations, if that relative's household is where you live and make your permanent home ("domiciled").
• Otherwise, for injuries in Florida, the PIP on the vehicle you were in, as driver or passenger, or, if you are a Florida resident who was not in a self-propelled vehicle, the vehicle that physically hit you, as long as you don't own a vehicle that must carry PIP and are not entitled to PIP from such an owner's insurer.

What PIP pays is explained in Can I sue the other driver after a Florida car accident if I have PIP? If you were walking or biking, see Who pays if a car hits you while walking or biking in Florida?

If the app was off

The rideshare insurance rules don't cover that time, so the driver is generally treated like any other driver. Under section 324.022, Florida Statutes, every owner or operator of a motor vehicle that must be registered in Florida must be able to pay $10,000 for damage to other people's property in any one crash. Your own uninsured motorist coverage may also help, as explained below.

If the app was on

The minimums above apply.

Can you sue Uber after an accident? More questions

Can you sue Uber or Lyft itself, or only the driver?

Possibly, depending on the company's own role and conduct. Section 627.748 says a rideshare company is not liable under general law merely because it owns, operates, or maintains the app or other digital network, or because it is the company the driver is affiliated with, for harm to people or property arising from the use of a rideshare vehicle while the driver is logged on, if all three conditions are met:

• there is no negligence under section 627.748 and no criminal wrongdoing under federal or Florida criminal law on the company's part;
• the company has fulfilled all of its obligations under section 627.748 for that driver; and
• the company is not the owner or bailee (someone lawfully holding or using a car owned by someone else) of the vehicle that caused the harm.

This rule does not change or reduce the coverage or policy limits the rideshare insurance law requires, or the liability of anyone other than the company's vicarious liability (responsibility for someone else's conduct). So for a crash while the driver is logged on or on a ride, a claim against the driver may still be paid by the required insurance, which may be the company's. Judges decide how these rules apply to the facts of each crash.

Who pays to fix your car if a rideshare driver hits it?

The same three periods generally apply. During a ride, the $1 million minimum includes property damage; while the driver is logged on and waiting, the property damage minimum is $25,000; with the app off, the $10,000 requirement in section 324.022 applies.

What if the driver's insurance won't pay or isn't enough?

During the logged-on period or a ride, the company's insurance must provide the required coverage if the driver's lapsed or does not provide it, without waiting for a personal insurer to deny the claim first. If the at-fault vehicle's bodily injury liability limits are less than your total damages, your own uninsured motorist coverage counts that vehicle as underinsured. Under section 627.727, Florida Statutes, a Florida auto policy with bodily injury liability coverage must include uninsured motorist coverage, unless a named insured rejects it in writing for everyone insured under the policy. See What if the driver who hit me has no insurance or not enough?

What should you do after a rideshare driver hits you?

• Get medical care. To get PIP medical benefits, you must receive initial care within 14 days after the crash, from a provider type the PIP law lists: a medical or osteopathic physician (licensed under chapter 458 or 459, Florida Statutes), dentist, chiropractic physician, or advanced practice registered nurse registered under section 464.0123 who lawfully provides, supervises, orders or prescribes the care; a hospital or a facility that owns, or is wholly owned by, a hospital; or a licensed provider of emergency transportation and treatment.
• Make sure the crash is reported. Under section 316.065, Florida Statutes, the driver in a crash causing injury, death, or apparent damage of at least $2,000 to any vehicle or property must immediately notify the local police inside a city, or otherwise the county sheriff or nearest Florida Highway Patrol station, by the quickest means. Ask for the officer's name and the report number.
• Ask about the app. After a crash, a rideshare driver must give the rideshare insurance information to anyone directly involved (or their designated representative), auto insurers and investigating police officers, and on request must say whether they were logged on to the app or engaged in a prearranged ride at the time.
• Photograph the car, its license plate, any Uber or Lyft sign and the damage.
• Ask for app records early. In what the law calls a "claims coverage investigation," the company must immediately give a directly involved party or the driver's insurer, on request, the precise times the driver logged on and off in the 12 hours before and the 12 hours after the crash. It must keep individual ride records for at least 1 year after each ride.
• Report the crash to your own auto insurer.

Your deadline

Under section 95.11, Florida Statutes, a lawsuit for an injury caused by negligence must be filed within two years. That two-year rule applies only to claims that arose after the 2023 change took effect on March 24, 2023, and under section 768.28, Florida Statutes, a negligence lawsuit against a Florida state or local government agency must be filed within 4 years after the claim arises, except medical malpractice and wrongful death claims, which follow the deadlines in section 95.11(5). Before you can sue a government agency, a written claim generally must be presented within 3 years after the claim arises (2 years for wrongful death) and then denied, or left without a final decision for the time the law allows. Older claims follow different rules, explained in How long do I have to file a personal injury claim in Florida?

Talk to a Melbourne rideshare accident lawyer

Douglas R. Beam, P.A. is a personal injury law firm in Melbourne, Florida. If an Uber or Lyft driver hit you, you can talk with us about what happened in a free consultation.

Call us at (321) 723-6591, or send us a message through our website. Our office is at 25 West New Haven Avenue, Suite C, Melbourne, FL 32901.

Sources

• Section 627.748, Florida Statutes
• Section 627.736, Florida Statutes
• Section 627.737, Florida Statutes
• Section 627.727, Florida Statutes
• Section 324.022, Florida Statutes
• Section 768.81, Florida Statutes
• Section 316.065, Florida Statutes
• Section 95.11, Florida Statutes
• Section 768.28, Florida Statutes
• Chapter 2023-15, Laws of Florida