Finance and Law

How Does Insurance Coverage Work In Uber Accident Claims?

<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Ride-sharing services have exploded over the last decade&comma; resulting in new transportation options for passengers and professional and financial opportunities for drivers&period; The advent of services like Uber also means an introduction of novel issues that were not previously imagined&period; In the past&comma; people who needed rides hailed taxis or called family members or friends to drive them&period; With Uber&comma; people now have more options&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>However&comma; riding in an Uber as a passenger carries the same degree of risk for an accident as riding in any other vehicle&period; If you are <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;newsforpublic&period;com&sol;what-to-do-if-you-get-into-an-accident-in-an-uber&sol;">injured in an accident while riding as a passenger in an Uber car&comma;<&sol;a> you might wonder how you can be compensated for your losses&period; In general&comma; the at-fault driver&&num;8217&semi;s insurance company should be responsible for paying your damages&comma; whether the driver who caused the accident is your Uber driver or a third party&period; However&comma; Uber also has an umbrella policy that might provide coverage for your losses when you are injured while riding in an Uber vehicle&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>How Uber&&num;8217&semi;s insurance coverage works<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Uber has insurance that is meant to protect drivers&comma; passengers&comma; and third parties who are struck by Uber drivers while they are working because of the Uber driver&&num;8217&semi;s negligence&period;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;help&period;uber&period;com&sol;driving-and-delivering&sol;article&sol;insurance-&quest;nodeId&equals;a4afb2ed-75af-4db6-8fdb-dccecfcc3fd7" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener"> Uber&&num;8217&semi;s insurance coverage<&sol;a> pays up to &dollar;1 million for injuries resulting in Uber accidents&period; However&comma; the amount of liability coverage from Uber that might be available will depend on the phase the Uber driver is in with the Uber app&period; The insurance should cover your losses if you are injured as a passenger or as a third party in an accident caused by an Uber driver&period; Different rules apply&comma; depending on whether you are a passenger&comma; a third-party&comma; or a driver as well as on the particular phase of the app&period; It is important for you to understand the insurance rules and how they work before you accept a ride from Uber&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">How the Uber app works<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Uber is a technology company that has created an app that allows people to call for rides from their smartphones&period; When you install the app on your smartphone&comma; you can use it to easily request a ride&period; You will see nearby Uber drivers on your screen and will be told when one of the drivers has accepted your request&period; Uber drivers are people who have passed the company&&num;8217&semi;s basic screening requirements and work as independent contractors in the gig economy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>When a driver accepts your ride request&comma; you will receive the driver&&num;8217&semi;s name&comma; picture&comma; and a photo of the vehicle and its license plate&period; Once your ride arrives&comma; you should check to make sure it is the right driver and vehicle before you get into the car&period; You will then be taken to your destination&period; The payment will be made electronically through the app&comma; so you will not have to give the driver any cash&period; Once you have reached your destination&comma; you can then enter a tip for the driver and rate him or her&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Using the Uber app is often less expensive than calling a taxi&period; Because of the large number of people driving for Uber as a side gig&comma; calling an Uber is often faster than calling for a cab&period; This makes Uber a very convenient and affordable option to get to where you need to go&period; While most Uber rides are uneventful and safe&comma; accidents can sometimes happen just like they can with any other form of transportation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The safe ride fee<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">When you purchase a ride on the Uber app&comma; you might notice that a portion of the purchase price is for a safe ride fee&period; This fee is used to pay for the background checks the company is required to perform on Uber drivers as well as driver safety classes and motor vehicle screens&period; The safe ride fee is not a guarantee that you will not be injured in a car accident&comma; however&period; Whenever you are riding in a vehicle&comma; there is always a risk that an accident will occur&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Independent contractor status<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">People who drive for Uber are deemed to be independent contractors instead of employees&period; This is because they set their own hours and choose whether or not to turn the app on to work&period; Since the drivers are considered to be independent contractors and not employees&comma; their statuses can pose a problem for people who are injured in accidents with Uber drivers&period; This is because employers are vicariously liable for the actions of their employees but not of people who independently contract to perform work for them&period; By contrast&comma; a taxi company will be vicariously liable for the negligence of one of its employees if an accident occurs&comma; which means the company would be liable for the taxi driver&&num;8217&semi;s actions&period; In the case of Uber&comma; however&comma; the company will argue that it is not liable for the actions of its drivers when they cause accidents&period; However&comma; the company is required to provide liability insurance to cover their drivers&comma; passengers&comma; and third parties&comma; depending on the phase of driving the Uber driver is in&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>Phases of driving for Uber insurance purposes<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">While Uber has a &dollar;1 million insurance policy for drivers&comma; passengers&comma; and third parties&comma; the plan is divided into different phases for the amount of coverage that might be available&period; The coverage limits will depend on what the driver is doing with the Uber app at the time of the accident&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Not available &&num;8211&semi; Phase zero<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Phase zero occurs when an Uber driver is not using the app and is not available for rides&period; This occurs when the driver is using the vehicle for personal reasons&period; During this period&comma; an accident caused by an Uber driver with someone else will not involve Uber&&num;8217&semi;s insurance policy&period; Instead&comma; the driver&&num;8217&semi;s personal auto insurance policy will provide coverage&period; If the driver only has the minimum liability amounts required of California drivers&comma; this means that your claim might be limited to &dollar;15&comma;000 for bodily injury&comma; &dollar;30&comma;000 for two or more people who are injured&comma; and &dollar;5&comma;000 in property losses&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Available but waiting for a passenger &&num;8211&semi; Phase one<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">If the Uber driver has the app turned on and is waiting for someone to call for a ride and has no passenger at the time of an accident&comma; the driver&&num;8217&semi;s policy will be the primary policy for <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;victimslawyer&period;com&sol;uber-passenger-injury-attorney-los-angeles&period;html" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener">Uber accident injury claims<&sol;a>&period; If those limits are exhausted&comma; then Uber&&num;8217&semi;s policy will kick in and pay for additional damages suffered by a third party who is injured in an accident caused by the Uber driver&period; In this scenario&comma; Uber will provide additional coverage that includes up to &dollar;50&comma;000 per injured person&comma; &dollar;100&comma;000 for two or more injured people&comma; and &dollar;25&comma;000 for property losses&period; This coverage will not kick in unless the driver&&num;8217&semi;s personal insurance is insufficient to cover all of the losses and the driver requests it&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Available and traveling to pick up a passenger &&num;8211&semi; Phase two<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Phase two occurs when the Uber driver has accepted a ride and is in transit to pick him or her up&period; If the Uber driver causes an accident when he or she is on the way to pick up a passenger&comma; a third party who suffers injuries&comma; the third party can file a claim under Uber&&num;8217&semi;s &dollar;1 million liability policy&period; Uber might deny coverage if the driver&&num;8217&semi;s personal insurance does not include a ride-share endorsement allowing him or her to drive for pay&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>Available and actively transporting a passenger &&num;8211&semi; Phase three<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">An Uber driver who is actively transporting a passenger is in phase three of the app&period; In this phase&comma; the passenger and any other injured victims can tap into Uber&&num;8217&semi;s &dollar;1 million liability policy if the Uber driver negligently causes an injury accident&period; The driver is also covered under the policy&period; If the Uber driver is involved in an accident caused by an uninsured or underinsured motorist&comma; Uber has a &dollar;1 million UM&sol;UIM policy to cover the damages&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Consider retaining an attorney<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Insurance issues involving Uber accidents can be difficult to navigate&period; People who are injured in accidents involving Uber passengers might be eligible for different amounts&comma; depending on the phase the driver was in and whether the Uber driver was partially or completely at fault&period; Determining liability and figuring out which phase a driver was in can help to determine the potential sources of recovery that might be available to you&period; An experienced Uber accident attorney might help you to determine whether the Uber driver was at fault and help you to seek the maximum recovery amount for your losses&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Hardik Patel

Hardik Patel is a Digital Marketing Consultant and professional Blogger. He has 16+ years experience in SEO, SMO, SEM, Online reputation management, Affiliated Marketing and Content Marketing.

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