In the state of New Jersey, Rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft are required to maintain liability insurance coverage for each of the vehicles in an amount of $1.5 million.
First, you must give notice to the rideshare company by filing a claim with Uber’s or Lyft’s Claims Department in order to obtain compensation for your injuries. To do this, you must obtain all relevant information pertaining to the accident (most of which can be obtained from the police report). You will want to ensure that you have access to:
- The names of the drivers involved;
- Driver License numbers of the operators;
- Vehicle Registration information;
- Vehicle insurer information (company and policy number);
- Photos of the scene as well as damage to the vehicles;
- Photos of visible injuries to you;
- Names and contact information for any witnesses
You may be able to gather some of this information in-app, but it is important to collect all of the above information if you are seeking damages from Uber or Lyft or against the owner and or operator of any other vehicles involved.
Does the $1.5 million of Coverage apply….
- If the driver was not logged in to the app then the coverage does not apply.
- If the driver is logged in but had not yet accepted a ride and was involved in a collision then Uber and Lyft’s insurance will only provide bodily injury coverage up to $50,000.00 per person/$100,000 per per accident and $25,000.00 of property damage coverage. (An example of this situation would be when a pedestrian is struck by an Uber or Lyft driver who is logged in to the app but not on his way to pick up a fare and not driving a fare)
- When the driver has accepted a fare or driving the customer around THEN and ONLY THEN is the $1.5 million dollars of coverage available to an injured person.
If the Uber driver or Lyft driver was not logged into the app or fulfilling a ride request, then you will have to look to the driver’s personal insurance information to seek damages for your injury.
It is advisable that you retain a knowledgeable attorney, such as the ones at the Law Office of Peter Briskin to help you tackle these complicated tasks so that Uber and Lyft don’t either outright deny your claim or pressure you to accept far less than your case is worth by misleading you and misrepresenting key facts
Similar to many other personal injury accidents, it is preferable to tackle a tough case against a tech giant with the assistance of an attorney who specializes in personal injury. The knowledgeable attorney Peter Briskin of the Law Office of Peter Briskin will gather all relevant information about your accident and will take all necessary legal action in order to obtain a favorable outcome.