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Uber & Lyft accident lawyer
Rideshare cases are not car accident cases. Whether $1,000,000 of coverage is available or $50,000 comes down to one thing: what the driver's app was doing at the moment of impact. We prove it.
THE SHORT VERSION
Who pays: the at-fault driver's insurer, plus Uber or Lyft's policy if the rideshare driver was on an active trip.
Coverage on an active trip: $1,000,000 third-party liability, plus $1,000,000 uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.
Deadline: 2 years in CA, AZ and TX; 3 years in CO for motor-vehicle claims and in NM — but footage can be gone in 14 days.
Cost to hire us: $0 up front, no fee unless we win.
THE RULE THAT DECIDES YOUR CASE
Uber and Lyft insurance by app status
Both companies divide coverage into three periods. The insurer's first move is to argue you fall in the cheapest one. These are the figures Uber and Lyft publish for the United States.
(ride accepted → drop-off)
Coverage amounts reflect Uber and Lyft's published U.S. insurance policies and can change. Verify the policy in force on your date of loss — we request the declarations page in every case.
Who we represent in rideshare cases
Passengers
The strongest position in the case. You are almost never at fault, and on an active trip the $1M policy is available no matter which driver caused it.
Other drivers
Hit by an Uber or Lyft. Your claim depends entirely on the app status we can document from trip records.
Pedestrians & cyclists
Struck near a pickup or drop-off, often mid-block. Distracted-driver evidence lives in the app data.
Rideshare drivers
Injured while driving for the platform. You may have UM/UIM coverage through the app you did not know existed.
OUR PROCESS
What we do in the first 72 hours
Rideshare evidence is digital, owned by a corporation, and set to expire. Speed is the case.
Start the clock in your favorPreservation demands to Uber and Lyft
Trip logs, driver app status, GPS breadcrumbs, in-app messages and telematics — demanded in writing before routine deletion.
Video canvass of the scene
Doorbell cameras, business security systems, transit and city cameras. Most overwrite in 14 to 30 days. We knock on doors.
Coverage mapping
Every policy that could pay: the rideshare layers, the driver's personal policy, your own UM/UIM, MedPay and health coverage — stacked in the right order.
Medical care coordinated, adjusters blocked
We get you treating with providers who will wait to be paid, and every insurance call routes to us from that point on.
$5.5M
RIDESHARE RECOVERY
The carrier insisted the driver was offline and offered the personal policy limits. App records and trip data proved an active ride in progress, which opened the $1,000,000 liability layer — and the settlement went well past it once we documented the full extent of our client's injuries.
See more case results →RIDESHARE FAQ
Questions we get every week
Answered plainly, by lawyers who handle these claims — not summarized from someone else's blog.
Does Uber's $1 million policy always apply?＋
Short answer: No — only while the driver is on an active trip, from accepting the ride through drop-off.
If the driver was logged in but had not accepted a ride, contingent coverage of roughly $50,000 per person applies and only after the driver’s personal policy responds. If the app was off, the rideshare policy does not apply at all. Because that single fact can swing a case by seven figures, the app-status timestamp is the first thing we subpoena.
I was a passenger. Do I have to prove who caused the crash?＋
Short answer: No. As a passenger you are effectively never at fault, so you can pursue the available coverage regardless of which driver was negligent.
That does not mean the insurer pays willingly. Passenger claims still get met with disputes about the seriousness of injuries and arguments that treatment was excessive. What you avoid is the fault fight — which is the fight that sinks most claims.
What is the average Uber accident settlement?＋
Short answer: There is no honest average. Outcomes track injury severity, treatment cost, lost income and available coverage.
Claims involving brief soft-tissue treatment commonly resolve in the low tens of thousands. Cases with surgery, permanent impairment, or a death reach high six and seven figures. Anyone quoting you a single average number is marketing, not advising. We have recovered $5.5 million in one rideshare case and much smaller amounts in others — the facts decide.
Uber’s insurer already offered me money. Should I take it?＋
Short answer: Not until treatment is complete and someone has valued the whole claim, including future care and lost earnings.
Early offers arrive before anyone knows what the injury actually costs, and accepting one means signing a release that permanently ends your claim — including for surgery you may need next year. Have a lawyer read the release before you sign anything.
How long do I have to file?＋
Short answer: Two years from the crash in California, Arizona and Texas; three years in New Mexico, and three years in Colorado for motor-vehicle claims. Government-entity claims are far shorter — as little as 90 days in New Mexico.
The evidence clock is far shorter than the legal one. Rideshare trip data, dashcam footage and nearby security video are routinely overwritten within two to four weeks. Calling in the first days is worth more to your case than anything else you can do.
Do I sue the driver or the company?＋
Short answer: Usually you claim against the driver, and the rideshare company’s insurance policy responds on the driver’s behalf.
Uber and Lyft classify drivers as independent contractors and resist direct liability, so the practical route is a claim against the driver that triggers the platform’s commercial policy. Direct claims against the company are possible in narrower circumstances — negligent hiring, failure to remove a flagged driver, or app design that encourages distraction.
Rideshare accident lawyers near you
We handle Uber and Lyft claims across every market we serve, including the dense pickup corridors around nightlife districts, stadiums and airports.