Chicago Rideshare Accident Attorneys

Uber & Lyft Accident Claims Managed by Legal Professionals

After being hurt while riding in an Uber or Lyft, you will need to seek compensation for your damages. But who is actually liable for your medical bills, lost wages, and so forth? Is it the rideshare company, the rideshare driver, both, or another party altogether?

Move beyond all of the uncertainties with ease by allowing McHargue & Jones, LLC in Chicago to take the lead on your rideshare accident claim. Our lawyers have decades of experience taking and winning complex car accident cases against major insurance companies, like those who represent Uber and Lyft.

No matter how complex your case might seem right now, you can be confident that our team will have a way to manage it.

Find out more about your rights after a rideshare accident in Chicago. Call us today at (312) 487-2461 or contact us online.

Liable Parties in a Ridesharing Accident

If your rideshare accident was caused by another motorist, then that motorist would likely be held accountable for your injuries. Car accident insurance policies place caps on injuries, counting both one or more injured parties.

If you were in an Uber or Lyft with a couple of other riders, for example, then the damages you receive could be limited by the other driver’s insurance cap. At that point, your own underinsured motorist coverage could trigger and help provide any gaps in damages not yet paid.

On the other hand, if the driver of your rideshare vehicle causes the accident, then the liability issue of your claim could look much different. You might not be filing a claim just against your driver’s insurance policy, but also against Uber, Lyft, or whatever rideshare company was technically employing that driver.

Why Would Uber Be Responsible for a Driver?

Employers have a responsibility to reasonably protect patrons who use their services from harm caused by their employees. This responsibility is true in essentially any industry, and it can extend to the rideshare industry.

A rideshare company could assume some liability for a crash if the driver was:

• Not trained or vetted: Rideshare companies should only allow safe, experienced drivers to use their apps. Inexperienced drivers or drivers with a DUI history, for example, should be carefully vetted and potentially prohibited from using the app as a driver.
• Distracted by the app: In order to pick up new fares and follow the quickest route to their destinations, rideshare drivers need to keep the corresponding smartphone app running at all times. This action alone is distracting by nature. To this end, it can be argued that rideshare companies are intentionally contributing to driver distractions that can cause crashes.

Liability in any car accident can be a tricky subject. The matter only gets more complicated when ridesharing is involved. Do not try to sort through the details all on your own. It is always better to leave the legalities up to a legal professional like the Chicago Uber and Lyft accident lawyers at McHargue & Jones, LLC.

Does Uber Compensate for Accidents?

Are passengers technically insured while inside an Uber car? Thankfully, the answer is ‘yes.’ Uber provides a third-party liability insurance policy, which can be divided into three sections and can pay for injuries to passengers and other motorists. Each section determines how much coverage Uber will provide if any.

The three sections of Uber’s insurance policy are:

• Offline: If the Uber app is not being used or the driver is marked as offline, then Uber does not accept any liability for a crash caused by that driver. In that situation, the driver’s auto insurance policy will be used to compensate any injured parties.
• Available: While the Uber app is on and the driver is looking for a client, Uber can provide some coverage if the driver’s auto insurance policy is inapplicable. The third-party liability policy that can be provided by Uber includes $50,000 in bodily injury per person, $100,000 in bodily injury per accident, and $25,000 in property damage per accident.
• Active: After an Uber driver accepts a new fare or has a client in their vehicle, Uber provides the most coverage. The rideshare company’s policy will include $1,000,000 third-party liability, uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) bodily injury, and collision insurance coverage with a $1,000 deductible with some caveats.

Lyft offers a strikingly similar insurance policy, too. The most significant difference between the two policies is the deductible amount for vehicle repairs.

Can a Passenger Sue an Uber Driver?

When you are injured in a rideshare accident as a passenger, you will want to use Uber’s or Lyft’s insurance policy to collect the damages you need to recover. However, you are not necessarily limited to only using that insurance policy. You might be able to file a claim or a lawsuit against your rideshare driver, too.

In a claim brought against your Uber driver, you should be able to pursue any damages that Uber or Lyft have not already provided. Specifically, a separate personal injury claim can be used to demand noneconomic damages that you would never be provided through an insurance claim from a rideshare company. Noneconomic damages are related to pain, suffering, mental anguish, and other more abstract forms of damages and injuries.

Doing the Most for Your Rideshare Accident Claim

Figuring out the extent of the damages you should be provided after a rideshare accident is probably not something you want to do when you should be focusing on your health and healing. Leave the details of your Chicago rideshare accident claim up to our attorneys instead. We will act as if we are representing ourselves, meaning we will not back down from Uber, Lyft, or any insurance company until we secure the best possible outcome for you.

Contact us online today to speak with our rideshare accident attorneys in Chicago. Initial consultations are free!