Utah Rideshare Accident Lawyer
Table of Contents
Who pays after an Uber or Lyft crash in Utah depends on who caused it and what the rideshare driver was doing at the time. If the driver had accepted a ride request or had a passenger on board, Utah law generally requires at least $1 million in liability coverage.
If the driver was logged into the app and just waiting for a request, the required limits are lower, and the driver’s own auto policy often excludes rideshare work, so it can’t be counted on.
When another driver caused the crash, their insurance may owe you for your injuries. Most of these claims involve more than one insurer, and we start by figuring out which policy applies. At Cockayne Law, we handle the insurance companies so you can focus on getting better.
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Utah Rideshare Accident Claims
A rideshare accident can create a claim against more than one person. There is a driver who hit you, and there may be an Uber or Lyft driver, and in some cases, the company itself.
Each one has an insurer, and the insurers don’t always agree on who owes what. In the first few weeks, the adjuster will often call for a recorded statement before you have even finished treatment.
Passengers, other drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists all bring these claims. Don’t give a statement or sign anything until you have talked to a lawyer.
Who Is Liable for a Rideshare Accident in Utah?
Liability in a rideshare accident settlement depends on who made the mistakes that caused the accident and what the Uber or Lyft driver was doing on the app when it happened. Figuring that out early shapes which insurance policy you go to and how much is available.
When an Uber or Lyft Driver Causes an Accident
If the rideshare driver ran a red light, drove distracted, or sped, the driver is responsible for the harm. What the driver was doing at the time decides which insurance pays.
A driver with a passenger on board is covered differently than one who was just waiting for a request. Passengers hurt in a car usually make their claim against the driver’s rideshare coverage, and Uber or Lyft’s insurer is typically the one that responds.
When Another Driver Causes the Accident
Plenty of rideshare crashes are caused by someone else on the road. The at-fault driver’s insurance is where the claim starts, same as in any car accident.
It gets harder if that driver is uninsured or has no insurance. Uber and Lyft may carry uninsured motorist coverage that fills the gap, but whether it applies depends on what the rideshare driver was doing when the crash happened.
When Uber or Lyft May Be Legally Responsible
Uber and Lyft call their drivers independent contractors, so they can say a driver’s mistake isn’t theirs. That doesn’t always hold up.
A company can be responsible if it screens a driver poorly or keeps one after complaints. Even when it isn’t, its insurance usually still pays on a covered crash.
When Multiple Parties Share Fault
Fault can be split and not always be between drivers. The rideshare driver might have been speeding when another driver cut across lanes. Sometimes a failed part is to blame, like bad brakes, which can bring a manufacturer or repair shop into the claim.
In Utah, each party answers only for its own share or fault, but shared fault can reduce what you recover or bar the claim. The insurers will try to push you early.
How Uber and Lyft Insurance Works in Utah
Which policy covers you depends on what the driver was doing on the app when the accident happened. Rideshare insurance coverage generally changes depending on whether the driver is offline, waiting for a request, or providing a prearranged ride.
When the Driver Is Offline
When the app is off, the driver is just a regular driver in a personal car. Uber and Lyft insurance doesn’t apply. The driver’s own auto policy covers the crash, and if it’s a crash caused by someone else, that driver’s policy does.
When the Driver Is Waiting for a Ride Request
Once a driver logs in but hasn’t accepted the ride, the company contingent coverage applies. Utah requires the transportation network company or driver to maintain primary coverage during this waiting period.
That’s a lot less than the later stages, and serious injuries can use it up fast. Utah law does not allow the required rideshare coverage to depend on the driver’s personal auto insurer first denying the claim.
When the Driver Accepts a Ride and Is Picking Up a Passenger
As soon as the driver accepts a request, coverage goes up to $1 million in liability. That applies whether you are a passenger who has not been picked up yet, another driver, or a pedestrian.
Insurers sometimes argue over exactly when the driver accepted the ride, and the app data decides that.
When a Passenger Is in the Vehicle
The same $1 million liability coverage applies from pickup until drop-off. A passenger hurt in the car can generally claim against it, and so can anyone else the driver hits.
Even at this level, a bad crash with several injured people can strain the limit, which is another reason to find out early what coverage is actually in play.
Common Types of Rideshare Accidents
Rideshare accidents come in different forms, and who you can claim against changes with each one. Here’s where we see people get hurt.
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Uber and Lyft Passenger Accidents
You did nothing wrong except get in the car. If you were hurt as a passenger, you may have a claim against the rideshare driver’s coverage, the other driver’s insurance, or both.
We work out which applies so you are not left sorting it out while you are hurting.
Rideshare Driver Accidents
Drivers get hurt too often while working and without much protection. If another driver hit you, that driver’s insurance is the starting point. Whether Uber or Lyft coverage also applies depends on what the app showed at the time. Don’t assume you are covered or that you are not.
Accidents Involving Other Vehicles
If you were in another vehicle when an Uber or Lyft driver hit you, or if you were involved in a crash with a rideshare vehicle, the claim may involve disputes over fault and which insurer is responsible. These claims often involve a rideshare company insurer, which handles them differently from a regular auto policy.
Rideshare Pedestrian and Bicycle Accidents
Pedestrians and cyclists are hit by rideshare drivers who are rushing to pick up or watching their phones. Drivers also open doors into bike lanes. Injuries in these cases tend to be serious. You can bring a claim even though you were not in a car.
What to Do After an Uber or Lyft Accident
Report the Accident and Seek Medical Care
Get a police report even if the crash looks minor. Then see a doctor within a day or two. Neck and back injuries often show up late, and insurers read a delay in treatment as a sign you were not hurt that badly.
Notify the Rideshare Company
Report the crash through the app and say only what happened. Leave fault out of it. Whatever you write goes into their file. After that, dealing with Uber’s or Lyft’s adjusters is our job.
Document the Accident and Preserve Evidence
Photos of the cars and the road help, and so does a screenshot of your trip screen before it updates. Some evidence only the rideshare company has, like what the driver’s app showed at the moment of impact. We sent the request for that.
Be Careful When Communicating With Insurers
An adjuster can call you even before you leave the doctor’s office. Don’t give a recorded statement, and don’t sign anything. The first offer is built around what the insurer wants to pay, not what your bills add up to. Talk to a car accident attorney first.
Utah Laws That Affect Rideshare Accident Claims
Utah’s No-Fault Insurance Rules
“No-fault” sounds like nobody gets blamed, but that’s not what it means in Utah. It only decides who pays first for the medical bills, and the answer is your own auto insurance through personal injury protection. The minimum is $3,000, which is how much one ER visit and imaging can use up.
Fault comes back into the picture when you want more than that. To claim pain and suffering from the driver who caused the crash, you need $3,000 in medical expenses or a serious injury like a fracture or a permanent impairment.
Comparative Fault in Utah
Say a jury decides you were 20 percent responsible for a crash that caused $100,000 in damages. You recover $80,000. Utah follows a modified comparative fault rule. If you are less than 50% at fault, your damages can be reduced by your percentage of fault. If you are 50% or more at fault, you generally cannot recover damages.
Adjusters know this. They asked whether you were buckled in and whether you looked at your phone. Where exactly were you standing when the car hit you? Each answer is a chance to move a few points of blame onto you.
Utah’s Personal Injury Filing Deadlines
You have four years to file a personal injury lawsuit in Utah and three for property damage. But those are outer limits, and most cases shouldn’t get anywhere near them.
Dashcam and street camera footage gets overwritten, and neither Uber nor Lyft keeps every trip record forever. If a government vehicle was involved, such as a UTA bus, you have one, and the deadline is for a written notice of claim, not a lawsuit.
What Compensation Can You Recover After a Rideshare Accident?
If someone else’s mistake put you in this situation, you can ask for money to cover what the crash has cost you, including costs that have shown up yet.
Medical Expenses
Every bill that comes out of the crash belongs in your claim. The ambulance, the ER, X-rays, physical therapy, and the prescriptions you are still filling weeks later. Hang on to all of it. Insurers go through medical bills line by line, and whatever you can’t document is the first thing they cut.
Lost Wages and Reduced Earning Capacity
If you missed work, that lost pay is part of the claim. So if you pay, you want to earn later if the injury changes what you can do. A nurse with a back injury may never lift a patient again. If you drive for Uber and Lyft for yourself, proving what you lost takes extra work, since there is no employee handing you a pay stub. Your trip history and tax returns fill that gap.
Future Medical Costs
Some injuries like traumatic brain or spinal cord injuries keep costing money after the case is over. The bad back might mean injections this year and surgery down the road. We talk to your doctors about what’s likely before you settle, because a signed settlement can’t be reopened if the bills turn out bigger.
Pain and Suffering
Bills don’t capture what it’s like to live with an injury. The pain, the bad sleep, dreading the next car ride, not being able to pick up your kid. Utah has no formula for this, and insurers usually offer very little unless someone pushes back. Notes from your doctor and a short journal of how you are doing day to day carry real weight.
Property Damage
You can recover the cost of repairing your car or what it was worth if it was totaled. Anything else damaged in the crash counts too, like a phone or a child’s car seat. Photograph it before it gets thrown out.
How a Utah Rideshare Accident Lawyer Can Help
A rideshare claim has more people and policies in it than a regular car accident, and a lot of the work happens before anyone mentions a dollar amount. Here is what that work looks like.
- Which insurance applies depends on what the driver’s app showed at the moment of the crash, so we pin that down first.
- We look at who caused the wreck and whether the blame is split.
- Trip logs, app data, and nearby videos get erased on a schedule, so we send a request early.
- Uber, Lyft, and their insurers call and send forms. We take those instead of you.
- Your medical records, bills, and missed pay go into one organized file.
- We negotiate based on what the crash has cost you, and if the insurer won’t offer a fair amount, we are prepared to file suit.
Call For a Free Consultation: (801) 268-2491
FAQs
If the driver was on a trip or heading to pick someone up, yes. Uber’s policy goes up to $1 million. If the driver just had the app open and was sitting in a parking lot waiting for a ping, there is coverage, but a lot less of it. If the app was off, Uber is not part of the claim, so one of the first things we ask for is what the driver’s app was showing when the crash happened.
Make sure everyone’s okay, call 911, and get the police report number before you leave. Report the crash in the app that night if you can. See a doctor in the next day or two, even if all you feel is sore. Uber’s insurance company may call fast, sometimes within days. Be polite, but don’t agree to a recorded statement.
You can, but it’s an uphill fight. Both companies say the driver is an independent contractor and not their responsibility, and the terms you clicked through when you made your account can push a dispute into arbitration. Most of these cases settle with the insurance company. Whether suing the company itself makes sense depends on what went wrong, and we can tell you once we have looked at your crash.
Then you start with the driver’s insurance, like any other crash. If the at-fault driver’s insurance is insufficient, other available coverage may come into play depending on the circumstances of the crash and the rideshare driver’s status at the time.Which policy applies still depends on what the rideshare driver was doing at the time.
If a ride was already underway, it matters less than you’d think. Uber and Lyft carry their own coverage during a trip. Before that, it gets harder, and your own uninsured motorist coverage may be what you end up relying on. Find your policy and look at it before you assume nothing’s available.
Talk to a Utah Rideshare Accident Lawyer
Rideshare companies have teams of people working on their side of this from the minute a crash is reported. You should have someone working on yours.
Call CockayneLaw at (801) 268-2491 or fill out the form below. Tell us what happened, and we will tell you where you stand, what coverage is likely in play, and what to do next. Nothing you say on that call obligates you to hire us.
[Legal Disclaimer]
This page provides general information about car accident claims in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is not legal advice. Every case is different. For your case-specific guidance, consult a qualified attorney.
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