Uber and Lyft Accident Liability in Florida: Who Is Responsible After the 2026 Haddad Ruling
If you were hurt in an Uber or Lyft crash, one of your first questions is probably whether you can sue the company. Under Florida law, that is usually not the most useful place to start. Uber and Lyft accident liability in Florida depends on who caused the crash, what the rideshare driver was doing, and whether the app was off, on, or in the middle of a trip when the crash happened. Those facts decide which insurance policies may apply, and they often matter more than the company name on the app.
A May 2026 decision from Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal reinforced this. In Haddad v. Lyft Florida, Inc., the court described the liability protection Florida gives rideshare companies under Florida Statute 627.748 as “very broad.” The case involved an assault, not a traffic crash. But the statute the court interpreted is written around the use of a vehicle, and a crash is exactly that.
Below is what the court decided, what the rideshare statute says, how coverage changes with app status, and what passengers, other drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists in South Florida should understand before making decisions about a claim.
Key takeaways
- Florida’s transportation network company statute shields Uber and Lyft from most liability for harm arising out of a driver’s use of a vehicle while logged on to the app. In Haddad (2026), the Fourth District applied that shield even to claims framed as the company’s own misconduct.
- The shield has limits. It does not apply if the company was negligent in meeting its obligations under the statute, committed criminal wrongdoing, failed to meet its statutory obligations for the driver, or owned or held the vehicle as a bailee. Each exception has to be proven.
- App status controls the insurance. While a driver is logged on and waiting for a request, Florida requires at least $50,000 per person, $100,000 per incident, and $25,000 for property damage. From the moment the driver accepts a ride until the last passenger gets out, the requirement rises to $1 million in combined liability coverage. When the app is off, no rideshare coverage is required.
- A rideshare driver’s personal auto policy can lawfully exclude all coverage while the driver is logged on. That means the injured person’s own personal injury protection (PIP) and uninsured motorist coverage may matter more than people expect.
- On request, the rideshare company must provide the exact times the driver logged on and off during the 12 hours before and after the crash. Those records often decide which policy applies.
What the court decided in Haddad v. Lyft Florida
Louise Haddad alleged that her Lyft driver assaulted her during a ride in April 2022, causing serious injuries. She sued the driver for negligence. Her claim against Lyft took a different route than the usual argument that a company answers for its driver. She alleged that Lyft made false or careless statements on its website about safety standards, background checks, and monitoring, and that she relied on those statements when she chose to ride.
The trial court in Broward County dismissed the claims against Lyft under section 627.748(18), the part of the rideshare law titled “Vicarious liability.” Haddad was allowed to amend her complaint. The court dismissed it again, this time with prejudice. On May 13, 2026, the Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed in Haddad v. Lyft Florida, Inc., Case No. 4D2025-0117. The Fourth District hears appeals from Palm Beach, Broward, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, and Okeechobee counties.
What the court said about the statute
The decision matters beyond its facts because of how the court read the statute:
- It called the immunity “very broad” and said it “appears to sweep in practically any claim” against a rideshare company, as long as the company complied with the statute and engaged in no criminal conduct.
- The heading “Vicarious liability” does not narrow the statute. The text bars liability “under general law,” and a title cannot override the plain words of the provision.
- “Arises out of” reaches further than “caused by.” A claim only needs a causal connection to the use of the vehicle while the driver is logged on.
- The exception for “negligence under this section” means negligence in meeting the requirements of section 627.748 itself. General carelessness in running a rideshare business does not qualify.
- The statute sets what the court called “a default rule of non-liability.” To proceed against the company, an injured person has to allege facts that fit one of the statutory exceptions. Haddad’s complaint did not, even after she was given the chance to amend.
The court acknowledged the policy debate but declined to take a side. “Whether it is wise to confer such broad immunity is not a question for this branch to answer,” the opinion states. If the Legislature did not intend that result, the court said, it is up to the Legislature to amend the statute.
Why an assault case matters for crash claims
Haddad was not a car accident case, and it does not decide every rideshare crash claim. The statute it interpreted, though, is built around vehicles. Subsection (18) protects a rideshare company from liability for harm that “results or arises out of the use, operation, or possession of a motor vehicle” operating as a rideshare vehicle while the driver is logged on. A collision fits that language more directly than an assault does, so expect rideshare companies defending crash claims in Florida to argue the statute applies with at least equal force.
An earlier appellate decision points the same way. In Abner v. Lyft Florida, Inc., decided in October 2025, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal affirmed a judgment for Lyft after a Lyft driver on a prearranged ride struck a motorcyclist. Abner arose under the 2017 version of the statute, before subsection (18) existed, so it did not interpret the immunity provision. It turned on the driver’s status as an independent contractor and a lack of evidence for a negligent hiring claim. Read together, the two cases show that claims aimed at Uber or Lyft themselves face real hurdles in Florida.
Where the ruling stands now
A decision from a Florida district court of appeal generally binds trial courts across the state unless another district court has ruled differently on the same issue. We have not found a Florida appellate decision that reads subsection (18) differently, or a later ruling or Florida Supreme Court decision that has changed Haddad.
The Legislature can still amend the statute, and future cases may define the exceptions more precisely. For now, anyone evaluating a rideshare crash in Florida should expect the company to raise this defense and should build the claim with that in mind.
What Florida Statute 627.748 says about rideshare company liability
Florida regulates Uber, Lyft, and similar services as transportation network companies, or TNCs. Section 627.748 sets the rules for how they operate, what insurance must be in place, and when a company can be held responsible for harm connected to a trip.
Put simply, subsection (18) says a rideshare company is not liable, just because it runs the app or is affiliated with the driver, for injuries or property damage that result from or arise out of the use of a vehicle while the driver is logged on. The protection applies only if all three of these conditions are true:
- The company committed no negligence under the statute and no criminal wrongdoing under federal or Florida law.
- The company fulfilled all of its obligations under the statute with respect to that driver.
- The company is not the owner or bailee of the vehicle that caused the harm.
If any one of those fails, the protection does not apply. Subsection (18)(b) adds a point that is easy to miss: the immunity does not limit the insurance the statute requires, or the liability of anyone other than the rideshare company. The company may be shielded. The driver is not, other at-fault drivers are not, and the required insurance still has to be there.
Vicarious liability versus a company’s own negligence
Vicarious liability means holding one party responsible for another’s conduct because of their relationship, such as an employer answering for an employee’s careless driving on the job. Direct negligence means the company itself did something wrong, like ignoring a known danger.
The statute closes off most vicarious liability claims against rideshare companies. After Haddad, direct negligence claims are also narrower than many people assume, because the exception covers only negligence “under this section.” That refers to the duties section 627.748 places on rideshare companies, including:
- Running criminal background checks and obtaining driving history reports before approving a driver, and repeating background checks periodically
- Disqualifying drivers with certain recent convictions or driving records
- Suspending a driver immediately, pending investigation, after a complaint that the driver appeared impaired by drugs or alcohol
- Showing riders the driver’s photo and license plate before the ride
- Maintaining the insurance the statute requires
Evidence that the company failed one of these duties for the driver involved could matter. A general complaint that the app could be safer likely will not.
How the statute treats rideshare drivers
Under subsection (9), a rideshare driver is an independent contractor, not an employee, if four conditions are met. The company does not set required log-on hours, does not bar the driver from using other rideshare apps, and does not restrict the driver’s other work, and the company and driver agree in writing that the driver is an independent contractor. Subsection (2) adds that a rideshare company is not deemed to own, control, operate, direct, or manage drivers or their vehicles unless it agrees to in a written contract.
In Abner, the court applied these conditions to the Lyft driver who hit the motorcyclist and found all four were met. That classification is a big reason the standard employer liability argument usually does not reach Uber or Lyft in Florida.
Vehicle ownership and the dangerous instrumentality doctrine
Florida has long treated motor vehicles as dangerous instrumentalities. Under that doctrine, a vehicle’s owner can be held responsible when someone they allow to drive it negligently causes a crash. On most rideshare trips the driver owns the car, so the driver’s own conduct and insurance are what count.
Ownership is still worth checking. If the car was rented, leased, borrowed from a family member, or owned by a business, the owner may be another party with its own insurance. Florida limits the liability of some owners who rent or loan vehicles under section 324.021(9)(b), depending on the arrangement. And if the rideshare company itself owned the vehicle or held it as a bailee, the third condition in subsection (18) would fail. That is a factual question to investigate, not something to assume.
What the ruling means in practical terms
For most people hurt in a rideshare crash, the ruling does not take away their options. It changes where the claim is likely to focus.
If Uber or Lyft probably won’t be a defendant, the questions that matter most are who was at fault, what the driver was doing on the app at that moment, and which insurance policies were in force. The statute answers much of the insurance question on its own, because it requires specific coverage during rideshare activity and keeps that coverage in place even when the company is immune.
That leaves several possible sources of recovery:
- The rideshare driver, if the driver was negligent (running a light, following too closely, looking at a phone). The insurance required for that trip period may respond.
- The coverage required during the trip, whether the driver, the company, or both provide it.
- The driver’s personal auto policy, which matters most when the app was off and can be excluded when it was on.
- Other at-fault drivers. Many rideshare crashes are caused by someone else entirely, and that driver’s insurance may be the main source of recovery.
- The injured person’s own coverage, including Florida PIP benefits and uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage.
A claim against the company is not always off the table. Evidence that the company skipped a required background check, kept an impaired driver active after a complaint, failed to carry required insurance, or owned the vehicle could support a claim under one of the exceptions. Those situations are uncommon and require proof. They are worth investigating when the facts point that way, but most strong rideshare claims start with the driver and the coverage that applied to that trip.
How app status decides which rideshare insurance applies
The driver’s status on the app at the moment of the crash often determines which policy applies. The key dividing line is when the driver accepted a ride request. Under the statute, a “prearranged ride” begins when the driver accepts a ride requested through the app, continues while the driver transports the rider, and ends when the last rider exits the vehicle.
| What the driver was doing | What Florida law requires | Where coverage may come from |
|---|---|---|
| App off | No rideshare coverage is required. Florida’s standard auto insurance rules apply. | The driver’s personal auto policy |
| Logged on and waiting for a ride request | Primary liability coverage of at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident for bodily injury, plus $25,000 for property damage, along with PIP and uninsured motorist coverage | The driver, the vehicle owner, the rideshare company, or a combination |
| Accepted a ride and driving to the pickup | Primary liability coverage of at least $1 million combined for death, bodily injury, and property damage, along with PIP and uninsured motorist coverage | The driver, the vehicle owner, the rideshare company, or a combination |
| Passenger in the vehicle | The same $1 million minimum, continuing until the last rider exits | The driver, the vehicle owner, the rideshare company, or a combination |
This insurance must be primary, and the policy must recognize that the driver is using the vehicle for rideshare work. Coverage that meets these requirements satisfies Florida’s financial responsibility and PIP security rules for those periods.
When the app is off, the driver is just another motorist, and the claim generally proceeds like other Florida car accident claims.
Contingent liability coverage and the first-dollar rule
Rideshare drivers do not always carry the coverage the statute requires, and Florida addresses that gap. If the driver’s insurance lapses or does not provide the required coverage, the rideshare company’s insurance must provide it starting with the first dollar of the claim, and must defend the claim. The company’s insurer also cannot insist that the driver’s personal insurer deny the claim first.
That is why the company’s policy is sometimes called contingent liability coverage. It exists so the required minimums are there even when the driver’s own policy does not respond. It does not mean the company is legally at fault, and it does not mean the full limit is available for every claim.
What Uber and Lyft say they carry
Both companies publish general descriptions of their insurance. Uber’s driver insurance page says it maintains third-party liability coverage of $50,000 per person, $100,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage while a driver is online and waiting, and $1,000,000 for injuries and property damage to riders and third parties while a driver is en route or on a trip. Lyft’s help center describes similar figures and says Lyft has no policy that applies when the driver’s app is off.
These are the companies’ own summaries. They do not confirm what a specific policy covers in a specific crash, and the actual policy terms, exclusions, and any Florida-specific provisions still need to be reviewed. Keep in mind, too, that a $1 million liability policy is a ceiling on what the insurer may pay for a covered claim. It says nothing about what a particular claim is worth.
When app status is disputed
App status is not always clear. A driver may say the app was off when it was on. A ride may have been accepted seconds before the crash. A driver may have been logged in to two rideshare apps at once. Any of these can change which insurance applies and how much coverage is required.
Florida law gives injured people some tools for sorting this out. After a crash, the rideshare driver must tell the other parties, their insurers, and the investigating officer whether the driver was logged on or providing a prearranged ride. During a claim investigation, the rideshare company must immediately provide, when an involved party or insurer asks, the exact times the driver logged on and off in the 12 hours before and the 12 hours after the crash. When an insurer disputes coverage, those records often carry a lot of weight, and disagreements over them sometimes become insurance disputes of their own.
Why the rideshare driver’s personal auto insurance matters
Many people assume a rideshare driver’s personal insurance covers any crash the driver causes. During rideshare activity, that is often not the case, and Florida law allows it.
Under section 627.748(8)(b), a personal auto insurer may exclude any and all coverage for a loss that occurs while the driver is logged on to a rideshare app or providing a prearranged ride. The exclusion can reach bodily injury and property damage liability, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, medical payments, comprehensive, collision, and personal injury protection. An insurer that excludes a claim this way has no duty to defend or pay it. Before drivers can accept rides, rideshare companies must tell them in writing that their personal policy might not provide any coverage while they are logged on or carrying a passenger.
As a result, the driver’s personal policy usually matters most in two situations. The first is when the app was off. The driver was not engaged in rideshare activity, so the personal policy is the primary liability coverage, the same as for any other driver. The second is when the driver bought rideshare coverage. The statute lets personal insurers cover rideshare activity by contract or endorsement, and some drivers carry a rideshare endorsement or a hybrid policy. Many do not, and the only way to confirm is to review the policy.
When more than one insurer is involved, the statute also sorts out who ultimately pays. A personal insurer that defends or pays a claim its policy excluded can seek contribution from the insurers that provided the required rideshare coverage. That can lead to disagreements between insurance companies, but it should not affect the injured person’s right to have the claim evaluated fairly.
How your own PIP and uninsured motorist coverage may apply
After a rideshare crash, people tend to focus on the driver’s insurance and the company’s insurance. Your own policy can matter just as much, especially early in the claim.
Personal injury protection
Florida still requires personal injury protection. A 2026 bill that would have repealed Florida’s no-fault system died in committee, and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles still lists $10,000 in PIP as a minimum requirement. Under section 627.736, PIP generally pays 80 percent of reasonable, medically necessary expenses and 60 percent of lost income, up to the policy limit, no matter who caused the crash. To receive medical benefits, you must get initial care within 14 days of the crash. If a qualified provider does not determine that you had an emergency medical condition, medical benefits are capped at $2,500.
Which PIP policy pays depends on your situation, not on the fact that you were in an Uber or Lyft. Florida’s priority rules generally look first to the injured person’s own policy. If you own a vehicle that must carry PIP, or you live with a relative who does, you will usually turn to that coverage first, even as a rideshare passenger or pedestrian. If no PIP is available through your household, the PIP covering the vehicle you were riding in, or the vehicle that struck you, may apply. During a prearranged ride, Florida requires rideshare coverage to include PIP at the level required for limousines.
PIP and liability insurance do different jobs. If you are unsure how PIP differs from bodily injury liability coverage, it helps to understand the difference before you talk to any insurer.
Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage
Uninsured motorist coverage (UM) can help when the at-fault driver has no insurance. Underinsured motorist coverage helps when the at-fault driver’s liability limits fall short of the injured person’s total damages. In Florida, UM is governed by section 627.727, and it comes with auto policies unless the named insured rejects it in writing.
The rideshare statute requires UM coverage during rideshare activity “as required by” section 627.727, but it does not set a separate dollar amount. Because section 627.727 allows written rejection, whether a rideshare policy includes UM, and how much, has to be confirmed from the policy itself. Do not assume the $1 million liability figure applies to UM.
That makes your own UM coverage especially important. Depending on the policy terms, it may protect you and resident relatives even when you are a passenger in someone else’s vehicle or are hit as a pedestrian. Our article on why uninsured motorist coverage matters for Florida drivers goes into more detail.
Vehicle damage
If a rideshare driver damaged your car, the property damage liability coverage tied to the driver’s app status may apply, along with your own collision coverage if you carry it. If you were the rideshare driver and your car was damaged, comprehensive and collision coverage depends on your personal policy, any rideshare endorsement, and the company’s coverage. When a rideshare company’s insurer pays under comprehensive or collision coverage, Florida requires the payment to go directly to the repair business or jointly to the vehicle owner and any primary lienholder.
How claims differ depending on who was hurt
One crash can produce very different claims for different people. The examples below are hypothetical and are here only to show how the analysis shifts.
A passenger in an Uber or Lyft
A passenger is inside a prearranged ride, so the $1 million minimum applies for the whole trip. If the rideshare driver caused the crash, that coverage is usually the main liability policy. A passenger with PIP through their own household will usually use it first for initial medical bills and lost income. Passengers are rarely at fault, but they still have to prove the driver’s negligence and document their injuries.
Say a back-seat passenger is injured when the rideshare driver runs a red light in Boynton Beach. The passenger’s own PIP may pay initial medical expenses. A bodily injury claim may then be made against the driver, with the rideshare trip coverage responding up to its limits.
Another driver hit by a rideshare vehicle
Here the rideshare driver’s app status is often the central question. If the driver was carrying a passenger or heading to a pickup, the $1 million tier applies. If the driver was logged on and waiting, the lower minimums apply. If the app was off, the claim goes to the driver’s personal auto policy. The injured driver’s own PIP applies first, and their own UM may come into play if the available liability coverage is too low.
A pedestrian or bicyclist hit by a rideshare vehicle
Pedestrians and bicyclists often suffer serious injuries because nothing stands between them and the vehicle. Under Florida’s PIP rules, a pedestrian or bicyclist who owns a car, or lives with a relative who does, generally looks to that household PIP first. A Florida resident without household PIP may be able to claim PIP benefits from the policy covering the vehicle that struck them. Liability again depends on app status and fault, and the injured person’s own UM may apply depending on its terms. If you were on a bike when you were hit, our page on bicycle accident claims covers issues specific to cyclists.
A rideshare passenger when another driver caused the crash
Rideshare vehicles get hit by other drivers like any other car. When that happens, the main liability claim is against the other driver, and that driver’s insurance becomes central. Florida only requires drivers to carry $10,000 in personal injury protection and $10,000 in property damage liability. Bodily injury liability coverage is not required in most situations, so the at-fault driver may have little or no coverage for serious injuries.
Imagine a Lyft passenger is hurt when an uninsured driver runs a stop sign and hits the Lyft. The rideshare driver did nothing wrong, so the rideshare liability coverage may not respond to the passenger’s injury claim. The passenger’s PIP pays first. After that, UM coverage becomes important: the passenger’s own UM, plus any UM on the rideshare policy that was not rejected. In a case like this, finding every applicable policy early matters.
Evidence that can establish app status and trip timing
Who was at fault and what the app was doing often come down to records that are easy to lose. Screenshots get deleted, surveillance video gets recorded over, and witnesses become hard to find. Evidence identified and preserved early is usually far more useful than evidence someone tries to piece together months later.
Some evidence you can collect yourself, if you are physically able to do it safely:
- Photos of the crash scene, the vehicles, road conditions, and visible injuries
- The trip receipt from your app. Florida requires rideshare companies to send riders an electronic receipt showing the origin and destination, total time and distance, and total fare.
- Screenshots of the ride in your app, including the trip timeline, map, and any messages
- The driver’s name, photo, and license plate shown in the app before pickup
- Insurance information for every driver involved
- Names and phone numbers of witnesses
- The police report number and the investigating officer’s name
- Your own dashcam footage, if you have it
- Medical records, bills, and notes about your symptoms
Other evidence is not yours to take, and you should never try to access a driver’s account or a company’s systems. The driver’s log-on history, trip data held by Uber or Lyft, the driver’s policy terms, and video from nearby businesses or traffic cameras are obtained through lawful channels. Those include written preservation requests, the statutory request for the driver’s log-on and log-off times in the 12 hours before and after the crash, insurance disclosures, and, if a lawsuit is filed, discovery and subpoenas.
Florida requires rideshare companies to keep individual ride records for at least one year after the ride. That is only a minimum, and businesses with surveillance cameras often keep video for much less time. A prompt preservation request can keep important evidence from disappearing.
What to do after an Uber or Lyft accident in Florida
Nothing on this list is more important than getting medical help when you need it.
- Call 911 if anyone is hurt or the scene is unsafe. Move out of traffic only if you can do so safely.
- Get medical care. Some injuries, including head and spinal injuries, are not obvious right away. Florida PIP medical benefits require initial care within 14 days of the crash, but get care whenever you need it, not on the insurer’s timetable.
- Make sure the crash is reported to law enforcement. Ask how to get a copy of the crash report.
- Document the scene when it is safe. Take photos and short videos of the vehicles, where they ended up, and the surroundings.
- Save your trip details. Screenshot the trip in your Uber or Lyft app and keep the emailed receipt.
- Get the rideshare driver’s information, including name, license plate, and insurance. Florida law requires the driver to share insurance information and to say whether they were logged on or providing a ride at the time.
- Get insurance information from every other driver involved, along with contact information for witnesses.
- Report the incident through the Uber or Lyft app. Stick to the facts.
- Notify your own insurance company. Your PIP and UM coverage may be involved, and your policy likely requires prompt notice.
- Don’t guess about fault. Describe what you saw, not what you think the other person was doing, and don’t speculate on social media.
- Keep your records. Save medical bills, receipts, mileage to appointments, and documentation of missed work.
- Talk with a personal injury lawyer before giving a recorded statement to another party’s insurer or signing a release. Several insurers may be involved in a rideshare case, and what you say early can affect how coverage is evaluated.
How a rideshare crash can affect your personal injury claim
The legal elements of a rideshare claim are largely the same as in any car accident. You generally need to show that someone was negligent, that the negligence caused the crash, and that the crash caused your injuries and losses. What sets rideshare cases apart is how many parties and policies may be involved, and how much depends on records the injured person does not control.
Fault has to be established with evidence, whether it points to the rideshare driver, another driver, or more than one person. Coverage depends on app status, personal policy exclusions, rideshare endorsements, and each person’s own insurance, all of which affect which policies apply and in what order.
Damages need support too. PIP covers only part of medical costs, and serious injuries may involve surgery, therapy, or long-term care that must be documented and backed by medical opinion. PIP also covers only a portion of lost wages; a liability claim may address the rest, along with any loss of future earning capacity.
Pain and suffering has its own threshold. Florida’s no-fault law allows recovery of these damages from an at-fault driver only when the injury meets a threshold under section 627.737(2): significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function, a permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability, significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death.
Comparative fault can also reduce a recovery. Under section 768.81, damages are reduced by the injured person’s share of fault, and since 2023, a person found more than 50 percent at fault for their own harm generally cannot recover damages in a negligence case.
Evaluating a settlement in a rideshare case means accounting for every applicable policy, the strength of the evidence on fault and app status, and the full effect of the injuries, including future needs. A high policy limit does not make a claim worth more; it only caps what a particular insurer may have to pay for a covered claim. Many rideshare claims resolve without a lawsuit. When an insurer disputes coverage or fault, or does not make a fair offer, filing suit may be necessary.
Deadlines apply as well. Under section 95.11(5)(a), a negligence claim generally must be filed within two years. That two-year limit applies to claims arising after March 24, 2023, when Florida shortened the deadline from four years. Insurance policies can also impose their own notice and cooperation requirements, so waiting can cause problems well before the filing deadline.
Frequently asked questions about Uber and Lyft accidents in Florida
Can I sue Uber or Lyft after an accident in Florida?
Sometimes, but it is difficult. Section 627.748(18) protects rideshare companies from liability for harm arising out of a driver’s use of a vehicle while logged on, unless the company was negligent in meeting its obligations under the statute, committed criminal wrongdoing, failed to meet its statutory obligations for the driver, or owned or held the vehicle as a bailee. The 2026 Haddad decision read that protection broadly. Most rideshare injury claims focus on the at-fault driver and the insurance required for the trip, not the company.
Does Uber or Lyft’s $1 million policy cover my accident?
Only if the crash happened during a prearranged ride, which begins when the driver accepts a ride request and ends when the last passenger gets out. Even then, the coverage generally responds only to claims the covered driver is legally responsible for. If the driver was logged on but waiting for a request, Florida requires lower minimums. If the app was off, no rideshare coverage is required. If another driver caused the crash, that driver’s insurance and your own coverage usually come first.
What if the rideshare driver’s app was off?
Then the driver was an ordinary motorist at the time. The claim generally goes to the driver’s personal auto insurance, and Florida’s usual rules apply. Because personal policies may exclude rideshare activity, insurers sometimes dispute whether the app was really off. The driver’s log-on and log-off records can settle that.
Does my own PIP apply if I was a passenger in an Uber?
Often, yes. Florida’s PIP priority rules generally look first to your own policy, or the policy of a relative in your household. If you own a car that must carry PIP, your PIP will usually pay first, up to its limits, even though you were in someone else’s vehicle. If you have no household PIP, the PIP covering the rideshare vehicle may apply.
What if another driver caused the crash while I was in a Lyft?
Your injury claim would generally be against the driver who caused the crash, not the Lyft driver. Your PIP typically pays first. Because Florida does not require most drivers to carry bodily injury liability coverage, the at-fault driver may have little or none. Your own uninsured motorist coverage, and any UM on the rideshare policy that was not rejected, may then become important.
How long do I have to file a rideshare accident claim in Florida?
For most negligence claims arising after March 24, 2023, the deadline to file a lawsuit is two years under section 95.11(5)(a). Other deadlines come sooner. PIP requires initial medical care within 14 days, and insurance policies require prompt notice. Some situations carry different time limits, so confirm the deadline for your case early.
Talk with a Florida rideshare accident lawyer at Bodden & Bennett
After an Uber or Lyft crash, the path forward usually depends on details that are not obvious at the scene: what the driver’s app showed at the moment of the crash, which insurance policies were in force, and whether any exception to the company’s statutory protection may apply. Those answers come from evidence, and some of that evidence can disappear if no one asks for it.
The Florida personal injury attorneys at Bodden & Bennett Law Group helps people injured in rideshare crashes throughout South Florida understand who may be responsible, pin down the app status at the time of the crash, identify every insurance policy that may apply, and preserve important records. If the facts support a claim, we can pursue fair compensation for medical expenses, lost income, and the other ways the injury has affected your life.
If you were hurt as a passenger, another driver, a pedestrian, or a bicyclist, you can schedule a free case evaluation with an accident attorney to talk through what happened and how Florida law may apply. Call (561) 806-5229, email info@bb.law today.
This article provides general information about Florida law and is not legal advice. Reading this article or contacting the firm does not, by itself, create an attorney-client relationship.
