Rideshare has become part of daily life across Tampa Bay, and so have rideshare crashes. When one happens, the question of who pays your bills is more tangled than in an ordinary wreck. There may be three or four insurers in the picture, the company carries different coverage depending on what the app was doing, and Uber and Lyft are quick to say their driver was an independent contractor and not their problem.
The good news is that real coverage is usually there, including a one million dollar policy during an active ride. The hard part is making the right insurer answer for it instead of letting them point at each other while you wait.
Why a rideshare crash is not an ordinary car accident
Three things set these cases apart: more than one insurer is usually involved, the company’s coverage rises and falls with the driver’s app status, and the driver’s personal policy often excludes any coverage at all while driving for hire. Get the app status wrong and you can chase the wrong policy until the deadline runs.
Rideshare cases turn on a question the insurers fight over: which policy was on the risk at the instant of the crash, the driver’s own, the company’s contingent layer, or the full one million dollar policy. Pinning that down, and refusing to let several insurers point fingers while your bills pile up, is the work I do. Learn more about my background.
The coverage depends on the app: Florida’s rideshare periods
Florida’s Transportation Network Company law, section 627.748, ties the available insurance to what the driver was doing on the app at the time of the crash. There are three stages, and the difference between them can be hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Florida ties rideshare coverage to the driver’s app status under section 627.748. The layer that pays depends entirely on what the driver was doing at the moment of the crash.
| Driver’s app status | Whose coverage applies | Typical minimum limits |
|---|---|---|
| App off | The driver’s personal auto policy only | Whatever the driver’s own policy carries |
| App on, waiting for a ride request | The company’s contingent coverage, where the personal policy will not pay | At least 50,000 per person, 100,000 per crash, and 25,000 for property damage |
| Ride accepted, through drop-off | The company’s primary coverage, no matter what the personal policy says | At least 1,000,000 in combined liability, plus uninsured motorist coverage |
Our page on Uber and Lyft insurance coverage breaks down each period and the protections the statute builds in for injured people.
Who gets hurt, and who can recover
These crashes injure passengers, the drivers of other cars, pedestrians and cyclists, and rideshare drivers themselves, and the path to recovery is different for each. We handle all of them: people injured as an Uber or Lyft passenger, those hit by a rideshare driver, and rideshare drivers hurt on the job.
Can you sue Uber or Lyft directly
Usually not for the driver’s own negligence. Florida’s rideshare statute, section 627.748(9), classifies a TNC driver as an independent contractor rather than an employee when four conditions are met, and Florida courts have applied that classification to bar holding the company responsible for the driver’s mistakes. A claim for the driver’s ordinary negligence therefore runs against the driver and the required insurance, not the corporation. A different claim, that the company was itself negligent in putting a driver on the road who never should have been there, rests on the company’s own conduct rather than the driver’s, and it can matter in serious cases, though Florida courts have so far left the limits of that theory against a rideshare company undecided.
The rideshare accident pages
This page anchors focused pages on the coverage rules, the people these crashes hurt, and the evidence that decides them: insurance by period, passenger claims, being hit by a rideshare driver, driver injury claims, and proving app status from the data.
Damages and the deadline
A rideshare claim can recover your medical care, your lost income, future treatment, and the pain and limitation a serious injury brings. Our pages on damages and compensation, how PIP works, and uninsured motorist coverage explain how the money side fits together.
The deadline is shorter than many folks expect. Most Florida injury claims, including rideshare crashes, now must be filed within two years of the date of injury, cut from four by the 2023 tort reform. Florida also follows a modified comparative negligence rule, so a person found more than fifty percent at fault for their own injuries recovers nothing, which is one reason the other side will work to shift blame.
Common Questions
Who pays if I am hurt in an Uber or Lyft accident in Florida?
It depends on what the driver's app was doing at the moment of the crash. With the app off, only the driver's personal policy is in play. With the app on and waiting for a ride, the company carries a contingent layer of at least 50,000 per person. From the moment a ride is accepted through drop-off, a one million dollar company policy applies. Sorting out which layer is on the risk is the heart of these cases.
Can I sue Uber or Lyft directly?
Usually not for the driver's negligence alone. Florida's rideshare statute, section 627.748(9), makes a TNC driver an independent contractor rather than an employee when four conditions are met, and a company is generally not liable for the negligence of an independent contractor. The practical recovery is the insurance the company must carry. A separate claim that the company itself was negligent in hiring or keeping a dangerous driver is possible, although Florida courts have not yet defined how far that theory reaches against a rideshare company.
Does my own insurance matter if I was just a passenger?
Yes. In Florida your own household personal injury protection follows you as a passenger in an Uber or Lyft, so it is generally used first for your initial medical bills, and the rideshare company's liability and uninsured motorist coverage are pursued from there.
The driver did not have a passenger yet. Does that change my claim?
It can change which coverage applies and how much is available. The company's full one million dollar policy attaches once a ride has been accepted. Before that, while the driver was only logged on and waiting, a smaller contingent layer applies, which is why proving the driver's exact app status matters so much.
How long do I have to file a rideshare accident claim in Florida?
For most Florida injury claims the deadline is two years from the date of injury, reduced from four by the 2023 tort reform. Because several insurers may be involved and each will try to shift responsibility, it helps to involve a lawyer early.
Related: How a Florida injury claim works, Auto accident victims, How PIP works, Uninsured motorist coverage, and All personal injury practice areas.
This page is general information about Florida law, not legal advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Florida rideshare insurance is governed by section 627.748 of the Florida Statutes, personal injury protection by section 627.736, uninsured motorist coverage by section 627.727, and the deadline to sue appears in section 95.11. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely on advertisements.
