Uber Accident Settlements Guide

Uber and other ridesharing services have changed the way we get from one place to another by providing a convenient, reliable, and relatively affordable option nationwide.  While rideshare services like Uber and Lyft have massive appeal and popularity, there are times when the convenience may not be worth the hassle. If you are riding and involved in an accident, the legal process can get complicated. If you or a loved one have an injury as a result of an accident caused by your Uber driver, it is likely that you have grounds to file for an uber accident settlement.

Understanding Uber’s Insurance Coverage

To understand what your potential Uber accident settlement amount may be, you need to learn about Uber’s insurance policy. The reality is that with more drivers on the road, the possibility of being involved in a collision is high, resulting in more people pursuing an Uber car accident settlement payout. Uber does have an insurance policy in place but is very particular regarding the circumstances of the accident, which can impact your Uber car accident settlement amount.

Uber Insurance Policy Coverage

Uber has insurance to pay for your injuries and damages if you are hit or injured by one of their drivers. The policy covers passengers, other drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists. With Uber, the insurance coverage is not entirely straightforward, and the amount of coverage provided will depend on the stage Uber is currently in:

Uber does provide coverage, but getting an Uber accident settlement isn’t a guarantee. Just because the rideshare company has insurance, doesn’t mean they want to pay you. Uber’s insurance company makes money by paying accident victims as little as possible. The company may send you a lowball offer, take extended time processing your claim, or pressure you to give a statement that can be used against you later. You don’t have to accept these outcomes. Instead, due diligence can help determine liability, which has a massive effect on getting a fair Uber car accident settlement.

Factors Affecting Uber Accident Settlements

How you get Uber settlement compensation relies on four key components of the collision and its consequences when you were a ridesharing passenger. Similar to other types of auto accidents, the severity of your injury, damages, liability, and insurance coverage all play the biggest roles in deciding what your Uber accident settlement could be.

1. Severity of Injury

Ranging from soft tissue injuries like bruises and swelling to spinal injuries or even fatalities, the nature of your injury and its impact on your life are critical to Uber accident settlements. Medical records and treatments after your injuries will play a major role in the size of your settlement, so it’s important to get treatment as soon as possible after your Uber injury to ensure you have the medical documentation to argue your claim. Being able to prove your injury is directly caused by the Uber accident is key to getting fair and reasonable compensation.

2. Damages

There are two groups of damages considered in Uber car accidents: economic and non-economic. The greater the value of these damages, the more significant the potential settlement will be.

Economic damages have a clear monetary value. These will include property damage, medical bills, lost wages due to missed work, loss of future wages due to loss of capacity, medications or treatments for your injury, and any other out-of-pocket costs directly related to the Uber accident settlement. Any economic damages need to have clear documentation.

Non-economic damages are much harder to calculate since it concerns compensation for emotional distress and physical pain you endured. The two ways these non-economic damages are calculated are through the per diem method and the multiplier method. Per diem breaks down how much it costs daily to be injured, but is generally not a good gauge for chronic injury. The multiplier method takes the facts of the case and assigns a number (one through five) based on the accident’s severity, and then uses that to multiply the economic damages in the case.

3. Liability

Just like with other types of car crashes, determining which party is at fault is a major step in the car accident settlement process. The at-fault driver is the one whose actions, intentional or not, caused the accident. This can be from negligence, reckless driving, or merely not seeing a car when making a turn.

If the police arrive at the scene, they will often determine who is at fault in their paperwork. If you have injuries and need to seek compensation, getting a copy of this police report will be crucial for your success.

In multi-vehicle accident settlements, there may be more than one at-fault party. In these cases, all the parties liable for causing the accident are liable for damages. This is why it is important to get the contact information of everyone involved in your accident. In these situations, you or your attorney may need to contact several different insurance companies.

4. Insurance Coverage

As the table above shows, Uber has a $1 million liability policy available. But if the driver did not have his rideshare app on when the crash happened, the driver’s insurance coverage applies. If the rideshare app was on but there were no passengers in the vehicle, there is a $250,000 policy limit.It is important to note that Uber contracts with different insurance companies depending on what state you are located in, which could be a factor in your settlement along with other details like the rideshare process when the accident happens and how the insurance applies, regardless of the million-dollar liability.  Uber insurance may not be responsible for covering you, depending on the accident itself. If the Uber driver was at fault for the accident, you will need to seek damages from their insurance company. If other parties are at fault, you will want to pursue action with their insurance company. This means you must follow the procedures you would with a non-Uber-related car accident. Regarding insurance, you also need to remember that getting the best settlement results may require some time and negotiation. You may want to talk to a lawyer since Uber insurance coverage is complex.

Average Settlements for Uber Accidents

The average uber accident settlement can range between $10,000 and $1 million, but you can only sue Uber itself in certain situations, such as when the driver caused the accident and he was on the clock, or on the clock and with a passenger. If he or she was not with a passenger at the time, the driver’s auto insurance usually is the only option for compensation.

There are reported settlements with Uber for serious accidents of $1 million, $955,000, $896,000, $500,000, and $610,000. Whether your case could be worth that much will depend on the facts of your Uber car accident and on past settlements in Uber accidents similar to yours.

Different circumstances go into the determination of an Uber accident settlement, and they vary for each person, including:

• Severity of injuries
• Physical pain interfering with daily living
• Who was at fault
• The severity of the accident
• Number of parties involved
• Loss of wages due to missed work
• Diminished capacity at work affecting future earnings
• Property damage
• Medical bills and treatment
• If disability, disfigurement, or scarring results
• Pain and suffering (not all states allow this)

All of these factors and possibly more are assessed and given a monetary value. That value is then totaled and offered to you as a settlement amount.

How Injury Affects Average Uber Accident Settlements

You could have very minor superficial injuries, or there could be injuries so severe they are fatal. The injuries you might suffer will impact your Uber accident settlement amount:

• Neck and Back Injuries Requiring Surgery have an average value of $500,000 – $2,500,000.
• Severe Shoulder Injuries will average between $150,000 – $250,000.
• Brain Injuries (severe concussions and TBIs) have an average value between $400,000 – $5,000,000.
• Foot or Ankle Injuries Requiring Surgery can have a value of $200,000 – $1,500,000.
• CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) has been valued from $600,000 – $3,000,000.

Of course, there are many more injuries that you might suffer, and some injuries are more common in these collisions. CRPS, a condition where you have chronic, constant pain in certain areas of the body due to severe nerve damage, is a much rarer injury, affecting the amount paid out.

The average settlement for an Uber car accident is around $20,000. Many accidents result in minor injuries and are covered easily with Uber’s insurance as most rideshare drivers prioritize safety, obey the laws about speed limits, and pay attention to road conditions. 

Navigating the Settlement Process with Uber

Uber accident settlements have a slightly different settlement process than other injury claims. One main difference is the negotiation process. You must determine the insurance you need to contact, file a complaint, and then follow the process. Here’s what you need to know about getting a fair resolution:

First, ensure you do a few things immediately after the Uber car accident.

Make sure to stay at the scene and contact the authorities, even if you only have minor injuries. You need to get a police report and provide the police with a statement if they ask you for one. These will help you negotiate with Uber’s insurance if you end up in court.

Take photos at the scene: the accident itself, any injuries, and anything you think may help your settlement as you move forward. Also get the contact information of all parties involved in the accident. Take screenshots of the Uber driver’s profile on your phone. The more documentation you have about the accident, the easier it is to show you are owed compensation.

Once the police have determined fault, you will know if you need to contact the Uber driver’s insurance, your insurance, or the department at Uber handling their insurance coverage.  Unfortunately, many Uber drivers do not carry the expensive insurance required to protect passengers, as this requires them to have either commercial insurance policies or a personal insurance policy that covers ridesharing. If your driver does not carry this type of insurance, it will be difficult to receive a settlement. Uber does not require that drivers carry this type of insurance. If you have a personal injury policy of your own, you can seek damages through that. Without a personal injury policy or insurance for your driver, you may need to escalate your claim to Uber corporate. If you must contact Uber’s corporation headquarters, you need to have the information ready to present to them, showing why you are owed a settlement. This is basically a demand letter that you’re sending to Uber corporate instead of the insurance company directly. Include the facts of the accident, the total damages that you are requesting, and include all the evidence you have that supports your claim. Make your compensation request fair and reasonable, and if you have provided the proper documentation, it’ll be hard for them to turn you down. Some negotiation may occur, and you may have to go back and forth until you reach something agreeable.

Also make sure you have sought medical treatment after the accident. Even if you don’t feel pain, this is an important step. Some injuries, like whiplash, can take several hours to even days for symptoms to begin to show. By seeking medical care immediately after the accident, you create a medical paper trail. This will be incredibly useful during the car accident claims process. Never think that your accident injuries are too minor to justify medical attention. You should see a doctor who can write an official medical record of your injuries. If not, Uber will argue that you were not seriously injured.

Never accept the first uber accident settlement offer: Uber’s insurance company might contact you the day after the accident and offer you a small settlement. Their goal is to get you to sign a waiver freeing Uber from further liability — before you understand the severity of your injuries. Do not risk accepting a settlement that does not cover all of your damages. And remember: Uber has liability coverage up to $1 million. The company CAN pay more than what it is offering you in most circumstances.

An important thing to remember is to stay off your social media after an Uber car accident. It is tempting to post on Facebook and X about your Uber accident, but this can derail your claim before it starts. Insurance companies can access your social media feeds and use them as evidence against you. Just posting a picture of walking with your spouse could be enough to make the insurance company try to deny your claim.

This process with Uber corporate can be complex and confusing, but don’t give up. If you find yourself lost in this process, you may want to seek an attorney’s advice or hire one to help you deal with your Uber car accident settlement.

When to Seek Legal Assistance

No matter what caused the accident to happen, an experienced attorney will be able to guide you through the Uber accident settlement process. Trying to handle the process of negotiating with insurance companies can be exhausting. 

By contacting an experienced Uber accident lawyer, you can get a clearer picture of what the details of your accident may mean for a settlement.  Some accidents are the result of distracted driving. Others may happen despite your driver’s best efforts to avoid the crash.

An attorney will be able to help determine how much your Uber accident settlement could be worth. It will be difficult to get an exact monetary amount until your case begins to work through the system. If you are able to settle out of trial, you will be able to save time and money. However, if an attorney believes that insurance companies or Uber itself are giving you a settlement offer that is too low, you may need to take your case to court in order to receive the money you need.

Some attorneys are specialists in the field of rideshare car accidents and might be able to get you a better settlement than you could get on your own, sometimes double or triple the amount.

Attorneys who handle these types of claims also work on contingencies, so you don’t pay anything upfront, and they only collect a percentage of the settlement amount if they win the case. You can also consult with an attorney for free. Whether you hire an attorney or not, a free consultation is a good way to understand where you stand and your options. You can consult with multiple attorneys until you find the one you feel best about representing you or until you get the information you need to handle the matter confidently.

Their knowledge can be invaluable when trying to fight a corporation. It all depends on the exact specifics of your case, and it is up to you to determine what will be the best for you.

Conclusion

These situations can be overwhelming and scary, and you should fight to get the compensation you deserve. Don’t forget that if you are a passenger in an Uber, the accident won’t be your fault, so take the steps you need to get the proper amount in an Uber accident settlement and get your life back on track and moving forward.

Related Articles