The coverage depends on the app
California requires transportation network companies to carry liability coverage on a tiered basis (Pub. Util. Code § 5433). While a driver is logged in and waiting for a request, the required limits are lower. Once a request is accepted and a passenger is in the car, the platform must carry one million dollars in liability coverage. That distinction, app on and unpaired versus app on with a passenger, is the first question in every rideshare case, and the company's own trip record answers it.
The driver's personal auto policy almost always excludes carrying passengers for compensation. So when the platform says the app was off, the driver has no coverage, and when the platform says the app was on, the driver's insurer denies the claim. Someone has to prove which version is true, and that someone is you or your lawyer, using dispatch and trip data.
Is the platform liable for the driver?
The platforms argue they are marketplaces, not employers. Proposition 22, codified at Business and Professions Code § 7451 et seq., classifies app-based drivers as independent contractors for purposes of California's wage and hour laws, and the companies use that classification to resist vicarious liability. Plaintiffs respond with theories that do not depend on employment: ostensible agency, negligent hiring and retention, negligent background screening, and the platform's own conduct in dispatching a driver it had reason to know was unsafe. Which theory survives depends on the facts of the driver's record and what the platform knew about it.
Your own policy is often the fastest money
What we obtain in the first week
- The trip record: request time, pickup, drop-off, GPS trace, and the app state at impact
- The driver's acceptance history and status in the app at the time of the crash
- The platform's certificate of insurance and the claim number assigned
- The driver's personal policy declarations page
- Your own policy, including UM/UIM and medical payments coverage
- Any camera footage, which the platform may hold for a limited window
Deadlines
Two years for the personal injury claim under Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1. Six months for a written government claim if a public entity vehicle or roadway is part of the case (Gov. Code § 911.2). The contractual notice requirement in your own auto policy is separate and usually shorter, and the trip data retention period is shorter still.
Common questions
I was a passenger in an Uber and the driver caused the crash. Who pays?
The platform's one-million-dollar liability coverage applies while you were a passenger, and the driver is also potentially liable. We notify all three carriers: the platform's, the driver's, and yours.
The app said the driver was offline. Now what?
Then the driver's personal policy should respond, if it does not exclude the trip, and your uninsured motorist coverage may be the practical answer. We pull the trip data to test the platform's account before accepting it.
Is Lyft handled the same way as Uber?
Largely yes. Both operate under the same California insurance requirements and both classify drivers as independent contractors under Proposition 22. The certificate, the claims unit and the retention practices differ.
What if a rideshare driver hit me while I was walking or biking?
The same coverage analysis applies, and the platform coverage is available whether you were the passenger or a third party. Preserve the trip record early, because the driver may not report the crash to the platform.