Know Your Rights in a UBER or Lyft Accident: Florida Personal Injury Protection
Uber & Lyft are two convenient, inexpensive, and safe transportation services. They allow you to hire a private driver from your smartphone to pick you up and take you to your destination with the tap of a button. And they’ll arrive within minutes. This on-demand car service also allows you to see exactly where the driver is as they are heading to pick you up.
Uber & Lyft have become increasingly popular throughout Miami. Unfortunately, the rise in these ridesharing apps come with a rise in the number of accidents involving Uber & Lyft automobiles.
A “Rideshare driver” is an individual that is operating a motor vehicle in connection with the use of the Uber or Lyft application.
Uber’s “Rideshare driver” definition can be found on Uber’s Florida Certificate of Liability Insurance. Here is Lyft’s Florida Certificate of Liability Insurance.
Medical Bills and Lost Wages – PIP
If an Uber driver’s negligence caused your injury, and you are covered by Florida Personal Injury Protection (PIP), PIP should pay your medical bills and lost wages up to $10,000. PIP is limited to $2,500 if you are not diagnosed with an “emergency medical condition.”
Uber or Lyft Driver’s Negligence Caused Passenger’s Injury
Getting PIP to pay your medical bill and lost wages while a passenger of Uber or Lyft is similar to getting PIP to pay your medical expenses if you were in an accident involving a taxi in Florida.
If you do not qualify for Florida Personal Injury Protection by owning a car in Florida, or lived with a resident relative who owns a car, then most likely the Uber or Lyft driver’s personal auto policy will not give you Florida Personal Injury Protection benefits.
This is because, in Florida, an Uber or Lyft driver’s personal auto policy will likely deny coverage because the driver gets paid a fee while driving. Florida personal auto policies have an exclusion when you are driving for a fee.
Uber Cars Must Have PIP, Starting on July 1, 2017
Currently, Uber’s insurance policy doesn’t have PIP. On Uber’s website, it says that No fault Coverage (e.g., Personal Injury Protection) is provided in certain states at similar levels as limos or taxis in those cities. In Florida, limos or taxis are not required to have PIP.
If the governor signs off on the current ridesharing bill, Uber cars will be required to have PIP starting on July 1, 2017.
South Florida Injury Attorneys, Shamis & Gentile, P.A.
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