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In the past, if people did not have their own cars, they were often stuck at home. Today, ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft have exploded worldwide. You can call a Lyft or Uber vehicle for a ride almost anywhere. However, even with a ridesharing service, accidents still happen.
After an accident with an Uber or Lyft vehicle, you might be seriously injured and facing mounting medical bills. Injured accident victims often wonder whether they should file an insurance claim or a lawsuit. While either option might work, you should speak with an attorney before proceeding.
If you’ve been in an accident involving a Lyft or Uber car, you deserve to have your damages covered by the liable party. Our South Bend, IN Uber and Lyft accident attorneys can help you get your expenses paid for. Call Wruck Paupore at (219) 322-1166 and ask for a free case review.
Car accidents are one of the biggest reasons people file personal injury lawsuits. Not only are car accidents very dangerous, but they are also very common. Most people do not go through life without experiencing a car accident at least once. If you are injured in a car accident involving a Lyft or Uber vehicle, you might wonder if you can sue the ridesharing company itself.
The short answer to this question is no. While Uber or Lyft might play a role in your lawsuit, they typically cannot be named as defendants. People often mistakenly believe they can sue Uber or Lyft directly because the driver in their accident was working for one of these ridesharing companies. Generally, you can sue an employer for their employee's negligence, but Uber and Lyft drivers are not "employees."
Uber and Lyft drivers are actually independent contractors and are not legally considered employees of either company. As such, a plaintiff cannot typically sue Uber or Lyft for a driver's negligence. However, these ridesharing companies will not be completely removed from your case. Uber and Lyft typically provide insurance coverage for their drivers, and you might be able to take advantage of that insurance. Call our South Bend, IN Lyft and Uber accident lawyers for more information.
We have established that you cannot sue Uber or Lyft personally after a car accident. However, you have other options for defendants. Typically, the first person an injured accident victim looks to for compensation is the driver of the Uber or Lyft vehicle. In any car accident, ridesharing or not, the driver is often at fault.
The nature of your lawsuit will depend on your relationship with the driver. In many cases, the plaintiff was a passenger in the driver's vehicle. If your driver caused the crash, then they would be liable for the accident. As a passenger, it is unlikely you did anything to contribute to the crash.
However, it is possible that your Uber or Lyft driver was not at fault, and instead, another driver in a different car caused your accident. Your lawsuit might find a better defendant in the other driver in such a case. However, Uber or Lyft's insurance might cover you anyway since you were a passenger in an Uber or Lyft at the time of the crash. Speak to our South Bend, IN Uber and Lyft accident lawyers if you are unsure who you can sue after an accident.
Indiana is an at-fault state for insurance laws. This means that injured accident victims file claims with the other driver's insurance company. You must prove that the other driver was responsible for the accident to be successful. If you fail, the insurance company might offer you a smaller settlement or deny your claim.
When an Uber or Lyft driver is responsible for your accident, you might have a few different options for insurance claims. First, all drivers must have insurance, whether they are working in a professional capacity or not. It is illegal to drive without insurance.
Second, drivers who are driving for work, like an Uber or Lyft driver, typically have additional insurance on top of what is standard. This is sometimes referred to as rideshare insurance, and it acts as an extra financial cushion for drivers just in case of an accident.
Third, Uber and Lyft offer fairly broad coverage to drivers and passengers in accidents. Unfortunately, this insurance does not apply one hundred percent of the time. Typically, Uber and Lyft will only insure a driver if their app is turned on and they have a passenger in their car or are on their way to pick up a passenger. When the app is off or the driver is not engaged with a rider, Uber and Lyft do not cover anything.
Filing an insurance claim after an accident involving Uber or Lyft may be challenging on your own. Our South Bend, IN Uber and Lyft accident lawyers can guide you through the process and help you get the maximum coverage possible.
After an accident, whether you plan to file an insurance claim or pursue a personal injury lawsuit, you should be thinking about evidence. An insurance company will not pay for your damages without evidence that their client is to blame for the crash. Likewise, a court of law will not award a plaintiff damages if they have no evidence of the defendant's negligence.
If you are able, you should begin gathering evidence immediately after your accident. Get the name and contact information of all parties involved. If any passersby stopped to help, get their information too. We may need them to act as witnesses if you decide to file a lawsuit.
You should also take photos and record videos using your cell phone. Accident scenes are often cleared away quickly because they pose a safety risk to other drivers. By taking pictures and recording videos, you preserve the accident scene as it was immediately following the crash. These photos and videos are useful for insurance claims in addition to lawsuits.
Do not lose hope if you were unable to gather any information or evidence immediately following your crash. You might have been seriously injured, and getting medical attention should always be your top priority. Our South Bend, IN Uber and Lyft accident lawyers can help you gather evidence and build your case.
After a car accident, you should not have to face painful injuries and expensive medical bills alone. Our South Bend, IN Uber and Lyft accident lawyers can help you get compensation from the parties responsible. Call the offices of Wruck Paupore at (219) 322-1166 to get a free initial case evaluation.
Don is a founding partner and one of the nation’s top-ranked personal injury litigators. He is a member of the Multi-million Dollar Advocates Forum, which includes less than 1% of the nation’s trial lawyers, and awarded the highest ranking given by Martindale Hubbel and AVVO.
More importantly, Don understands representing personal injury victims is about more than recovering the best settlement: it’s about helping clients get back on their feet and supporting them in every aspect of their recovery.
In nearly all cases, our clients seek compensation from the wrongdoer’s insurance company. Before forming Wruck Paupore, Jason worked for a prominent law firm representing some of the world’s largest insurers. This experience gives Jason a deep understanding of the insurance industry and the strategies it uses to pay injury victims as little as possible.
Jason -- and our entire team -- put this inside knowledge to work to force insurance companies to pay what is actually owed. Often, we use the insurance company’s own tactics against them as we fight for the full compensation our client deserves.
For more than four decades, Keith has been fighting for injury victims. During that time, he’s watched the insurance industry change, with insurers now more interested in protecting their stock price than treating injury victims fairly.
Since the beginning, Keith has put people first. From his childhood in Gary, Indiana during the 1960’s and working his way through law school, Keith has risen to become one of the Midwest’s most respected trial lawyers. He has never forgotten that being a lawyer is about helping people -- and seeing injury victims through struggles in a way that could change their lives forever.
Over the decades, Keith, Don and Jason have fought relentlessly for clients, even when other lawyers have said the case was impossible to win.
Contact Us:
Wruck Paupore P.C.
Injury Lawyers
275 Joliet St. Suite #250
Dyer, IN 46311
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