Antioch residents enjoy everything the Bay Area offers, but they also like to be able to escape the hustle and bustle sometimes and enjoy a bit less hectic life in the East Bay. Whether you need to head across the city or commute out of Antioch, there’s usually no faster, more reliable choice than punching up an Uber ride on your phone. The other side to that coin is that rideshare vehicles can flood the streets at already busy times of the day and their drivers can also be a bit distracted as they navigate the city.
The rideshare strategies Uber depends on for serving East Bay can end up unintentionally creating dangerous situations on the road. If you are hit by an Uber driver or injured as a passenger you may suddenly find yourself in the vulnerable position of having to seek help from Uber. You shouldn’t approach Uber without the legal help of an Antioch Rideshare Accident Lawyer. Contact our attorneys to discuss what happened to you during a free-of-charge consultation, so that we can determine your best path to getting your injuries covered.
Uber Insurance Available After Antioch Accidents
You might be in your own car, on a motorcycle, a bike, or on foot heading up Somersville road for a supply run or out just for some fresh air. You might never see an Uber driver, looking at a phone and in a hurry, and not paying attention when he or she hits you. You might be in the backseat of an Uber car when you suddenly experience the force of impact of a collision.
Once your health is stabilized, your financial worries may begin. Hospital bills will pile up, your normal monthly bills may go unpaid as you continue to miss your shifts at work. The good news is that Uber does have up to a million dollars in insurance coverage to provide victims. The bad news is that there will be several hurdles to clear before you are even allowed to approach Uber.
You’ll have a few options to try to get compensation for your injuries, starting with the driver’s personal insurance coverage. Unfortunately, no option is guaranteed to help you:
- The Uber Driver’s Insurance Policy: Uber hides behind its “contract workers.” It means they can let the driver face the consequences of an accident, even though the driver was working for Uber at the time. You’ll file with the insurance provider covering the driver, but the catch is that those providers usually don’t cover their policyholders while they are driving for a rideshare. If they throw out your claim or don’t offer enough to cover all of your hardships, then Uber enters the picture.
- Uber’s Coverage: Uber offers up to one million dollars in accident liability if their driver had a passenger in the car or was on the way to pick-up a passenger when a crash occurred. If the driver was simply cruising while logged into the app but had no customer lined-up, then the maximum coverage from Uber would drop to 100,000 dollars. Uber doesn’t cover drivers who are off the clock, even if they’ve just logged out of the app.
- Your Uninsured Motorist Coverage: You can see a scenario where you get no compensation from the driver or Uber. In this case, you can try to file an uninsured motorist claim with your own insurance provider. This may not be a slam dunk even though you’re working with your insurance company of choice. They can still treat you like the enemy and try to limit how much you get in compensation. It could be enough to pay for an emergency room visit and nothing more.
In all of these situations is advantageous to have a rideshare accident lawyer to deal with insurance agents and adjusters and even lawyers working for Uber, all looking to weaken your claim to compensation. An attorney can help remind Uber that behind the case there’s a real victim suffering and that you are willing to take them to court if that’s what they force you to do. The threat of going before a judge is often enough to get an insurance agent or Uber to make a fair settlement offer to you and your family.
Contact a Rideshare Accident Lawyer in Antioch
In California, the statute of limitations to file a claim over your injury is two years. In reality, the sooner you file the sooner you can get your claim on the desks of insurance agents and Uber executives. Your attorney can assist you in gathering evidence and lining up witnesses to build a strong case, and you can both decide when you’re ready to file.
If you or a loved one sustained a serious injury and the crash involved an Uber vehicle, contact us today for a free, confidential case evaluation. After you tell us what happened, we will let you know all of your legal options, including the options that Uber won’t tell you about.
