PLEASE TAG YOUR RIDESHARE FRIENDS AND SHARE WITH RIDESHARE GROUPS.
I am Tray Gober-
An Austin, Texas personal injury lawyer AND “weekend warrior” Uber driver.
If you are in an auto accident (whether you are driving for Uber at the time or not) you need to contact a personal injury attorney.
I represent several Uber drivers involved in auto accidents. This week an Uber-driver client was in a car accident while driving his car at a time when he was NOT driving for Uber. He called his personal auto insurance company to start a property damage claim and was asked by his insurance company – “Have you ever driven for Uber?” Wanting to give an honest answer; he answered that he was not driving for Uber at the time of the accident, but that he does occasionally drive for Uber. As a result of his answer his insurance company is retroactively canceling his insurance policy and refusing to pay for damages done to his car.
On one level this is not surprising…insurance companies do whatever they can to reduce, deny and delay claims processing. But this is a sudden change of policy to retroactively cancel a policy because at some time in the past that insured drove for Uber.
What’s worse is the insurance coverage provided by Uber is only active when you are online ready to accept rides, driving to a rider, or driving a rider. So in his case Uber’s insurance is not (and should not) be on the hook to cover his accident. This will effectively leave him without insurance for his accident.
So what is a rideshare driver to do so that this doesn’t happen to you?
- Get insurance coverage that will cover you even though you also drive for rideshare. Some of the larger carries are now offering this coverage in some markets. A local personal injury lawyer may be able to direct you to a carrier that provides coverage (any Uber driver in Texas could contact me 512.800.8000 for free and I can direct you)
- If you are in an accident TALK TO A PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER BEFORE YOU TALK TO ANY INSURANCE COMPANY. If you are in an accident in Texas feel welcome to call me for a free consultation: 512.800.8000. It doesn’t matter if you were rideshare driving during the accident or not, it doesn’t matter if you were a driver, passenger or pedestrian involved in an accident…insurance companies could try to use this tactic to deny your claim. It is always a good idea to talk to a personal injury attorney after an accident whether you are a rideshare driver or not…but now rideshare drivers absolutely should talk to a lawyer.
Direct questions or follow-up to:
Kenneth “Tray” Gober
Personal Injury Attorney
Lee, Gober & Reyna
Austin, Texas
P: 512.800.8000
E: KGober@LGRLawFirm.Com
www.LGRLawFirm.com
Lee, Gober and Reyna – If you need a personal injury lawyer or help with an auto accident, motorcycle accident, wrongful death, or burn injury case, contact Lee, Gober and Reyna by visiting http://www.lgrlawfirm.com or calling 512.800.8000
