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When the public got introduced to Uber and Lyft, no insurance company had written a policy that could be used to cover the company’s drivers. Consequently, each driver became an independent contractor. As an independent contractor, the driver’s coverage varied, depending on the presence or absence of passengers in the contractor’s (driver’s) vehicle.
In other words, no passenger could expect to get compensated for his or her losses by suing the ride sharing company. Still, passenger demanded the assurance that has become linked to the availability of insurance coverage. Thus, the ride sharing companies were forced to obtain the type of insurance policy that could protect both the driver and passengers.
Both Uber and Lyft must purchase more than one type of insurance policy.
Before the driver’s vehicle gets used as a form of transport and a source of income, the contractor’s personal car insurance serves as the only available coverage. At that time, the driver can do whatever he or she pleases.
Once any of the drivers has been asked to pick up a passenger, a different level of coverage gets added to the one provided by the personal policy. That added coverage guarantees $50,000 per person for any injuries. At the same time, it promises an award of up to $100,000 per accident and $25,000 for each instance of property damage.
Once any of the drivers has taken-on a passenger, that same contractor/driver is working. Consequently, the level of the driver’s insurance coverage increases. In the event of an accident, an award of one million dollars would become available to those that sustained some type of injury. On the same occasion, the driver would get reimbursed for any money used to repair the ride-sharing vehicle.
Actions to be taken by an injured passenger:
That passenger should file a personal injury claim with the help of personal injury lawyer in Stouffville. That claim must indicate who is being charged with negligence. The driver does not have to be the person that gets hit with a charge of negligence.
It may be that the ride-sharing vehicle got hit by a negligent driver in another vehicle. If that is the case, then the passenger can charge that negligent driver. It might be that another passenger had distracted the driver. If that were the case, that second passenger could be held at least partially responsible for the eventual collision.
The injured passenger might need to get a lawyer, if the road conditions had worked to cause the accident. For instance, maybe the street lights were not working properly. A darkened street would certainly be a place where a collision is more likely to take place. A lawyer could locate the identity of the person responsible for maintaining the street lights.