What to Do After an Uber Accident in Florida

Steps to Take After an Uber Accident

Getting hurt by an Uber driver or while riding in an Uber-operated vehicle is a serious matter. There’s a good chance you didn’t expect to end up in the emergency room, nor to suffer injuries because of a driver’s negligence. There’s also the potential that another person or entity was at fault by causing the crash with the Uber vehicle. Under Florida’s no-fault car accident legislation, each crash victim must go to his or her own auto insurance policy for the first $10,000 of Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits. If you were hurt, you might want to follow these steps:

Seek medical treatment. Tell the provider everywhere you experienced pain after the accident.

Report your claim to your own insurance company. However, you don’t have to give a recorded statement. You can wait for your attorney to advise you on this matter.

Contact a personal injury attorney. Let this professional determine if the Uber driver (or another at-fault driver, if applicable) had enough Bodily Injury insurance. This is the type of insurance against which you might claim damages for injuries sustained in the crash.

Understanding Florida’s New Ridesharing Law

Your claim could be potentially affected by Florida’s new ridesharing laws governing services like Uber and Lyft. This law states each driver must carry a minimum of $1 million of liability coverage, which includes bodily injury, property damage, and death benefits. If Uber drivers are not on duty, they still need to maintain at least $50,000 in coverage on any personal vehicle used for ridesharing.

These limits may also just be the minimum coverages. Working with an attorney, you can ascertain if the Uber drivers and their employing organization had different insurance coverages in effect on the date of the accident. Which level of coverage applies also depends on whether the Uber driver was on duty, off duty, waiting to pick up a fare, picking up a passenger, or transporting a passenger. Look for an attorney who has handled similar cases involving ridesharing vehicles. At the Gross & Schuster, we’ve handled many personal injury claims and are eager to answer your questions about the rights of accident victims.

How Much Time Do You Have to File a Claim?

Each state and district within the U.S. has its own time limit for filing a personal injury claim called a statute of limitations. In Florida, an injured victim has at most four (4) years after the date of the loss to file a claim. While this is the general rule for auto accidents, a different statute of limitations may apply to an Uber accident.

Choose Our Pensacola Uber Accident Lawyers

When you get hurt while riding in an Uber vehicle or in a crash with another vehicle driven by an Uber operator, we understand that you want to find justice. You would like to get compensation for your medical expenses. However, you need an attorney to determine who is truly at fault in the accident. Seeking relief in this kind of case takes time, and you may not ever recover money from the defendant’s insurance company. If you delay for more than 14 days in seeking medical treatment, you may lose your right to use the PIP medical benefits (under your insurance policy) and/or you may hurt the credibility of your claim against the defendants.

Our Experience With Pensacola Uber Crash Claims

Riding in an Uber might seem like the best option, especially for people traveling to and from Pensacola or planning to consume alcohol (because they know they shouldn’t drive drunk). However, you don’t expect to get in an accident or have your life permanently altered by a car crash. Now, you have medical bills piling up, and you need help finding monetary relief under Florida tort law.

Each Uber Crash Case is Unique

Florida statute provides relief to victims of accidents. A tort is a claim that you believe you can establish against another party because his or her negligence directly or indirectly caused your injuries. To make your claim, the legal burden falls upon you to demonstrate how your life was affected. You must prove at least one of these conditions resulted from the accident:

• Permanent injury
• Significant and permanent disfigurement or scars
• Significant and permanent loss of at least one bodily function

Without sworn statements from your treating physicians that your injuries were caused by the crash, it’s unlikely that you will receive a serious offer from the defendant’s insurance provider.

Typical Damages in Uber Accidents

While riding in an Uber or being hit by an Uber driver, you could face many medical expenses after the initial impact. We help Florida residents and visitors who were hurt in a traffic accident to recover many types of damages. The typical damages are listed below:

• Lost wages
• Prescription drug expenses
• Physical/occupational therapy
• Transportation to and from treating doctors
• Pain and suffering
• Legal fees and costs
• Punitive damages (only awarded by the jury in some exceptional cases of misconduct)

Determining Liability in Crashes With Uber Vehicles

Each auto accident case is different. An attorney who is licensed to practice law in the state of Florida must review the facts in your Uber accident case. It may take some further investigation to determine who might be the responsible party for the crash. We like to sit down with prospective clients personally and discuss the case. We may ask to see the accident report, and use other methods to evaluate your potential claim. When the crash involves three or more vehicles, making a claim can become even more difficult. We welcome you to contact us and describe your accident. If we think we can help, we will gladly schedule a free consultation.

Types of Injuries From an Uber Accident

If you’re injured in a vehicle accident, the doctor must document all of your subsequent injuries. As personal injury lawyers, we help our clients collect medical records from all providers related to the accident. Here are injuries that Uber crash victims could face:

• Paralysis
• Broken bones
• Neck and back pain
• Brain injury
• Soft tissue injury
• Surgery
• Scarring or disfigurement
• Damaged teeth
• Permanent loss of one or more senses
• Death

How Will I Get The Defendants To Pay My Claim?

Many factors influence if the insurance company will pay anything towards a crash victim’s claim. Each insurance company has its own procedures for handling personal injury claims. However, generally, the defending insurance company will wait until a claimant has attained maximum medical improvement. This is the point at which your lawyer can present a demand letter and specify the amount of the settlement he or she thinks is fair to resolve the case. Keep in mind that cases which do not get settled could go to a jury trial. You need a lawyer who can take the case all the way to trial if needed.