In the above scenario, as I have explained in other blogs, the recourse available is to sue the other driver (and owner of car if different) but oftentimes people without bodily injury insurance on their vehicles are not worth suing. Thus, the question becomes: is there available uninsured motorist insurance.
As of the time of the writing of this blog, both Uber and Lyft carry uninsured motorist coverage for their drivers and customers in the amount of $1,000,000. Uninsured motorist coverage generally, as explained in other blog entries, pays you money if you are injured in an accident if the vehicle that is at fault does not have any (or enough) bodily injury coverage. Of course, the policy rules could change with any policy renewal and the exact coverage is dependent on the wording of the policy and potentially the interpretation of the policy. Thus, in the above scenario, the passenger (customer) of the Uber (or Lyft) who was injured would have a case against the insurance company that has the applicable uninsured motorist coverage of the ride sharing company (Uber or Lyft, for example) for up to $1,000,000. A one million dollar uninsured motorist policy like this does not mean that you automatically get the $1,000,000 but it means that if you can prove injuries and win the case, the insurance will pay the judgment amount up to the $1,000,000 policy. Thus, there is very good insurance available to the passengers in these ride sharing companies (Uber and Lyft) in case there is an accident where another vehicle is at fault but does not have bodily injury coverage. In Florida, uninsured motorist coverage is also underinsured motorist coverage and thus this coverage would also pay in the scenario where another vehicle is at fault and has some bodily injury coverage but your injuries are more than the underlying bodily injury coverage, i.e. the at vault driver is no uninsured but underinsured.
The above blog is limited to accidents in Florida by driver that are driving for the ride sharing company in Florida. Every case is different and needs to be evaluated on a case by case basis.
