Garden City Uber & Lyft Accident Lawyer
If you were injured in an Uber or Lyft accident, you might be entitled to compensation for your injuries. Getting compensation after any car accident can be difficult, especially if you do not have experience with NY’s no-fault rules and an understanding of how Uber and Lyft try to insulate themselves from lawsuits.
Our Garden City Uber and Lyft accident lawyers fight to help injured victims get the compensation they need. This can often mean filing lawsuits against drivers and insurance claims against multiple insurance policies to get you the full damages you deserve for medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
Call the Garden City Uber and Lyft accident lawyers at The Carrion Law Firm for a free case review and help with your claims. Our phone number is (718) 841-0083.
Getting Compensation from Insurance and Lawsuits for Uber and Lyft Accidents in Garden City, NY
It is important to understand how both New York’s insurance rules and Uber and Lyft’s employment structure can get in the way of you filing insurance claims and lawsuits against the at-fault parties in your case. However, once you do get a chance to file these claims, our Garden City Uber and Lyft accident lawyers can fight to get you the compensation you need.
No-Fault Laws
In New York, each driver is required to carry PIP insurance (personal injury protection) that will pay for their own injuries in an accident, without any need to prove fault first. This, however, comes with a caveat: drivers cannot sue for injuries or file a claim against the at-fault driver unless their injuries are severe.
“Serious injuries” that qualify for a lawsuit or third-party insurance claim include things like broken bones, lost limbs, permanent loss of a body part/organ (or permanent loss of function in that body part/organ), and other limitations or disabilities. Many cases will ultimately qualify for this, so speak with our Garden City Uber/Lyft accident lawyers about getting compensation from the at-fault party.
PIP also covers pedestrians and passengers. This means that even if your injuries are not severe enough for a lawsuit or third-party claim, your own PIP or the driver’s PIP should cover. For injured Uber and Lyft passengers, their driver’s insurance should cover substantially (more details on that below).
Restrictions on Suing Uber/Lyft
Typically, you can sue a driver’s employer for accidents they cause on the job while working within the scope of their duties. The issue with Uber and Lyft is that they hire their drivers as independent contractors instead of employees. This prevents lawsuits from being filed against them for their drivers’ mistakes, and instead leaves victims the only option of filing insurance claims or suing the driver directly.
When you file an insurance claim, however, Uber and Lyft each provide additional coverage. The Uber/Lyft driver’s own insurance will cover your accident, as will their additional rideshare or commercial driver insurance. On top of that, Uber and Lyft each have a supplemental policy that covers a substantial amount in cases where their driver causes a crash while on duty. If the driver was on the way to a pickup or already had a passenger in their car, that coverage goes up to $1 million.
This means that whether you were a passenger or another car, biker, or pedestrian, there should be substantial insurance to cover your injuries. When you sue the at-fault driver, their insurance companies should still cover the case as it goes to court and pay damages ordered by the judge and jury. And since the high-dollar insurance policy kicks in any time there is a rider in the car, Uber and Lyft passengers should almost always be covered by this policy.
Damages for Uber and Lyft Accident Injuries in Garden City, NY
After a serious accident, you could be left with substantial damages that you need compensation for. Our Garden City Uber and Lyft accident lawyers often help victims with medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. However, there may be other damages you can claim in your case, both economic and non-economic.
Medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering are some of the most common damages you can claim in your injury case. Medical bills deal with the cost of…
- Emergency treatment
- Surgeries
- Follow-up appointments
- Medical transportation (e.g., ambulance rides)
- Physical and occupational therapy
- Rehabilitation
- Medical devices (including crutches and wheelchairs)
- And more.
“Lost wages” refers to the wages you lost while you were out of work recovering from your injuries as well as future lost wages. If your injury keeps you from going back to work entirely, then you could be entitled to future lost earnings. You can also claim compensation for the difference in new and old wages if your injury caused disabilities that put limits on your ability to work
Pain and suffering is a general term that is often used interchangeably with “non-economic damages” in general. Non-economic damages cover things like pain, mental anguish, lost enjoyment of life, and other experiences that have no dollar value attached. Courts can, nonetheless, still compensate you for these non-economic damages.
Other economic damages can also be claimed outside of medical bills and lost wages if they were caused by your accident and injury. For example, if your phone was damaged in the crash or you were in another car and your car was totaled, this property damage can be compensated. Damages can also be paid for other economic damages, like lost household services while you recover. Talk to our Garden City Uber and Lyft accident lawyers for more details.
Call Our Garden City Uber and Lyft Lawyers
If you or a loved one needs help getting compensation for your injuries after an Uber or Lyft accident, call the Garden City Uber and Lyft accident lawyers at The Carrion Law Firm today at (718) 841-0083.