Miami and Tampa Uber and Lyft accident lawyer

A million dollars, or fifty thousand.

Rideshare claims turn on a single question that has nothing to do with how the crash happened: what the driver’s app was doing at that moment. Florida’s transportation network company statute sets entirely different coverage depending on the answer, and the gap between the tiers is enormous.

Free case review Miami (305) 662-4323 Tampa (813) 930-5422

During a ride: $1,000,000From the moment of acceptance until the rider is dropped off
App on, no ride: Far lessA much smaller statutory minimum applies in this window
App off: Personal policyAnd many personal policies exclude rideshare driving
Deadline to sue: 2 yearsFla. Stat. § 95.11, for crashes on or after 24 March 2023

01 The tier decides the case

Uber and Lyft insurance coverage in Florida, by trip period

Florida’s TNC statute divides a driver’s time into periods. App off: the driver’s own personal auto policy, which commonly contains a livery exclusion that denies the claim outright. App on and waiting for a request: a limited statutory minimum. From acceptance of a ride through to drop-off: one million dollars in liability coverage.

The practical consequence is that two identical crashes, one carrying a passenger and one two minutes before accepting the trip, are worth wildly different amounts. Establishing the period is therefore the first job, and the evidence sits inside the company’s trip data rather than in the police report.

The same analysis matters whether you were the passenger, the other driver, a pedestrian or a cyclist. The coverage follows the app, not the person injured.

02 What the company will say

How to prove which rideshare coverage applies

Uber and Lyft maintain that their drivers are independent contractors, which shapes how they respond to a claim. What is not in dispute is the statutory coverage, and that coverage is administered through insurers who handle these claims in volume.

Trip data — acceptance time, route, drop-off, and whether a ride was in progress — is held by the company and is best requested early and formally. Screenshots of your own trip receipt are worth keeping on the day.

03 Where these cases come from

Miami-Dade

Miami-Dade rideshare volume concentrates around the airport, PortMiami, South Beach and the Brickell and downtown corridors, with heavy night and early-morning activity and the crash pattern that follows it.

The Miami office · Homestead

Hillsborough

Hillsborough volume runs around Tampa International, Ybor City, the Channel District and the stadium and arena districts on event nights.

The Tampa office

04 What damages a claim

Not screenshotting the trip in the app before anything is deleted.
Assuming the driver’s personal policy applies. It often excludes exactly this.
Giving a statement before anyone has established which coverage period applied.
Missing the fourteen-day PIP window while waiting for the company to respond.

Frequently asked questions about Florida uber and lyft accidents

I was the passenger. Who do I claim against?

A passenger in a ride that is underway sits inside the one million dollar coverage, regardless of which driver caused the crash.

If the other driver was at fault, that driver’s liability coverage comes in as well, and the rideshare policy may respond as underinsured coverage on top.

An Uber hit me while I was driving my own car. Does the million apply?

Only if that driver was on an accepted trip at the moment of the crash. If the app was merely on and waiting, a much smaller limit applies.

That is why the trip data matters more than almost anything else in the file.

05 Related matters

The full list is on the personal injury page.

Tell Jose what happened

A free review of your uber and lyft accidents case, with no obligation, and no fee and no costs unless there is a recovery. English or Spanish, whichever you would rather use. You speak with Jose A. Dapena directly at every stage, not with an intake department — and if there is no claim worth bringing, he will tell you that.

Miami (305) 662-4323 Homestead (786) 900-0184 Tampa (813) 930-5422