# Passenger medical claim



## JMlyftuber (Feb 24, 2018)

About three weeks ago I got rear-ended with a passenger on Lyft. I heard from my own personal insurance company that my passenger had filed a claim with them. I was told by a Lyft representative that Lyft insurance would be in touch with me and they have not but I was able to get a contact name and phone number for an adjuster from Lyft's insurance via Lyft support. I believe the pax is trying to claim on two insurance companies and is trying to commit fraud, ie., I think the "accident" was a setup. Has anyone been in a similar situation? Were you able to get your passenger to dismiss the claim against your personal insurance?

My car is fine, I'm fine, I haven't made any claim to my or Lyft's insurance. Only the passenger is trying to claim. Thanks for any advice!


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## BigJohn (Jan 27, 2016)

How did the passenger get your personal auto insurance information?


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## JMlyftuber (Feb 24, 2018)

BigJohn said:


> How did the passenger get your personal auto insurance information?


Because she was given a copy of the police info.


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## BigJohn (Jan 27, 2016)

Did you give the policy your personal insurance information, or the Uber insurance information?


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## JMlyftuber (Feb 24, 2018)

BigJohn said:


> Did you give the policy your personal insurance information, or the Uber insurance information?


It was Lyft and when the police asked for proof of insurance I gave them my personal insurance ID card. I was new to Lyft and didn't know how to even access the Lyft insurance.


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## BigJohn (Jan 27, 2016)

OK, so the problem is you have opened a Pandora's box. You have a few issues here that you will need to address and keep detailed notes on.

1) You need to find out if you can amend or place an addeum onto the police report to correct the insurance information. You need to put the Lyft insurance information on there.

2) You need to contact the representative handling the passenger (or the passenger him/her self if not represented yet) IN WRITING IF POSSIBLE and notify them that they need to only contact Lyft insurance, as that insurance is the primary at the time of the accident.

3) You need to be prepared for your existing personal auto insurance company to cancel your policy and deny any claim about the accident, UNLESS you properly obtained a rideshare rider or addeum onto that personal auto insurance policy.

4) You need to contact your insurance company and tell them IN WRITING IF POSSIBLE that the claim from the passenger is possible fraud in that the passenger has no reason to be contacting your personal insurance since the accident was caused by someone else.

5) You need to be in constant contact with the Lyft insurance and make sure they are taking lead on contacting all parties.


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## JMlyftuber (Feb 24, 2018)

Thank you BigJohn I will keep it in mind as I work through this. I have a feeling unpleasant times are ahead and I know I'm about to get hit for $2500


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## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

JMlyftuber said:


> Thank you BigJohn I will keep it in mind as I work through this. I have a feeling unpleasant times are ahead and I know I'm about to get hit for $2500


Am I missing something? You said earlier that you got rear-ended, and your car is fine. So the other driver is most likely ar fault (unless you made an unsafe maneuver) and his insurance should pay to fix your car if any repairs are needed.

Did you tell the investigating officer that you think you might have been set up?


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## nj2bos (Mar 18, 2018)

What I suggest you do is have your insurance company (or Lyft's) direct the passenger to contact the at-fault driver's insurance company instead. If you're not at fault for the accident, your insurance (whether private or Lyft) should not be responsible and should not be paying out. If they do pay out, they'll eventually be reimbursed by the at-fault driver's insurance... but you may suffer from increased rates, cancellation, etc. since there were still claims opened up against your policy.

Correspondence should be through the at-fault driver's insurance company, especially if the police report details the accident accurately and shows the other driver was responsible. If you were rear-ended then that driver is 100% at fault unless it can be proved that you made an unsafe maneuver (brake checking, cutting the other driver off, etc.).

Good luck.


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## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

JMlyftuber said:


> Thank you BigJohn I will keep it in mind as I work through this. I have a feeling unpleasant times are ahead and I know I'm about to get hit for $2500


You do understand that Lyft's $2500 deductible only applies when their insurance is paying to fix your car for an accident that was your fault? (Or possibly if you are hit by an uninsured at-fault driver) If the cost of repairs is less than $2500 you pay out of pocket. It has nothing to do with liability for injuries to pax or others, nor does the deductible apply for damage to property belonging to others.

With regard to your suspicions about being set up, usually that would involve causing an accident in which you are at fault.


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## JMlyftuber (Feb 24, 2018)

I live in a no-fault insurance state. That means that for medical claims the at-fault driver can not be sued for damages. Insurance I carry is the sole provider for myself and any passengers. I don't like it, I am of the opinion that it encourages reckless driving. In fact the other driver got a citation for reckless driving. I also think it enables insurance fraud performed by an at-fault driver. Sure the at-fault driver has increased premiums but if the passenger, the driver, a crooked doctor and a shyster got to split up a million I can see it being worthwhile just to have increased premiums, especially if the at-fault driver never even files a claim and therefore doesn't even have increased premiums.

I hope you're right, Older Chauffeur, about not paying deductible on passenger's medical bills. My car has a very small scratch on the bumper and I had my mechanic check things out and he didn't find any damage to the suspension or anything. I'm not hurt and in FL you don't have to contact insurance for anything less than $1,000 so I'm not even filing a claim.

I didn't tell the police at time of accident that I thought it was a set-up, they were only interested in the mechanics of how the crash happened. Also I feel that to name the passenger and driver as fraudsters would open me up to claims of libel if I was wrong or couldn't prove it. I'm thinking Lyft's insurance adjuster would be a good person to talk to about that, as I would imagine they have a competent investigator who will check things out before paying an expensive claim. From my experience police in this city are a mixed bag. Some are competent and professional, others are... not.


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## BigJohn (Jan 27, 2016)

nj2bos said:


> What I suggest you do is have your insurance company (or Lyft's) direct the passenger to contact the at-fault driver's insurance company instead. If you're not at fault for the accident, your insurance (whether private or Lyft) should not be responsible and should not be paying out. If they do pay out, they'll eventually be reimbursed by the at-fault driver's insurance...


That is not quite how it works, at least in California, with insurance. (Unless it has changed in the last 10 years.) When a passenger or cargo is damaged as a result of an accident, the insurance that is solely responsible is the insurance of the provider of the transportation. That insurance company then will seek reimbursement from the at fault party. Civil suits is a different matter. So in this case, the insurance company that is properly and fully responsible for the passenger would be Lyft's insurance. NOW, having said that, there is nothing the precludes the insurance company of the at fault party from voluntarily working out a deal with the passenger, but there is no requirement to do so.

Let me clarify something here about medical responsibility: Medical is ALWAYS covered under liability EXCEPT on your own personal insurance when YOU are at fault. That is the only time that the separate line item "Medical" insurance on YOUR personal auto insurance is in affect.


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## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

BigJohn said:


> That is not quite how it works, at least in California, with insurance. (Unless it has changed in the last 10 years.) When a passenger or cargo is damaged as a result of an accident, the insurance that is solely responsible is the insurance of the provider of the transportation. That insurance company then will seek reimbursement from the at fault party. Civil suits is a different matter. So in this case, the insurance company that is properly and fully responsible for the passenger would be Lyft's insurance. NOW, having said that, there is nothing the precludes the insurance company of the at fault party from voluntarily working out a deal with the passenger, but there is no requirement to do so.
> 
> Let me clarify something here about medical responsibility: Medical is ALWAYS covered under liability EXCEPT on your own personal insurance when YOU are at fault. That is the only time that the separate line item "Medical" insurance on YOUR personal auto insurance is in affect.


The wrinkle here appears to be Florida's "no fault" law. Neither party in a two vehicle accident pays for the other's injuries up to $10k if I understand it correctly. So maybe the pax is trying to collect twice as the OP thinks, or maybe he/she is simply covering the bases in case one denies responsibility.

If they were trying to set up the Lyft driver, it wouldn't make sense to go after the insurance company covering your partner-in-crime driving the offending vehicle. Also, given the damage described to the OP's car, how seriously could the pax be injured? Of course, muscle injury is hard to disprove, right?


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## JMlyftuber (Feb 24, 2018)

The pax even asked me to drive her home, refusing to get in the ambulance... then was mad because I didn't stop the ride - yeah right you want me to keep driving you for free and w/o insurance?

Regarding the collision, I got a light rash from my seatbelt, and the airbag light came on but airbags didn't deploy. It was just hard enough to be unpleasant.


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## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

JMlyftuber said:


> The pax even asked me to drive her home, refusing to get in the ambulance... then was mad because I didn't stop the ride - yeah right you want me to keep driving you for free and w/o insurance?
> 
> Regarding the collision, I got a light rash from my seatbelt, and the airbag light came on but airbags didn't deploy. It was just hard enough to be unpleasant.


I didn't know there were airbag sensors in the rear bumper. What are you driving, if you don't mind me asking?


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## JMlyftuber (Feb 24, 2018)

Older Chauffeur said:


> I didn't know there were airbag sensors in the rear bumper. What are you driving, if you don't mind me asking?


I don't know if there are sensors in the rear. It's an '06 Corolla. I think there might just be a loose wiring connector somewhere. On the plus side, I got some coins and a guitar pick that were under the seat but I couldn't see them.


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## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

JMlyftuber said:


> I don't know if there are sensors in the rear. It's an '06 Corolla. I think there might just be a loose wiring connector somewhere. On the plus side, I got some coins and a guitar pick that were under the seat but I couldn't see them.


Nothing like "found money" to make your day! Anyway, please come back and let us know how it all shakes out.


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## Eugene73 (Jun 29, 2017)

You should call a liar, ehr I meant a lawyer. they are very skilled at assessing back and neck injuries that other medical professionals fail to detect. And they will get you a fat paycheck !!$$!!$$


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## Ceylo (Sep 24, 2018)

JMlyftuber said:


> About three weeks ago I got rear-ended with a passenger on Lyft. I heard from my own personal insurance company that my passenger had filed a claim with them. I was told by a Lyft representative that Lyft insurance would be in touch with me and they have not but I was able to get a contact name and phone number for an adjuster from Lyft's insurance via Lyft support. I believe the pax is trying to claim on two insurance companies and is trying to commit fraud, ie., I think the "accident" was a setup. Has anyone been in a similar situation? Were you able to get your passenger to dismiss the claim against your personal insurance?
> 
> My car is fine, I'm fine, I haven't made any claim to my or Lyft's insurance. Only the passenger is trying to claim. Thanks for any advice!


I don't understand why you even care. You just need to report your damages to lyft and your insurance. If you esas physically injured just get a lawyer. The pax and their claim doesn't have anything to do with you.


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