# Please Help Need Guidance On Situation



## G-Man1738 (Feb 28, 2018)

So last night i was driving and i was hit by someone running a red.
I technically was driving to pick someone up. I am not sure if i added that i was doing uber to my insurance ( i thought they notified my insurance when i gave uber all info when signing up)

Essentially I will be doing a claim thru her insurance company so that my rates dont go up (and its her fault). 

Where do i go from here? does uber cover anything? if so do i have to notify them of the accident when no one was in my car and it wont come up on my insurance? If i dont tell uber can they deactivate me?

Any Help is appreciated.


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## Rat (Mar 6, 2016)

G-Man1738 said:


> So last night i was driving and i was hit by someone running a red.
> I technically was driving to pick someone up. I am not sure if i added that i was doing uber to my insurance ( i thought they notified my insurance when i gave uber all info when signing up)
> 
> Essentially I will be doing a claim thru her insurance company so that my rates dont go up (and its her fault).
> ...


The person who hit you is liable for all your damages. Uber isn't liable, will pay you nothing, and will deactivate you until everything is fixed and you prove it to them. You should have requested that your insurance put a business use rider on your policy. Some companies won't cover Uber drivers.


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## G-Man1738 (Feb 28, 2018)

Rat said:


> The person who hit you is liable for all your damages. Uber isn't liable, will pay you nothing, and will deactivate you until everything is fixed and you prove it to them. You should have requested that your insurance put a business use rider on your policy. Some companies won't cover Uber drivers.


I will look into that now with my insurance, Thank you.

So do I call Uber and tell them about the accident? I kinda forgot being a little shooken up by the accident in all. Or do i just leave it be because there were no passengers?


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## Rat (Mar 6, 2016)

G-Man1738 said:


> I will look into that now with my insurance, Thank you.
> 
> So do I call Uber and tell them about the accident? I kinda forgot being a little shooken up by the accident in all. Or do i just leave it be because there were no passengers?


I wouldn't mention it. I see only downside by doing so. You can claim lost earnings from the person who hit you, by showing past income.


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## Ribak (Jun 30, 2017)

G-Man1738 said:


> So last night i was driving and i was hit by someone running a red.
> I technically was driving to pick someone up. I am not sure if i added that i was doing uber to my insurance ( i thought they notified my insurance when i gave uber all info when signing up)
> 
> Essentially I will be doing a claim thru her insurance company so that my rates dont go up (and its her fault).
> ...


Since this appears to be the other drivers fault, do NOT report it to UBER. It will come up on the annual background check, but should not affect you at that time either (unless you have multiple violations)

Report it to your insurance and indicate you are going to file thru the other person. Do NOT mention that you are driving for UBER. Tell them you are considering it and ask how your insurance would change. GEICO refers to this as "commercial" coverage. It may be different for other providers (and some do not offer it).

Stay safe out there. I wish you all the best.


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## Alison Chains (Aug 18, 2017)

Accidents 101: Keep your mouth shut and your ears open. Hide the bodies.

Don't tell Uber and eat the cancellation. This, by the way, is exactly why you want a TNC rider on your personal insurance. It doesn't always take a genius to figure out that you were on the Uber clock and you won't always have zero fault.


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## JimKE (Oct 28, 2016)

G-Man1738 said:


> I will look into that now with my insurance, Thank you.
> 
> So do I call Uber and tell them about the accident? I kinda forgot being a little shooken up by the accident in all. Or do i just leave it be because there were no passengers?


DO NOT check with your insurance. Check to see what companies write rideshare insurance in your state first. Then, if your company writes it, call them and add it. If not, you have to decide whether to switch or just hope for the best.

DO NOT notify Uber.


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## SuzeCB (Oct 30, 2016)

I'm going to state the obligatory thing here...

You agreed to tell Uber as soon as any accident happened, or any moving violation ticket was issued.

Which insurance information did you offer at the time of the accident? If you offered your own, keep your mouth shut, and be aware that if you keep driving before the damage is fixed, a pax may report and Uber will get pissy because they weren't notified.

Also, the accident will appear on your DMV report on your next background check (which can happen at any time). Again, Uber will get pissy if they weren't told, and *can* deactivate for that alone. Actually, they can deactivate for no reason, if that's what they want to do, so...

If you do tell Uber, I hope that's the insurance info you provided. In this scenario, if you don't have a rideshare rider on your personal insurance and they find out you were driving TNC, they will *almost certainly* cancel you.

If you put up your own insurance and they *somehow* find out (probably won't since there was no rider in your car), they may consider it insurance fraud.

In short, if you can get away with it, great. If you get caught, it can play hell with you.

Only you can decide if it's worth it.


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## nickd8775 (Jul 12, 2015)

Don't report to your insurance. You're not at fault so your insurance and Uber insurance should not be involved. You can tell her insurance company that you drive Uber and you're losing income


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## SEAL Team 5 (Dec 19, 2015)

G-Man1738 said:


> Where do i go from here?
> 
> Any Help is appreciated.


First to a chiropractor then to a lawyer. Isn't your neck and back starting to give you a little trouble?


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## drive4lyft69 (Jan 3, 2018)

G-Man1738 said:


> I will look into that now with my insurance, Thank you.
> 
> So do I call Uber and tell them about the accident? I kinda forgot being a little shooken up by the accident in all. Or do i just leave it be because there were no passengers?


There is no need to call Uber. They will do more harm than good.



Rat said:


> I wouldn't mention it. I see only downside by doing so. You can claim lost earnings from the person who hit you, by showing past income.


 When someone hit me, I was told I couldn't claim lost wages.


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## RiderOnTheStorm (Mar 17, 2017)

If you did not purchase a commercial policy from your insurance company,
then almost certainly you have been driving without any valid insurance.
Not just when Ubering -- all your car insurance was totally voided the moment
that you registered your car for Uber and turned on the app the first time.
Even if you had no accident, your insurance was already void.

When you call your insurance company, or when they find out one way or
another what has happened, they will inform you that you have not had
car insurance (for personal or Uber or anyone) from the moment you
registered for Uber. They will deny all claims and coverage, and will
formally cancel your policy. The reason is: you have committed
insurance fraud. Your personal car policy (which I am sure you never
read in great detail) specifically forbids the use of the vehicle by anyone
for any commercial purpose such as Uber. The insurance company will
probably not take you to court, assuming this is the only claim you have
made since you started Ubering, because their damages are mitigated by
refusing to cover this accident and cancelling you.

Uber gives you a commercial policy with the James River Corporation,
but it doesn't cover most things or very much. It is assumed that you
also have purchased your own commercial insurance policy.

To repeat: If you drive your car for *personal* purposes, such as going
to the grocery store or around the block, and you also _have ever used
that same car_ for Uber, then you are required to have purchased a
*commercial* policy from your carrier. (Some of them will add it on
for an additional fee, so you don't have to keep track of two policies.)
Regular car insurance is void, once you ever use the car for Ubering!

This is why when you call most insurance companies these days,
the very first words out of their mouth are, "Have you ever used
this car for rideshare, like Uber or Lyfy?" But don't lie to them.
They are going to figure it out, sooner or later, by various means.

Even though you have no insurance, you can still personally sue the
other driver and recover your damages. You might need to hire a lawyer
to do that successfully. Whether you can get lost wages is a good question.
Liability laws about things like that are different from state to state.

You will be deactivated from Uber for having an accident.
After you legally prove that it was not your fault, and show Uber proof
that the damages have all been repaired, Uber *might* re-activate you.
That part is true regardless of what kind(s) of insurance you have.

Now that you have had an accident, your rates are going up for years and years.
That part does not matter whose fault it was. It's because you're a demonstrated risk.
Condolences.


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## Coachman (Sep 22, 2015)

drive4lyft69 said:


> When someone hit me, I was told I couldn't claim lost wages.


Judge Judy would award them. I've seen it.


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## SuzeCB (Oct 30, 2016)

drive4lyft69 said:


> When someone hit me, I was told I couldn't claim lost wages.


By whom? Someone who had a vested interest in you thinking that, I'd bet.

You don't need a commercial policy, but you do need to have a rideshare addendum put on your policy so that there is no conflict with your personal insurance.

Either way, both Uber and their insurance company and your insurance company are going to eventually find out about the accident anyway, even if you only go through the other person's insurance. Why? Because the other insurance company isn't going to give you one red Cent without a police report. Background checks and insurance companies check your DMV report, and the accident will be listed there.


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## Rat (Mar 6, 2016)

drive4lyft69 said:


> There is no need to call Uber. They will do more harm than good.
> 
> When someone hit me, I was told I couldn't claim lost wages.


You were lied to. Insurance companies do that a lot. You can sue them for lying if they put it in writing



Coachman said:


> Judge Judy would award them. I've seen it.


Judge Judy isn't a real court


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## RiderOnTheStorm (Mar 17, 2017)

SuzeCB said:


> You don't need a commercial policy, but you do need to have a rideshare addendum put on your policy so that there is no conflict with your personal insurance.


Yes. You need a policy that covers both your personal and your commercial (Uber) driving.
Some companies will issue a "hybrid policy" so that you don't have to have two separate policies.
Whether they call it a "commercial" or not doesn't matter. It's a policy that covers your commercial uses.


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## Julescase (Mar 29, 2017)

drive4lyft69 said:


> There is no need to call Uber. They will do more harm than good.
> 
> When someone hit me, I was told I couldn't claim lost wages.


*"When someone hit me, I was told I couldn't claim lost wages."*

who told you that you couldn't claim lost wages? Did the _other_ driver's insurance company tell you they don't cover lost wages? They'll try to tell you that but you should absolutely fight that stance; they're going to tell you whatever they need to tell you in order to pay out the least amount of money. If you were hit and it was acknowledged by all participants and insurance companies that you weren't at fault, and if you weren't provided with a rental car that you can use for rideshare in order to make money, you should definitely be getting SOMETHING for your loss of wages while your car is being repaired. Especially if you do rideshare full time and you were given a rental car that you can't Uber in.

If you were only without your car for a few days I don't know if it's worth fighting the insurance company..... I was without a car for a month due to an idiotic nimrod who ran a red light, T-boned me, and smashed the entire right side of my car in from front to back. His insurance company paid me a (minimal) check for my loss of wages for the 3.5 weeks I couldn't Uber - they averaged out my daily earnings - figured out my daily average, multiplied it by the exact number of days I couldn't drive, and we were done.

It kinda sucked because they SHOULD HAVE paid me based on my weekly earnings average total since that's how I was figured out when I'd be driving- let's I needed to make $700 each week, it didn't matter if I made $700 all in one day, or $100 every day of the week for 7 days in a row Mon-Sun, or $350 Monday, $50 Wednesday, $5 Thursday and $295 Saturday. Anyway, by averaging my daily earnings they saw that they'd need to pay me less than if they took my weekly earnings and averaged it out.

Short story long, it took me a while to squeeze it out of them - we went back and forth about 40 times and I lost my shit on the claims adjuster/insurance representative at his company a few times, but eventually they paid SOMEthing. I probably could have gotten more had I hired an attorney or educated myself a bit more on the process and exactly how it's done, but at a certain point I just wanted to be FINISHED with the whole thing.

TL/dr.........?
If you're in an accident and found not to be at fault and your car is out of commission for 3+ days due to another driver's lack of paying attention, ALWAYS negotiate with their insurance company for loss of wages if you normally use your car to earn money.

[Almost] everything is negotiable in this world. I know many folks don't like negotiating, bargaining, etc, but hot DAYUM do I love it.


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## at007smartLP (Oct 24, 2017)

G-Man1738 said:


> So last night i was driving and i was hit by someone running a red.
> I technically was driving to pick someone up. I am not sure if i added that i was doing uber to my insurance ( i thought they notified my insurance when i gave uber all info when signing up)
> 
> Essentially I will be doing a claim thru her insurance company so that my rates dont go up (and its her fault).
> ...


never tell uber anything, they will deactivate you untill you send in pics, if not going thru uber insurance act like it never happened

keep uber on a need to know basis any issues with pax always request unmatch for rude or unsafe asap before they do, they will make up stories for free rides


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## RockinEZ (Apr 29, 2015)

I was hit from behind while driving for Uber. 
I didn't mention a thing. 
The other driver's insurance paid for everything. 
There was no reason to report it to my insurance or to Uber. 

Talk to the other driver's agent.


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## jgiun1 (Oct 16, 2017)

I was involved in a no fault total loss of my Taurus last year. I turned it into my own and let them argue with her insurance. I got a separate check from her insurance for lost wages,but my insurance paid the tow from scene, the total loss check to bank, the rental for up to four days after the car was deemed total loss and my insurance sent me a 500 deductible check paid from her insurance.


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## Gilby (Nov 7, 2017)

Michigan is a no-fault state. When I got hit there and it was obviously the other driver's fault, she paid me the deductible on my policy ($500) and did not notify her insurance company so her rates did not go up. My insurance paid for the damage to my car, minus the deductible.


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