# Lyft Customer caused an accident! Need advice.



## UberNOT4me (Feb 8, 2016)

Hey Guy!

So this morning I started driving and picked up my first ride with Lyft. Who was only going 2 miles away from the pick up location.
When we arrived at the destination, she was sitting on the left side of the backseat. 

She decided to get out from the left side of my car. I saw a jeep coming through my rear view mirror and as I was about the tell her to be careful, my door hits the side of the jeep.

We exchange our insurance info. And I am sure my insurance will pay the other rider but what about the passenger? She was careless when she opened the door. Is lyft going to pay me for the damage on my car? 

Has anyone else experienced this?


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## Jvc21 (Jul 27, 2015)

Do you have correct insurance? If you have personal insurance only, DO NOT tell them you drive for Rideshare. Your claim will be denied and policy dropped faster than you think.

My assumption is that you don't have commercial or Rideshare insurance, because you wouldn't be asking it if you did.

Lyft may help, but they can easily look the other way and force you to use your personal policy.


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## HotRodriguez75 (Oct 16, 2015)

You are going to be paying for yours or lyfts insurance deductible. You or Lyft cannot go to the customer and make them pay. Reminder: you are a independent contractor. If you contact Lyft, they will deactivate your account temporarily.


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## UberNOT4me (Feb 8, 2016)

I didnt tell the other guy that I drive for Lyft. And haven't contacted lyft yet. I had a feeling that they would temporary deactivate my account. 

I will wait for him to file a claim with my insurance and see where it goes. 

From now I ll have the child lock on the left side door.


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## Jvc21 (Jul 27, 2015)

Make sure that your rider doesn't mention anything with Rideshare to your insurance companies.

Go get Rideshare insurance!!!! Don't be playing with fire.


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## LA Cabbie (Nov 4, 2014)

Wow. First ride and you are already $1k in the red. Like everybody else said, sit and wait. Don't tell your insurance company you do rideshare. I heard some people back in the day at Uber were able to get money from pax by Uber charging their CC then putting money in your bank. But I think it has been severely reduced or done away with because of pax dissatsifaction.


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## forqalso (Jun 1, 2015)

UberEffedMe said:


> I didnt tell the other guy that I drive for Lyft. And haven't contacted lyft yet. I had a feeling that they would temporary deactivate my account.
> 
> I will wait for him to file a claim with my insurance and see where it goes.
> 
> From now I ll have the child lock on the left side door.


Great idea. Too bad it is after the fact. I'll do the same thing.


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## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

LA Cabbie said:


> Wow. First ride and you are already $1k in the red.


Isn't Lyft's deductible $2500?


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## Lnsky (Jan 2, 2016)

UberEffedMe said:


> I didnt tell the other guy that I drive for Lyft. And haven't contacted lyft yet. I had a feeling that they would temporary deactivate my account.
> 
> I will wait for him to file a claim with my insurance and see where it goes.
> 
> From now I ll have the child lock on the left side door.


If they hit your door how do you still have a door that will lock? How fast were they going?

If you still have a door hat will lock I'm guessing the damage is minor. Don't report it to your insurance. They are going to interview the other driver and it will probably come it that you were ride sharing. One person in back one up front, pretty obvious.


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## observer (Dec 11, 2014)

UberEffedMe said:


> Hey Guy!
> 
> So this morning I started driving and picked up my first ride with Lyft. Who was only going 2 miles away from the pick up location.
> When we arrived at the destination, she was sitting on the left side of the backseat.
> ...


There have been a few posts on the forum about this happening. If there is a child lock on rear driver side door (assuming you continue to TNC), USE IT.
She could have been hit by the Jeep and you would be looking at a lot more than just a damaged door.

In CA all insurance companies are exempt from covering TNC damages except when driver has purchased coverage specifically for TNC.

Ubers deductible is 1,000, Lyfts is 2,500.


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## UberNOT4me (Feb 8, 2016)

forqalso said:


> Great idea. Too bad it is after the fact. I'll do the same thing.


Yes, I know. At least I won't have this problem again. I am going to put a small sign there as well, "for your safety, please use the other door"



Older Chauffeur said:


> Isn't Lyft's deductible $2500?


I drive a 05 Prius with 240k miles on it. It's probably worth less than the deductible


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## UberNOT4me (Feb 8, 2016)

Lnsky said:


> If they hit your door how do you still have a door that will lock? How fast were they going?
> 
> If you still have a door hat will lock I'm guessing the damage is minor. Don't report it to your insurance. They are going to interview the other driver and it will probably come it that you were ride sharing. One person in back one up front, pretty obvious.


The door still works, it's minor damage, but it scratched the other car from the side. He was probably traveling less than 25 miles an hour.

I won't mention to my insurance that I was driving for lyft at that time, because I know it's not covered.

When the passenger got out, I quickly put the lyft mustache away from my dashboard. Imagine if I had the big furry one in the front of my car. Lol


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## Fuzzyelvis (Dec 7, 2014)

UberEffedMe said:


> I didnt tell the other guy that I drive for Lyft. And haven't contacted lyft yet. I had a feeling that they would temporary deactivate my account.
> 
> I will wait for him to file a claim with my insurance and see where it goes.
> 
> From now I ll have the child lock on the left side door.


Lyft deductible is $2500 right? Unlikely your door is that much to fix. Didn't you give the other driver Lyft's insurance?

When I get ready to stop, I always tell pax to please all get out on the curb side. I don't put the car in park until they are paying attention. My doors don't unlock until then.

A cab driver said on this forum that's why cabs stop at an angle with their asses hanging out. That way the pax and the door is protected. If I'm concerned about pax being stupid I do angle my car a bit, now.

You could take the pax to small claims. Maybe someone else can comment on that.

Lucky only the door and not the pax got hit.


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## Lnsky (Jan 2, 2016)

UberEffedMe said:


> The door still works, it's minor damage, but it scratched the other car from the side. He was probably traveling less than 25 miles an hour.
> 
> I won't mention to my insurance that I was driving for lyft at that time, because I know it's not covered.
> 
> When the passenger got out, I quickly put the lyft mustache away from my dashboard. Imagine if I had the big furry one in the front of my car. Lol


Did she at least say sorry or anything? Wtf


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## UberNOT4me (Feb 8, 2016)

Lnsky said:


> Did she at least say sorry or anything? Wtf


Yea and she offered sex...
u kidding?
She just gave me this look like it wasn't her fault and not her problem.
My fare from that trip after lyft's commission was $2.30


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## UberNOT4me (Feb 8, 2016)

Fuzzyelvis said:


> Lucky only the door and not the pax got hit


True, always look at the bright side.


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## Jvc21 (Jul 27, 2015)

UberEffedMe said:


> She just gave me this look like it wasn't her fault and not her problem.
> My fare from that trip after lyft's commission was $2.30


Welcome to Rideshare. The sooner you get out, the more money you will earn.


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## AllenChicago (Nov 19, 2015)

Jvc21 said:


> Welcome to Rideshare. The sooner you get out, the more money you will earn.


 if he has a mustache doesn't that mean that he is not a new Lyft driver? I've been driving since Thanksgiving and still have not earned one.


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## Jvc21 (Jul 27, 2015)

I think it's 100 rides for one.


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## UberNOT4me (Feb 8, 2016)

AllenChicago said:


> I've been driving since Thanksgiving and still have not earned one.


I ll sell you mine.. Jk


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## UberNOT4me (Feb 8, 2016)

Jvc21 said:


> Welcome to Rideshare. The sooner you get out, the more money you will earn.


Yes, I have been looking for a job for the past 2 months. As soon as I find something with min $15 an hour, I will quit!


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## Jvc21 (Jul 27, 2015)

Even a minimum wage job is better long term than uber/lyft. Rideshare is just taking cash value from your car now.

The only realistic way to make money is to hit surges and be ultra picky with your times/miles.


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## soupergloo (Jul 24, 2015)

I got hit during a Lyft ride and it did major damage to my car (over $10,000) and put me out of work for a month.

Lyft temporarily deactivated me because my car was not driveable, and I got reactived once it was repaired and I got it reinspected.

The other driver was at fault regarding the accident, so his insurance (State Farm) paid for everything and I'm still dealing with the lawyer to solve my personal injury claim.

Lyft asked me multiple times to report it to my personal insurance company, and like an idiot, I did. My rate went up and then I got kicked off by the end of my policy for being a Lyft driver. Almost every other insurance company would either quote me very high rates (more than double what I was paying before) or wouldn't insure me period. I finally found out about Mercury's TNC coverage, so I'm on with them now; they'll cover me while I have to app on, but not while doing an actual ride and there's no more sneaking around driving for Lyft/Uber.

Technically, Lyft's insurance has to cover the damage for both vehicles since it was during a ride. I wouldn't bring your personal insurance into this at all.


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## UberNOT4me (Feb 8, 2016)

soupergloo said:


> Technically, Lyft's insurance has to cover the damage for both vehicles since it was during a ride. I wouldn't bring your personal insurance into this at all.


What about the high deductible, the damage on my car will probably cost me around $500 - $700. Lyft won't cover that.

I did get a text from the other driver today, he hasn't filed a claim yet. He said he is going to see if it's just a minor scuff, he may not file a claim and just let it go.
He is going to get car wash first and then make a decision. Hope he doesn't go through the cheap gas station car washes...


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## AllenChicago (Nov 19, 2015)

UberEffedMe said:


> I ll sell you mine.. Jk


Thanks for the offer, but I see that I'm up to 78 rides as of today. So it's just a matter of time before the mustache arrives. I hear that they are great dust removers, when attached to a stick.


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## observer (Dec 11, 2014)

UberEffedMe said:


> What about the high deductible, the damage on my car will probably cost me around 5400 - $700. Lyft won't cover that.
> 
> I did get a text from the other driver today, he hasn't filed a claim yet. He said he is going to see if it's just a minor scuff, he may not file a claim and just let it go.
> He is going to get car wash first and then make a decision. Hope he doesn't go through the cheap gas station car washes...


You should ask him to get the car detailed and pay for it. It may be cheaper in the long run.


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## andaas (May 19, 2015)

AllenChicago said:


> Thanks for the offer, but I see that I'm up to 78 rides as of today. So it's just a matter of time before the mustache arrives. I hear that they are great dust removers, when attached to a stick.


They don't do the Cuddle Stache anymore (bug fuzzy thing attached to grill), now it's a Glow Stache (plastic rechargeable pink dashboard object). It's not very good at removing dust, though it might move some dust around if it's layered on pretty thick I guess.


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## soupergloo (Jul 24, 2015)

UberEffedMe said:


> What about the high deductible, the damage on my car will probably cost me around 5400 - $700. Lyft won't cover that.
> 
> I did get a text from the other driver today, he hasn't filed a claim yet. He said he is going to see if it's just a minor scuff, he may not file a claim and just let it go.
> He is going to get car wash first and then make a decision. Hope he doesn't go through the cheap gas station car washes...


Once you pay Lyft's deductible (I think it's $2,500?), they have to take care of the damage the passenger caused. Lyft & Uber both have huge insurance policies, and I definitely wouldn't pay for that out of pocket. If it comes down to it, you could easily get a lawyer to get Lyft to pay.


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## UberNOT4me (Feb 8, 2016)

soupergloo said:


> If it comes down to it, you could easily get a lawyer to get Lyft to pay


It's still not worth it. The lawyer fees will be at least around $750. And then run around and waste my time.


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## soupergloo (Jul 24, 2015)

UberEffedMe said:


> It's still not worth it. The lawyer fees will be at least around $750. And then run around and waste my time.


A lawyer will normally work on a contingency basis and their fee will come out of your Lyft settlement. That's how mine is doing it.


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## UberNOT4me (Feb 8, 2016)

soupergloo said:


> A lawyer will normally work on a contingency basis and their fee will come out of your Lyft settlement. That's how mine is doing it.


How long you have been fighting this? Now, are you still driving for Lyft or you work somewhere else?


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## soupergloo (Jul 24, 2015)

UberEffedMe said:


> How long you have been fighting this? Now, are you still driving for Lyft or you work somewhere else?


My accident happened the week before Halloween in 2015, I just finished treatment this month and my lawyer sent their demand letter to State Farm on the 16th; they have until March 15th to respond and then I'm sure there will be more negotiating, so I'm really not planning on getting paid out until this Summer. For me it'll be worth it to wait because State Farm was only willing to pay me $1,000 for pain & suffering, wouldn't pay any lost wages due to being put out of work and all the medical expenses would have to come out of my pocket first.

I still drive for Lyft/Uber (but mainly Lyft) .. I quit my "real job" to do this.


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## UberNOT4me (Feb 8, 2016)

soupergloo said:


> My accident happened the week before Halloween in 2015, I just finished treatment this month and my lawyer sent their demand letter to State Farm on the 16th; they have until March 15th to respond and then I'm sure there will be more negotiating, so I'm really not planning on getting paid out until this Summer. For me it'll be worth it to wait because State Farm was only willing to pay me $1,000 for pain & suffering, wouldn't pay any lost wages due to being put out of work and all the medical expenses would have to come out of my pocket first.
> 
> I still drive for Lyft/Uber (but mainly Lyft) .. I quit my "real job" to do this.


Sorry to hear that, I hope they pay for everything. I am glad you are not deactivated from Lyft's system and can still drive. Good Luck!


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## soupergloo (Jul 24, 2015)

UberEffedMe said:


> Sorry to hear that, I hope they pay for everything. I am glad you are not deactivated from Lyft's system and can still drive. Good Luck!


 thank you, likewise


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