# Uber Gave Me Deductible Back



## 142605 (Mar 4, 2018)

Everyone knows that Uber has a deductible of $1000 and Lyft $2500. This deductible applies regardless of who is at fault. What you may not know is that you can get it back.

When I got sideswiped by a bus, the adjuster for Uber (James River Insurance) gave me a choice... I could file the claim with Uber OR I could go directly through the insurance of the bus company that hit me.

If I went through Uber, they'd fix it immediately but I'd have to pay the $1000 deductible. If I went through the bus company, I could avoid paying the deductible but I would have to wait for them to "investigate" and accept fault and negotiate with them myself. The part that surprised me is that Uber (James River Insurance) told me that if the other party accepted responsibility and paid that they'd actually give me the deductible back.

I decided to go through Uber to speed up the process and I paid the body shop out of pocket. The body shop was so nice they even fixed a couple scratches and dings unrelated to the accident as a "courtesy", and even more amazingly, they only charged me $800 cash instead of the full $1000. When the bus company finally accepted responsibility the Uber adjuster had them send the $1000 deductible directly back to me... so I made $200 on the deal.

In the end, the bus company also covered my Hertz rental (so I could still drive for Uber) and paid for a few days of lost work too so it wasn't too bad. I guess the moral of the story is if you're not at fault, you CAN avoid that deductible or get it back!


----------



## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

I think this is standard in the insurance industry, other than the extra $200 you got out of the deal. It’s called subrogation of benefits. Once your insurer pays out to fix your car, they have the right to go after the at fault party for reimbursement on your behalf. Then they either share on a prorated basis or, as in the case of my insurer, the first money they receive goes toward settling the out of pocket deductible.


----------



## 142605 (Mar 4, 2018)

Older Chauffeur said:


> I think this is standard in the insurance industry, other than the extra $200 you got out of the deal. It's called subrogation of benefits. Once your insurer pays out to fix your car, they have the right to go after the at fault party for reimbursement on your behalf. Then they either share on a prorated basis or, as in the case of my insurer, the first money they receive goes toward settling the out of pocket deductible.


True but since I'm not the policyholder (Uber is) I wasn't sure if it would work the same.


----------



## Older Chauffeur (Oct 16, 2014)

But you are the covered driver/owner of the vehicle.:wink:


----------



## DMAGENT99 (Jun 17, 2017)

Yes it's standard, and James River is one of bottom feeder insurance companies out there 
Right from the beginning they should have handled everything, and since the bus company was at fault it was their job to cover you and subrogate the deductible from the beginning. You should also be sure to have a medical checkup.


----------



## The Texan (Mar 1, 2019)

Doesn't this only apply if you're using a rental car though? 
Rental cars- raise your hand,
Not here



DMAGENT99 said:


> Yes it's standard, and James River is one of bottom feeder insurance companies out there
> Right from the beginning they should have handled everything, and since the bus company was at fault it was their job to cover you and subrogate the deductible from the beginning. You should also be sure to have a medical checkup.


A medical check up? As a Medical provider in ER's, etc., THIS is what's wrong with the whole long waits, etc.

Some how- he's going to miraculously have an injury caused by a sideswipe, and sue for millions, right?


----------



## DMAGENT99 (Jun 17, 2017)

I'm not a medical doctor, but what if somehow he did and never had at least got checked out. Sideswipe I can imagine by a large bus could possibly have caused the driver to brake quickly and jerked around , better safe than sorry, also it is just a precautionary measure, I'm sure if it was any other company he was driving for they would require the driver to be checked out


----------

