# Uber and Lyft Drivers Have No Medical Coverage in an Accident



## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

*Uber and Lyft Drivers Have No Medical Coverage in an Accident*

*http://ridesharedashboard.com/2014/11/05/uber-lyft-drivers-medical-coverage-accident/*


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## Sean O'Gorman (Apr 17, 2014)

This isn't some sort of revelation. First party injuries while in the scope of employment aren't covered by the medical payments portion of a policy.


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## duggles (Aug 25, 2014)

So here's a question... If you're a part-time driver with another full-time job, and that job provides health care, could coverage be denied if you sought health care as the result of an accident that involved your other part-time, independent contractor job?


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## LAuberX (Jun 3, 2014)

Sean O'Gorman said:


> This isn't some sort of revelation. First party injuries while in the scope of employment aren't covered by the medical payments portion of a policy.


I have always had some minimal amount of "medical" coverage on my personal auto policy, like $2500.00
It seemed silly as I have always had health insurance that covers my medical no matter how the injury happened... but when I go to the doc with a pain or injury the first question they ask is "did this happen at work"...

So if we get injured driving for uber and the accident is our fault... will our personal health insurance not cover it?


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## grams777 (Jun 13, 2014)

LAuberX said:


> I have always had some minimal amount of "medical" coverage on my personal auto policy, like $2500.00
> It seemed silly as I have always had health insurance that covers my medical no matter how the injury happened... but when I go to the doc with a pain or injury the first question they ask is "did this happen at work"...
> 
> So if we get injured driving for uber and the accident is our fault... will our personal health insurance not cover it?


It depends. Normally all other insurance policies are first responsible before your personal health insurance kicks in. In some cases personal insurance pays, but may seek reimbursement from other parties.

In the case of an accident which is our fault while driving for Uber, it appears that:
1. Uber doesn't pay anything for our medical costs (based on the linked article);
2. Our car insurance will not pay (for hire / commercial use excluded);
3. Lastly, but perhaps the only payment will be from our personal health insurance.

Generally, work related medical services for employees are not covered by personal health insurance. However mine as an example, Blue Cross, does cover work related medical services for sole proprietors, partners, and officers, as long as workers compensation insurance is not required by law (see below). So the answer will probably be varied depending on your state, insurance policy, and workers comp. laws. You will need to check your regulations and health insurance policy to be sure. Needless to say, if you don't have medical insurance that covers you while driving, that adds a huge risk to doing this. I would not drive for Uber / Lyft at all under that scenario. The risk would far exceed the meager compensation.

From Coverage Exclusions:


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## Sean O'Gorman (Apr 17, 2014)

That sounds like a better explanation than anything I could come up with. I know next to nothing about health insurance and workers comp, so I won't butt in. Rather than beating the auto liability coverage subject to death, we should probably be looking into the health insurance issue as something that could potentially hit us drivers hard. I know I've had auto claims in the past where subcontractors were left footing the bill for their injuries because they didn't have workers comp, and the medical payments coverage didn't apply to an on the job injury.


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## Sean O'Gorman (Apr 17, 2014)

LAuberX said:


> I have always had some minimal amount of "medical" coverage on my personal auto policy, like $2500.00
> It seemed silly as I have always had health insurance that covers my medical no matter how the injury happened... but when I go to the doc with a pain or injury the first question they ask is "did this happen at work"...
> 
> So if we get injured driving for uber and the accident is our fault... will our personal health insurance not cover it?


Check your policy. I'll be doing so with my health insurance policy when I get the chance, hopefully I can figure something out.

The first party medical on some personal auto policies is written as excess (meaning it pays deductibles, copays, out-of-pocket expenses, etc.), and on some is primary, meaning that $2,500 covers the first $2,500 of medical bills. The primary is supposedly better, and it's how we write all of our normal/high end policies, with only the high risk ones getting excess coverage, but it seems like it would work the other way around. The $2,500 seems like it would go a lot further on an excess policy.


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## dsimms (Nov 13, 2014)

LAuberX said:


> I have always had some minimal amount of "medical" coverage on my personal auto policy, like $2500.00
> It seemed silly as I have always had health insurance that covers my medical no matter how the injury happened... but when I go to the doc with a pain or injury the first question they ask is "did this happen at work"...
> 
> So if we get injured driving for uber and the accident is our fault... will our personal health insurance not cover it?


My guess is that even your min amount will not be covered.
When you sign up for insurance, one of their first questions will be is:
are you driving your vehicle for commercial purposes, and if you tell them
no, then any insurance after that will not be valid; You have already lied
to them, and you expect them to honor even min insurance....?

Of course, you can prove me wrong right now, and call your agent
up, and ask them that very question, and I imagine you will not....

So you can assume your min insurance is valid all you want,
whatever gives you that peace and mind to sleep at night is ok with me....

As for your personal health insurance; I have been in accidents, and never
I have been asked about if I was working; They do ask you if you are
filing under workmans comp, or other insurance. If you are driving for
uber then you do not have workmans comp, so you would use whatever
medical insurance you have that is non-auto related, if you attempt to
file your claim through your auto insurance, it maybe denied....but
if you have other medical insurance, then the hosp will use that....

So if you end up going to the hosp, you simply tell them you were
in an auto accident, and present your personal health ins card....

Even if you have extra protection such as PIP (Personal Injury Protection)
you have already lied at the beginning of the call on how you are or not
using your vehicle, so if you end up going to the hosp, and using pip as
your primary coverage; my guess it will be denied by your auto insurance....

Just one little white lie will make all of your auto insurance invalid.
and this is no different then life insurance, if you tell them you are
a non smoker, and it is proven you did smoke; They will not pay out, period.


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## Worcester Sauce (Aug 20, 2014)

Sean O'Gorman said:


> This isn't some sort of revelation. First party injuries while in the scope of employment aren't covered by the medical payments portion of a policy.


stop it


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## Worcester Sauce (Aug 20, 2014)

Sean O'Gorman said:


> This isn't some sort of revelation. First party injuries while in the scope of employment aren't covered by the medical payments portion of a policy.


Sean...your posts need to come with a warning label attached...


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## dsimms (Nov 13, 2014)

duggles said:


> So here's a question... If you're a part-time driver with another full-time job, and that job provides health care, could coverage be denied if you sought health care as the result of an accident that involved your other part-time, independent contractor job?


I would say if you have a full time job that provides medical insurance, and you are
in an accident, then you *should* be covered as you have medical insurance. In order
to be sure, simply call your medical provider, and ask them.

When you got your general medical coverage (through your employer), were you drilled 
about driving your vehicle for commercial purposes? If you go to the hosp, they will simply
ask for your medical card, your insurance will just assume this is auto/accident claim....

If it helps you sleep, then call your medical provider....
and watch your medical insurance get cancelled....
 I am kidding...

Rather then asking them directly, ask
for a copy of your policy. If no such thing
exists in your policy, then your claim cant be denied....


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## teldar86 (Nov 26, 2014)

duggles said:


> So here's a question... If you're a part-time driver with another full-time job, and that job provides health care, could coverage be denied if you sought health care as the result of an accident that involved your other part-time, independent contractor job?


Excellent question. Back in the late 90's, I worked for a large, Fortune 100 company. My family received health insurance coverage from them. My wife was a realtor at the time. She was showing a house that was not her listing and therefore was not familiar with the home. While on the the showing, a door was closed and she had difficulty getting it open. The door opened away from her (a code violation). So she pushed harder with both hands; the door opened and led to the basement. She lost her balance and there were no guard rails, another violation. She fell from the main floor directly onto the basement floor. She was rushed to the hospital. I arrived shortly thereafter and was told she may be paralyzed. Had she landed on her head, she probably would have died. They kept her immobile for about 7 days trying to determine the extent of her injuries. She had crushed a couple of vertebrae in her back but was not paralyzed. We had to hire medical specialists of course. We were told that she may need surgery at some point. She took months to recover and has pain to this day. Well i was feeling so fortunate that i had paid the extra $200 per month in health care premiums that would allow us to go out of network for medical care. About 2-3 months after the accident, we started getting medical bills from everyone who had been involved in her care. I notified my employer and asked why i was getting bills. Their response- since she was hurt working, they will not cover her medical costs. They told me that workers comp will have to cover the costs. I told them that she was an independent contractor and could not get workers comp insurance since only employees have workers comp coverage. they still denied all the claims. We were getting calls for money every night. We hired a lawyer and then an ERISA specialist. Went through the appeals processes at my company- they still wouldnt pay. The HR rep even told me that they would not cover an employee's child if they got hurt baby-sitting or mowing lawns since they were technically working. We ended up suing the homeowners insurance policy and received a minimal amount, like $20k, which covered the medical bills to date. I quit the company as a result of this. When i notified them i was leaving, they told me that they werent going to make me pay any of the medical costs they had paid. I said "that's good because i wasnt going to anyway".

The best thing to do in this situation is discuss this with the current health insurance company. If they tell you that youre not covered, one option would be to create a corporation and have yourself as an employee. You could then pay workers comp insurance through the state and be covered.


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