Driving for Grubhub is a popular way to earn money in New Jersey, but the work isn’t without risks. The more time you spend on the road—specifically, sharing it with other motorists—the greater your likelihood of getting injured in a car accident.
For Grubhub drivers who suffer injuries in collisions with other motorists, an accident’s consequences extend beyond the pain and disability that accompany an injury. Grubhub’s involvement in your accident may make it more difficult to get the compensation you deserve.
For years, the NJ Grubhub driver accident attorneys at Console & Associates, P.C. have helped injured delivery drivers navigate the legal system and get the maximum compensation for their claims. It costs nothing upfront to move forward with a Grubhub accident case. Call our New Jersey lawyers for food delivery service accidents today at 866-778-5500 for a free evaluation of your Grubhub driver accident claim.
There’s nothing routine about being in a car accident. One moment, you’re making your Grubhub deliveries, and the next moment, the sudden impact stops you in your tracks. The shock of being in a collision makes it hard to process what’s going on or think logically about what to do next.
What should you do after a food delivery service accident in New Jersey? Although you will need to notify Grubhub that you won’t be able to make the delivery, this task can wait. Your first step should be to protect your health and safety and that of anyone else involved in the crash.
If you’re able to move, get to a safe place (out of the way of traffic) where you won’t come to any further harm. If you can’t move on your own, ask someone else on the scene for help. Be aware of any immediately noticeable injuries, and take care not to make them worse.
Call 911 to request emergency medical assistance and report the crash to the police. While you’re waiting for first responders to show up, you could notify Grubhub of the accident if you’re able to do so.
When the police arrive, answer their questions cooperatively but succinctly. You don’t need to volunteer extra information or over-explain yourself.
Make sure you get the other driver’s insurance information while the police are on the scene.
Once emergency medical personnel arrive, allow them to examine you.
Some of the most serious car accident injuries require immediate treatment. You might take an ambulance straight to the hospital or have someone drive you there right away.
Even if you don’t need to rush right to the emergency department, it’s still important to get examined by a qualified medical professional. You should see a doctor as soon as possible. Waiting to seek medical care could allow your injuries to get worse. It could also undermine your claim, making it harder to get the money you need to afford the care that will give you the best possible recovery.
Injured Grubhub drivers should visit a hospital, urgent care facility, or their primary care provider as soon as possible following an accident.
We are here to help.
Notifying all relevant insurance companies is a stressful prospect, especially right now, when your injuries are taking up your full attention. When you speak to any insurance company regarding the accident, you need to be careful.
Remember, none of them are on your side. It’s in every insurer’s best interest to pay out as little as possible in claims, even when that means preventing you from fully being made whole, financially speaking.
Keep all conversations with all insurance companies as brief and to the point—which is to report the accident—as possible. While you must notify the insurers promptly, waiting until you have spoken to a knowledgeable Grubhub car accident attorney can help you avoid some common mistakes.
If you choose to hire our attorneys to handle your claim, we can contact the insurance companies on your behalf to provide notice of the accident. That removes this burden from your to-do list, allowing you to focus instead on recovering from your injuries.
In an accident, a Grubhub driver can sustain serious injuries. Diagnosing, treating, and recovering from these injuries is often a lengthy and difficult process that puts the injured driver through a lot. Rehabilitation from serious injuries can also cause your medical expenses to pile up.
Your injuries can cost you money in other ways, too. A significant injury may keep you out of work, at least for a little while. If you’re not able to do all of the tasks you usually do, you may have to hire outside help at your own expense. Your injuries also affect you in non-financial ways, such as the pain and suffering they bring about.
For all of the harms and losses—what personal injury lawyers call ‘damages’—you suffered due to a crash that resulted from someone else’s negligence, you deserve compensation. The question is, where can you seek this compensation from? That’s a particularly tricky question when it applies to a Grubhub driver accident injury claim.
In New Jersey, each driver’s own auto insurance is generally responsible for paying their accident-related medical bills under the state’s no-fault law. When you were driving for Grubhub at the time of the crash, you may find yourself in a dilemma.
Many auto insurance companies will deny coverage if they learn that their policyholder drives for Grubhub or another delivery service—leaving New Jersey food delivery service accident victims unsure of where to turn.
How can your auto insurer get away with denying your claim when you’ve been paying your insurance premiums all this time? These companies issue personal auto insurance policies for what’s considered personal use of a vehicle, like driving yourself, your family, and your friends around. Insurers may consider driving for Grubhub to be a commercial use of the vehicle, even if your delivery driving work is infrequent.
Unfortunately, most Grubhub drivers don’t know that they may need special insurance—either commercial auto insurance or a separate ride-on or endorsement to their existing policy—to cover accidents that occur when they’re delivering food. Although there might seem to be little practical difference between driving to a restaurant to pick up your own takeout order and driving there to pick up and deliver a Grubhub order, the insurance company may not see things that way. In many New Jersey food delivery service accidents, the delivery driver’s insurer denies coverage for the claim.
This doesn’t mean your situation is hopeless. Our Grubhub food delivery accident attorneys can help you explore all avenues of insurance coverage and secure the maximum amount of money available to you.
Know your legal options.
Since you were driving for Grubhub when the collision happened, you might expect the company you were working for to be liable for your injuries and medical bills. If you were legally considered an employee of Grubhub, that would most likely be the case. However, Grubhub considers its drivers, officially known as “delivery partners,” to be independent contractors rather than employees.
This distinction limits Grubhub’s liability for the actions of its employees. In most states, including New Jersey, Grubhub currently (as of 2023) provides no commercial auto insurance coverage. Grubhub doesn’t cover the driver making deliveries for the company or any other motorists or passengers injured in a crash that involves one of their drivers.
According to Grubhub’s Terms of Use Agreement, “Delivery Partners have entered into agreements with Grubhub which require them to comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, rules and regulations, including… applicable insurance requirements.” This language puts the burden of securing insurance coverage for an accident on the delivery driver. Although certain other app-based delivery services that use similar language also provide some form of insurance coverage or benefits in the event of an accident, Grubhub, at this time, does not.
Even if driving for Grubhub is the reason you were on the road at the time of the collision in the first place, you can’t count on the company to pay for your medical bills or any of the other damages you have sustained. Unfortunately, this also means there is no easy, automatic source of auto insurance coverage for your most pressing expense: your medical bills.
If your own personal auto insurance doesn’t apply and Grubhub offers no coverage at all, you will have to sue the at-fault driver for the money you’re entitled to. In some instances, you might file a Grubhub driver injury lawsuit against another negligent party, like the employer of the other driver (if they were on the clock at the time of the crash) or the manufacturer of defective auto parts. In claims that involve complicated liability, a Grubhub delivery driver may sue even if they are partially at fault for the collision, as long as the other party bears a larger percentage of responsibility for causing the accident.
Even in cases that don’t involve the complexities of delivery services like Grubhub, accident victims often have to sue the negligent motorist who caused the crash for damages such as lost wages and pain and suffering. Suing the other driver requires you to go up against a major insurance company that has plenty of resources. You’ll need to provide evidence to show that the other driver is at fault—remember, it’s in the auto insurer’s best interests to blame you for the crash rather than its policyholder. You also need documentation to illustrate the severity of your injuries and the full extent of damages such as loss of income and pain and suffering.
When you file a claim for compensation against the other driver, you’re going to have to navigate through the entire legal process. There will be legal proceedings, such as depositions. You need to file formal legal documents, such as a complaint. You may need expert opinions to back up your explanation of fault for the accident or to confirm the extent of your injuries and their impact on your life.
When you’re already coping with life-changing injuries, a loss of income, and other common Grubhub driver issues, the last thing you need is the distraction of handling a legal claim all by yourself. Instead, put your claim in the hands of attorneys with experience handling Grubhub auto accident claims so you can focus on what’s really important: getting better.
Perhaps the single most important thing you need to know about Grubhub accident claims is that you don’t have to go through this alone. Research has shown that injured accident victims who have professional legal representation get significantly more money on average than claimants who handle claims on their own.
Having professional experience on your side is especially important in complicated legal matters, like those that involve driving for Grubhub or other app-based services. The experienced NJ Grubhub driver accident injury lawyers at Console & Associates can identify all potential sources of coverage, undertake a thorough investigation, and fully document your damages. Through this comprehensive process, we get our clients maximum compensation for their claims.
Many injured Grubhub delivery drivers think they can’t afford a lawyer to handle their claim. No matter how big a financial burden the accident has already caused you, hiring our attorneys won’t add to your concerns. Console & Associates represents all of our clients on a no-win, no-fee basis. Not only is there no charge for the initial consultation and case review, but if you hire us to handle your claim, you’ll pay nothing upfront for our legal services. At the end of your case, you’ll only ever owe us a fraction of the money damages we succeed in getting for you.
If you’re ready to move forward—or just get your questions answered—we’re here for you. The consultation is free and confidential, and our No Fee Promise means there’s no risk in pursuing Grubhub accident claims. Call 866-778-5500 or contact us online to speak to a member of our legal team today.
