An accident stops everything. Whether it’s a head-on collision, a sudden impact from behind, or a blow from the side you never saw coming, the car crash has instantly turned an ordinary day into a major problem.
When you were driving for Uber Eats at the time of the accident, insurance coverage complexities add even more hardships. You deserve compensation for all of the harms and losses you suffered because of a negligent driver. But getting it as an injured NJ Uber Eats driver won’t be easy.
The delivery driver injury attorneys at Console & Associates, P.C. can help. We’ve faced the obstacles injured delivery drivers encounter and helped clients in situations like yours get the full amount of money they deserve. Let us answer your questions and review your case at no cost. Call 866-778-5500 today for a free, no-obligation consultation or complete our online form.
In the chaotic moments after a crash, questions race through your mind.
Is anything broken? Will Uber Eats deactivate me for an accident? What do I do now?
It’s difficult to stay calm and think clearly when you’ve been injured in an Uber Eats accident. Here’s what you need to know.
The most important steps to take in the immediate aftermath of Uber Eats accidents are the same steps to take following any car accident: get to safety and get help. You can notify Uber later, once help is on the way. (Even Uber advises taking these steps before reporting the crash to the delivery service.)
For now, make sure you’re not in the path of traffic where you could suffer further injuries. Call 911. You’re going to need emergency medical personnel to examine you, and you should report the crash to the police.
Depending on how urgent your need for medical care is, you might go straight to the hospital or visit an urgent care facility or your primary doctor. Whatever the case, the sooner you seek medical assistance, the better. You need a thorough examination by a licensed medical professional. You may think it’s better to wait and see if you need medical care. However, the delay in getting treatment can make your injuries worse and your physical recovery longer, as well as interfere with your legal claim.
You will have to notify the relevant insurance companies of the accident, but this process is full of potential pitfalls—especially for injured Uber Eats drivers. It’s a good idea to speak to an experienced attorney first to better understand your legal rights and how the process works. If you hire our attorneys to handle your claim, we can even notify the insurance companies of the crash on your behalf.
As scary and disorienting as all of this is, you don’t have to go through it alone.
The accident has kicked off a cascade of problems. You’re hurt badly enough that it affects your life in all kinds of ways. You need medical treatment to get better, but that care incurs ever-growing medical bills. These costs are enough to pose a financial hardship even if you weren’t losing income, but injured delivery drivers often find themselves out of work, too.
Usually, you would turn to an auto insurance company to compensate you for all of these losses. Identifying applicable coverage is much more complicated when it involves an accident during an Uber Eats delivery.
While Uber Eats provides some auto insurance coverage under certain conditions, this coverage won’t help an Uber Eats driver injured due to another driver’s negligence. The up to $1 million of insurance coverage Uber Eats provides only applies when the delivery driver injures someone else. If you, the Uber Eats driver, got hurt because of someone else’s careless actions behind the wheel, you may have a hard time getting compensation for your injuries, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other damages.
Unless you have a commercial auto insurance policy—and many Uber Eats drivers don’t—your insurer may leave you hanging, too.
You’re going to have to fight for the compensation you deserve. That means you need a full understanding of the legal process and what your rights are. Otherwise, the insurance companies, who have plenty of resources and teams of attorneys on their side, have a big advantage.
Know your legal options.
Does Uber Eats cover accidents? That depends on when they occur, who is at fault, and who you are in relation to the company.
Officially, Uber Eats accident insurance coverage applies in two situations: when the driver is awaiting a delivery request and when the driver is picking up and dropping off orders. The Uber Eats insurance coverage limits are much higher for accidents that occur during a delivery (generally, $1 million) than those that occur while the driver is waiting for orders ($50,000).
Unfortunately, the coverage available under the Uber Eats accident policy is limited to third-party coverage.
If you were the one at fault, this coverage would pay for the damages of the people you injured. When you’re the one injured by the other motorist’s negligence, though, this coverage doesn’t help you.
In most job-related accidents in New Jersey, the worker is entitled to benefits through workers’ compensation insurance. Employees are legally entitled to these benefits no matter who is at fault for the injury, and they don’t have to pay to be covered by the program.
That’s not the case for NJ Uber Eats drivers. Under Uber’s business model, delivery drivers are independent contractors, not employees. Since Uber isn’t technically their employer, the company doesn’t have to provide workers’ compensation benefits for Uber Eats drivers.
What Uber Eats does offer drivers is a form of Injury Protection coverage. This insurance purports to cover damages like medical expenses, temporary or continuous disability, and survivor benefits. However, the process of getting these benefits can be lengthy and frustrating, and delivery drivers may be surprised by some of the fine print and technicalities.
Perhaps even more troubling is that only Uber Eats drivers who proactively opt into the program and pay a premium per mile driven are eligible for this coverage. Since many Uber Eats drivers assume that either Uber’s insurance policy or their own auto insurance will cover them, they may not think they need to participate in the program. By the time they learn otherwise—after they’ve been hurt in an accident and the insurance companies are denying their claims—it’s too late.
Because NJ is a no-fault state, a driver’s own auto insurance company is generally responsible for paying accident-related medical bills. That sounds like great news for injured Uber Eats drivers, right?
Unfortunately, drivers for online and mobile delivery services may not have the insurance coverage they think they do. If you purchased a personal auto insurance policy without a special endorsement, your insurer may deny your claim because you were driving for Uber Eats.
Auto insurance companies often consider delivery driving to be a commercial activity, even if you only do this work part-time or infrequently. Since your policy only covers personal use of the vehicle, not commercial use, the insurer can refuse to cover you.
We are here to help.
For many Uber Eats delivery drivers injured in car accidents, getting full compensation means filing a claim with the insurance company of the driver who caused the crash. A settlement or jury award paid by the at-fault driver’s insurer can compensate you for damages like lost wages, pain and suffering, and more.
Winning a lawsuit against another driver isn’t easy, even if fault for the collision seems straightforward. It’s in the insurance company’s interests to pay as little as possible on your claim, so an insurer may try to put the blame for the crash (or at least part of it) on you instead of its policyholder.
Even if the insurance company doesn’t argue over liability, it won’t make the process of getting the full amount of money damages you deserve easy. There’s a great deal of paperwork to deal with, as well as injuries and time off of work to document.
No matter how much your family needs the money you’re entitled to, insurance companies often take their time processing claims, delaying payments as long as possible.
All this isn’t to discourage you from moving forward with your claim—you should, at a minimum, explore your legal rights and options.
This is, however, the difficult reality of undertaking the legal process on your own. You will need to meet certain standards and deadlines, file the necessary legal documents, and compile extensive evidence that supports every aspect of your claim. If you make a single mistake handling your case, you could see your payout amount plummet—or the insurance company may deny your claim entirely.
For the best outcome in an Uber Eats accident claim, you’re going to want professional legal representation on your side. Even in the simplest of car accident cases, having experienced lawyers fighting for you can improve the amount of compensation you receive while removing the stress of handling everything yourself.
In a claim complicated by Uber Eats delivery driving work, having a knowledgeable legal team whose job is to protect your rights and interests is even more critical.
If you’ve heard that lawyers and lawsuits are expensive, you probably think you can’t afford legal help. Hiring an attorney may seem impossible when you’re already struggling with the financial consequences of a delivery driver accident. It isn’t that you want to handle your claim yourself. You just don’t think you have another choice.
What if you didn’t have to worry about the cost?
The experienced Uber Eats lawyers at Console & Associates, P.C. believe every injured car accident victim should have the chance to seek the compensation they deserve, even if they can’t shell out thousands of dollars upfront for legal representation. That’s why we make every client our No Fee Promise.
Our clients pay nothing upfront for their cases. The consultation is free, no matter how complex your claim or how many questions you have for us. We investigate the accident and identify all the possible sources of insurance coverage without ever handing you a bill. If needed, we advance the costs of hiring expert witnesses. We compile all of the evidence needed to demonstrate the severity of your injuries and their effects on your life, and we calculate the amount of compensation you deserve. We aim to negotiate a settlement out of court that fully covers your damages. If that’s not possible, we’re prepared to take your case to trial if that’s what’s necessary to get you maximum compensation.
Through it all, you still haven’t paid a penny.
Under our contingency fee basis, you’ll only ever pay in attorneys’ fees a percentage of the money we actually recover for you. You never have to worry about owing more money for legal representation than you get for your claim or about paying an attorney who doesn’t win your case.
Help for an Uber Eats Accident Starts With a Free ConsultationCar accidents leave Uber Eats drivers with a lot of questions and even more worries. You could keep wondering what’s going to happen next—or you could take action to get your questions answered and put some of those worries to rest.
Our legal team is standing by, ready to evaluate your case and guide you through the legal process. Call 866-778-5500 or contact us online to get your claim started today.
