An average car accident can be a challenging and costly event in a person’s life, but a Lyft accident is even more complex and expensive to handle. A Lyft accident will require a serious investigation, evidence, and plenty of paperwork.
If you or someone you know were involved in a Lyft accident, then you are probably wondering, “what is the average Lyft accident settlement in the State of Florida?” It is a difficult question to answer, mainly because the settlement value will depend on the unique factors and circumstances of your case. However, a Lyft accident settlement is generally based on your medical bills or the income that you lost.
At The Law Place, we have over seventy-five years of collective experience and knowledge in managing Lyft accident settlements for clients who live throughout the State of Florida. Our law firm understands the way that big-time companies like Lyft operate, and we will make sure that you receive the maximum amount of compensation following an accident with a Lyft driver.
If you have questions or concerns in regard to a Lyft or Uber accident, then you should speak to a car accident lawyer now. The phone lines to our office are available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week so that we can be there for you day and night.
Contact The Law Place on (941) 444-4444 to schedule a free consultation today.
How Much Is a Lyft Settlement?
Lyft drivers and Uber drivers have the same potential of getting involved in a car accident as anyone else. Car accident injuries can cost you hundreds and thousands of dollars, and they can impact every aspect of your life. If you were an innocent Lyft passenger at the time that the accident occurred, then you should not have to pay for an accident that was not your fault.
Uber and Lyft both have insurance coverage of up to $1 million, and you might be able to access their insurance company in the event that you file a personal injury claim against them. However, the amount that you can expect to receive in a Lyft accident settlement will vary depending on the specifics of your case.
In many cases, a personal injury settlement against Lyft usually ranges from $300,000 to $1 million. The amount that you receive should be proportional to the seriousness of your injuries, among other factors.
How Much Have Other People Involved in Car Accidents With Lyft Received in Lyft Accident Settlements?
Lyft and Uber are private companies, which means that they do not have to share all of their information with the public. It is hard to say how many Uber drivers and Lyft drivers are using the roads, how many passengers they are transporting, how many car accidents occur, and how much the rideshare companies award in damages to the injured passengers and other road users in the State of Florida.
However, we do have a few facts about Uber and Lyft settlements:
- Uber and Lyft are responsible for a 2-3% increase in the amount of motor vehicle accidents, according to university researchers.
- Uber provided close to 15 million rides per day, according to Uber’s co-founder Garrett Camp in a blog post written in the year 2017.
- There were 10 fatal accidents that involved Uber drivers reported in the year 2016.
- Every case is different from the next, but plaintiffs have received between $500,000 and $1.25 million in settlements for personal injury cases involving Uber and Lyft car accidents.
How Do I Know How Much My Case Is Worth?
Every Lyft and Uber accident is different from the next. It is difficult to estimate a settlement or know the worth of your case until all of the details have been discussed with an experienced Uber or Lyft car accident lawyer in the State of Florida.
If you have been injured in an accident involving Lyft or Uber, then you should get in touch with a car accident attorney as soon as possible. You will also be able to get a better idea of how much you can receive in a settlement by speaking to a car accident attorney once they determine the extent of your injuries and the activity of the Uber driver or Lyft driver at the time of the crash.
How Badly Were You Injured?
If you suffered a severe injury, then you will most likely receive a higher settlement from Lyft’s insurance company. A car accident lawyer and Lyft’s insurance company will estimate your lost wages, the cost of your medical expenses, and the cost of your pain and suffering during a negotiation.
If you were a Lyft passenger and you suffered only bruises and cuts, and you were able to return to work as usual, then you will probably not be awarded a high amount in compensation, as the impact of the accident on your life was relatively little. However, if you sustained a spinal cord injury as a result of a Lyft car accident, meaning you were unable to return to work, and you had to spend hundreds and thousands of dollars in medical expenses and rehabilitation, then you will have a chance of recovering up to $1 million in compensation.
The most common damages awarded in an accident involving Lyft and Uber include visits to the doctor, hospitalization, ambulance expenses, surgery, rehabilitation, physical therapy, medical equipment, prescription medication, vehicle repair or replacement, therapy for anxiety, depression, or PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), loss of income, future lost wages, and more.
What Was the Status of the Lyft/Uber Driver?
Uber drivers and Lyft drivers are not the employees of Uber and Lyft – they are simply “independent contractors.” In other words, Uber and Lyft can try to deny liability in the event that an accident happens. However, rideshare companies do have insurance policies in place to protect their company, their drivers, and their passengers under certain circumstances. Their insurance coverage applies depending on the driver’s activity at the time of the crash.
- If the Uber driver or Lyft driver was available to pick up a passenger but was not yet transporting a passenger at the time of the accident, then the driver’s own insurance would be the main insurance coverage. In this case, Uber and Lyft can provide additional coverage up to the amount of $100,000 (including a maximum of $250,000 in property damage). However, the settlement will only be eligible if the driver’s personal insurance coverage does not cover all of the injured party’s losses.
- If the driver was transporting a passenger at the time that the accident happened, then the driver, the passenger, and other injured parties might be covered by Uber or Lyft’s $1 million liability insurance policy.
- If the accident was caused by an uninsured or underinsured driver, then the driver and passenger might be covered by Uber or Lyft’s $1 million uninsured driver policy.
Uber or Lyft’s liability insurance coverage will be secondary to the driver or at-fault driver’s insurance coverage. In many cases, the $1 million insurance policy will be accessible to you in the event that you are injured in a car accident.
How Settlement Values Are Calculated
A car accident settlement is determined by investigating a number of factors, including:
- The severity of your injuries.
- The amount of your medical bills.
- The effect that the car accident has had on your income and career.
- The effect that the car accident has had on your quality of life.
A car accident lawyer will be able to seek a higher settlement in the event that your injuries were really serious, you lost a lot of money, or your quality of life has changed dramatically.
Even if your injuries are not that serious, you will always be surprised by how much you might be able to recover in a settlement when you choose The Law Place.
Does Lyft Pay for Your Losses After an Accident?
Lyft has an insurance policy that will apply in certain situations in the event that a Lyft driver causes an accident.
- Maximum coverage – The maximum amount of coverage from Lyft will apply when a Lyft driver is actively transporting a passenger, with up to $1 million in third-party liability.
- Mid-level coverage – The mid-level coverage from Lyft will apply when a Lyft driver is on duty, looking for a passenger to pick up. The mid-level insurance policy will cover up to $50,000 per person for bodily injury and up to $25,000 in property damage.
However, Lyft’s insurance coverage will not apply in the event that a Lyft driver is not actively logged into the Lyft mobile application when they were involved in a car accident. In this case, you will have to seek compensation through the driver’s own auto insurance coverage.
Rideshare car accidents are highly complicated cases, and you will need the assistance of a car accident lawyer to help you sort out the details and determine who is liable for the car crash.
Can You Sue Lyft?
The most common question after a rideshare accident is usually “can you sue Lyft for a car accident?” or “can you sue Uber for a car accident?” The simplest answer is that it’s possible, but the process is very complicated.
Rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft employ drivers on a contract basis, which means that Lyft will argue that they are not responsible for Lyft drivers due to the fact that they are not technically employees but independent contractors.
On the other hand, you might be able to file a lawsuit against the Lyft driver or Uber driver in the event that their auto insurance does not cover all of your losses. It is imperative that you have legal representation following a Lyft car accident. Otherwise, you might be putting your legal rights at risk.
Duty of Care
If you have been badly injured in a car accident involving a Lyft driver or Uber driver, then you could be eligible to sue the company for the losses or injuries that you suffered. However, you will need a car accident lawyer to guide you through the legal system and help you to file a lawsuit against a big-time company like Lyft. A car accident lawyer will have to prove the three points of negligence:
- Duty of care – The Lyft driver owed you a duty of care to keep you safe and avoid an accident.
- Breach of duty – The Lyft driver failed to keep their duty of care to you and behaved in a negligent way.
- Causation – The Lyft driver’s breach of duty caused you to suffer damages in a car accident.
How The Law Place Will Help You to Recover Compensation
Filing a Lyft accident claim is very serious business. You will need the right car accident lawyer for the job because Lyft will bring its own experienced legal team to the courtroom. A car accident lawyer from The Law Place will handle every step of your case, including:
- Investigating and collecting evidence – The Law Place will conduct a full investigation of your accident and collect evidence to prove that you deserve the highest settlement.
- Negotiating for the best possible settlement – The Law Place will negotiate and fight with the insurance adjusters and the other party’s legal team so that you do not have to. We will make sure to negotiate for the full amount of compensation that you are owed.
- Taking your case to court – If the driver’s own insurance company is not able to cover all of your losses, then we might be able to file a lawsuit. We will work hard to meet the deadline for filing a personal injury lawsuit as stated under Florida Statute 95.11.
Compensation Available to You After a Lyft Accident
The team of car accident lawyers at The Law Place will fight to make sure that you are fully compensated for all of the damages and losses that you suffered. It is not fair that you should have to pay for an accident that was not your fault. A car accident lawyer will seek compensation for:
- Medical bills – We will seek compensation for past, present, and future medical expenses, including surgery, hospitalization, doctor’s visits, rehabilitation, physical therapy, medical equipment, prescription medication, and more.
- Lost wages – We will seek compensation for wages that you lost since you have been unable to work as a result of your personal injury, along with future lost earnings and a reduced earning capacity.
- Property damage – We will seek compensation for repairing or replacing your motor vehicle, mobile phone, clothes, and other damaged property.
- Pain and suffering – We will seek compensation for pain and suffering, including physical pain, mental suffering, emotional distress, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), fear, depression, and reduced quality of life.
- Wrongful death – We will seek compensation for wrongful death after someone you love was killed in a Lyft accident, including funeral bills, medical expenses, lost wages, property damage, pain and suffering, and more. Wrongful death laws are explained in Florida Statute 768.21.
Information That You Need After a Lyft Accident
If you were involved in a car accident with Lyft, then you should make sure that you collect as much information and evidence as possible. If you are a Lyft passenger, then you should get the information of the driver as well as any other drivers involved in the car accident.
- Get the name, address, phone number, insurance information, and vehicle registration number of the Lyft driver.
- Get Lyft’s insurance information.
- Get the names, phone numbers, and addresses of the people who witnessed the accident.
- Get pictures and videos of the location, motor vehicle damage, road marks, injuries, etc.
- Get copies of your medical records and keep your medical bills, invoices, and receipts.
Can Lyft Deactivate You?
If you have been using Lyft and you discover that you can no longer access the mobile application or your account has been deactivated, then:
- If you are a driver, then your Lyft account could possibly have been deactivated as a result of the expiration of your driver’s license, breaking the law on the road, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or another reason.
- If you are a Lyft passenger, then your account could possibly have been deactivated due to a mistake, someone else having access to your account, or maybe you were banned due to inappropriate behavior.
If your Lyft account has been deactivated, and you believe that you did not break the law or violate one of Lyft’s rules, then you can try to reactivate the account through Lyft’s website.
Contact The Law Place Today
If you or someone you love were involved in a Lyft accident in the State of Florida, then you need legal representation. A Lyft car accident can lead to numerous damages such as medical bills, lost income, property damage, pain and suffering, and more, and you deserve to be compensated.
At The Law Place, we have over seventy-five years of combined experience when it comes to filing car accident claims all over the State of Florida. Our law firm understands the complex nature of Lyft accident cases, and we will explain the process to you every step of the way.
It might seem daunting to file a claim against a big company like Lyft, but we will fight for your legal rights and ensure that you receive the compensation that you are owed. We highly recommend that you speak to a car accident attorney as soon as possible following a Lyft accident. Our phone lines are open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
Contact The Law Place on (941) 444-4444 to schedule a free consultation today.