Yes, you can bring a claim after an Uber or Lyft crash, and how much coverage is available depends on what the driver’s app was doing at the moment of the collision. That single fact decides more rideshare claims than fault does.
California sets the coverage by statute, in Public Utilities Code 5433, and the difference between the phases is large.
Culver Legal, LLP acts for injured passengers, drivers and other road users across Long Beach on contingency, with case costs advanced. Nothing to pay up front, no fee unless we win. We advance the case costs, and if there is no recovery you are not charged those costs either. Call (310) 600-7881 at any hour.
What Coverage Applies, and When
| Situation at the moment of the collision | Required coverage |
|---|---|
| App off. Not logged in, driving personally | Their ordinary personal auto policy only. No rideshare coverage applies |
| App on, waiting for a request, or between rides | $50,000 per person for death and personal injury, $100,000 per incident, $30,000 property damage, plus at least $200,000 excess coverage per occurrence |
| Request accepted, through to the end of the ride | $1,000,000 primary, for death, personal injury and property damage |
| You were a passenger in the vehicle | Additionally $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident of uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, from the moment you get in until you get out |
The gap between the second and third rows is the whole case. A driver who had accepted your ride carries $1,000,000 of coverage; one still waiting for a request carries $50,000 per person. Establishing which phase applied means getting the trip record, and that record belongs to the company.
Four Things in That Statute That Insurers Would Rather You Did Not Know
The minimums are not a ceiling. Subdivision (f) states that the article does not limit a transportation network company’s liability above the required coverage. Seeing “$1,000,000” does not mean a claim worth more stops there.
Your own insurer does not have to deny the claim first. Subdivision (d) provides that rideshare coverage is not dependent on a personal auto policy first denying a claim, and that a personal policy is not required to deny one. Being told to go through your own insurance first is not how the statute works.
If the driver’s rideshare policy had lapsed, the company covers from the first dollar. Subdivision (e) says so directly, so a driver’s own insurance failure is not your problem to absorb.
The passenger coverage is separate and is the company’s own obligation. The $60,000 and $300,000 uninsured and underinsured layer is primary over any other uninsured motorist coverage you have, and the statute makes it solely the company’s obligation. It matters most when the vehicle that hit your rideshare was uninsured or fled, which in Long Beach is not unusual.
Not sure which phase the driver was in?
It is the difference between $50,000 and $1,000,000, and the trip record is the company’s.
The Evidence Sits on the Company’s Servers
A rideshare claim is unusual in that the decisive evidence is not physical. It is data: when the driver logged on, when the request was accepted, the route, the timestamps, and often in-car camera footage.
None of that is yours, and none of it arrives because you asked politely. Screenshot your own trip receipt immediately, because it is the one piece of that record you hold, and report the crash through the app so the incident exists in their system with a date on it.
How Long Do You Have?
Two years from the date of the crash under Code of Civil Procedure 335.1.
Six months if a public entity is involved, under Government Code 911.2, for presenting a written claim. Separately, Government Code 945.4 bars a lawsuit for money damages until that claim has been presented and the entity has either acted on it or is treated as having rejected it. A claim the entity simply ignores is deemed rejected once the 45 days are up, which is what allows the lawsuit to proceed.
And presenting the claim is not the last deadline. Once the entity mails or delivers a written rejection, Government Code 945.6 gives you six months from the date of that notice to file suit. If the entity never sends a written rejection, the period is two years from when the cause of action accrued instead. A claim that is ignored therefore leaves more time than one that is formally rejected, which is the opposite of what most people expect.
That is not a remote possibility in a rideshare case: a city vehicle in the collision, or a road defect that contributed, puts you on the six-month clock even though the other party is a private company. In Long Beach the claim is filed with the City Clerk, 411 West Ocean Blvd.
Getting the Collision Report
For a crash on a Long Beach street the report comes from the Long Beach Police Department, through its Collision Investigation Detail. The fee is $29, non-refundable, per application. The Records Division is on 562-570-7381. Collision reports are not released through the Public Records Act process, so a PRA request costs weeks and produces nothing.
Where Would the Case Be Heard?
At the Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse, 275 Magnolia. Since October 2022 the Los Angeles Superior Court has assigned newly filed personal injury cases to the judicial district where the incident arose, so a Long Beach collision is heard in Long Beach. A claim seeking more than $35,000 is an unlimited civil case.
Hurt in an Uber or Lyft in Long Beach?
The review costs nothing and commits you to nothing. Screenshot the trip receipt before you do anything else.
Long Beach Rideshare Accident FAQs
Can I sue Uber if I have an accident?
You can bring a claim, and in most cases it runs against the insurance California requires the company to carry rather than against the company as a defendant from day one. Public Utilities Code 5433 sets that coverage at $1,000,000 primary once a driver has accepted a ride and through to the end of it, and at $50,000 per person while the driver is logged in but has not yet accepted one. The statute also states that these requirements do not limit the company’s liability above those amounts, so a larger claim is not capped by them.
Does Uber usually settle out of court?
Most personal injury claims of any kind resolve without a trial, and rideshare claims are no exception, but that is not the same as resolving well. An early offer arrives before the medical picture is known, which is precisely why it arrives early. The more useful question is not whether they settle, but whether the phase of coverage has been correctly established first, because a claim negotiated on the assumption of $50,000 of coverage when $1,000,000 applied is settled against the wrong ceiling.
What if the driver’s app was off?
Then the rideshare coverageage does not apply and the claim runs against the driver’s ordinary personal auto policy, which in California may be as low as $30,000 for injury to one person on a policy issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, and $15,000 on an older one. Establishing the app state is therefore the first thing to do rather than something to confirm later, and the record that proves it is held by the company.
I was a passenger and an uninsured driver hit us. What then?
There is coverage specifically for that. From the moment a passenger enters the vehicle until they exit, the company must provide uninsured and underinsured motorist coverageage of $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident. That coverage is primary over any other uninsured motorist coverage you hold, and the statute makes it solely the company’s obligation.
I drive for a rideshare company and I was injured. Do I have a claim?
Possibly, and it depends on who was at fault and on what phase you were in. Where another driver caused the collision, the claim is against them and their insurer in the ordinary way, and your own uninsured motorist coverage may come into play if they carry nothing. Whether you are treated as an employee or an independent contractor affects other things, but it does not remove your right to claim against a negligent third party.
How long do I have to bring a claim?
Two years from the date of the crash under Code of Civil Procedure 335.1. Six months if a public entity was involved, which happens more often than people expect: a city vehicle in the collision, or a road defect that contributed. That deadline is for presenting a written claim, filed in Long Beach with the City Clerk, and missing it ends a claim on procedure rather than on its merits.
Contact a Culver Legal Long Beach Rideshare Accident Lawyer
Which phase the driver’s app was in decides whether $50,000 or $1,000,000 of coverage applies, and the record that proves it belongs to the company rather than to you. Call (310) 600-7881 at any hour. The review costs nothing.
Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Culver Legal, LLP is a California law firm. The information on this page is for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice.
