A wreck with an Uber or Lyft driver on San Vicente, at a Downtown-adjacent drop-off, or on the 405 is not an ordinary two-policy case. California has a specific statute for transportation-network-company insurance, and the amount of coverage depends on whether the driver had already accepted a request, already had a passenger, or was only waiting in the app. Getting that period wrong is how families spend the first month talking to the wrong insurer.
Once a request is accepted, and once a passenger is in the car
PUC 5433 requires transportation-network-company insurance from the moment a participating driver accepts a ride request on the company’s app or platform until the driver completes the transaction on that app or platform, or until the ride is complete, whichever is later. During that period the insurance shall be primary and in the amount of one million dollars for death, personal injury and property damage. That requirement can be satisfied by a policy the driver maintains, a policy the company maintains, or a combination, but the company may rely on a driver’s policy only if it verifies that the policy is maintained and is specifically written to cover TNC use.
From the moment a passenger enters the vehicle until the passenger exits, the company shall provide uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage in the amount of sixty thousand dollars per person and three hundred thousand dollars per incident. That policy is primary over any other applicable uninsured or underinsured coverage, and it is solely the obligation of the transportation network company. The official CPUC summary of these periods is at the Commission’s TNC insurance page.
The waiting period, with the app on
From the moment a participating driver logs on to the app until the driver accepts a request, and again after a trip is complete until the driver accepts another request or logs off, different floors apply. During those intervals the required insurance shall be primary and at least fifty thousand dollars for death and personal injury per person, one hundred thousand per incident, and thirty thousand for property damage. The company shall also maintain excess coverage insuring the company and the driver of at least two hundred thousand dollars per occurrence for liability in those intervals that exceeds the required primary limits.
If a driver’s TNC policy has lapsed or ceased to exist, PUC 5433 says the company shall provide the coverage the article requires, starting at the first dollar of a claim. Coverage under a TNC policy shall not be made to depend on a personal auto policy first denying a claim. The article also says it does not limit the company’s liability in a damages action for an amount above the required insurance.
Why the period matters on the Westside
A driver waiting in a lot near the 405 with the app on is not in the same coverage period as a driver who has already accepted a request to pick up a passenger on San Vicente, and neither is in the same period as a driver who already has a passenger in the car. A passenger hurt in the vehicle, a motorist hit by the vehicle and a pedestrian struck in a crosswalk can all have potential claims, but the period and the defendants are not identical. Ask, early, whether the driver had a passenger, had already accepted a request, or was only waiting. Screenshot or save any app receipts. They often show the period more clearly than a later memory.
A household auto policy may still have a role, including medical-payments or uninsured coverage, but personal policies often have exclusions for TNC use. Read the declarations page and the exclusions. Do not assume the one-million-dollar TNC policy is the only policy, and do not assume it applies if the driver was off the app.
Fault, reports and deadlines
Official instruction CACI 405 still compares fault. CIV 1431.2 still makes noneconomic harm several. A lawsuit still has the two-year date in CCP 335.1, and a government claim still has the six-month date in GOV 911.2 if a public entity is also involved. Request the LAPD or CHP report along the official paths in the report guide. If the TNC driver was uninsured in a period the statute does not cover, the uninsured-driver guide may also apply.
Do not give a statement on tape until you know which insurer is actually on the risk for the period of the wreck. If you talk with an attorney, bring the app receipt, the report number and the declarations page. Confirm the person’s California license. Period disputes in these cases are common, and they are much easier to sort out when the receipt is still in the phone.
Keep the medical bills with the app receipt and the crash report. A passenger’s early treatment notes matter as much in a TNC wreck as they do in an ordinary auto case, and a later reimbursement letter is easier to resolve when the period of the trip is already documented. The medical-bills guide belongs in the same folder as this one.
- Transportation network company
- The statutory name for a company that connects riders and drivers through an online app, including services such as Uber and Lyft.
- Primary coverage
- Insurance that pays first, which PUC 5433 requires of the TNC policy in the periods it names, rather than waiting for a personal auto policy to deny a claim.
- Waiting period
- The interval when a driver has the app on and has not yet accepted a request, or has finished a trip and has not yet accepted another or logged off, with the lower statutory floors and the excess-coverage requirement.