When you are hurt in a crash involving an Uber or Lyft, the insurance that covers your injuries depends on a detail most people never think about: what the rideshare driver was doing on the app at the exact moment of the crash. The potential coverage gaps under Tennessee's TNC (Transportation Network Company) Policy and the driver’s personal auto insurance further complicate these claims.
At Fox and Farmer, we help identify every available source of compensation. Our firm represents passengers, other drivers, and pedestrians injured in rideshare collisions across Sullivan County and the Tri-Cities
A rideshare crash looks like an ordinary collision but involves a layer of complexity that ordinary car accidents do not. The driver is an independent contractor, not an employee, and the rideshare company structures its insurance around that relationship and around the driver's status in the app at the time of the crash.
The result is that coverage shifts depending on whether the driver was offline, waiting for a ride request, on the way to a passenger, or carrying one. The same crash can be covered very differently depending on which of these phases is applied.
This matters because the coverage available determines whether a serious injury can be fully paid. Rideshare companies maintain large insurance policies, but those policies apply only in certain phases, and in others, the driver's personal auto policy is the primary coverage.
Personal auto policies may exclude crashes that happen while the driver is working for hire, which can create a gap. Sorting out exactly which coverage applies to a given crash is the central challenge in a rideshare case, and getting it right determines the recovery available to an injured person.
Tennessee, like other states, recognizes distinct phases of rideshare driving, and the insurance that applies to each phase tracks those phases, set by Tenn. Code Sec. 55-12-141. When the driver is offline and not using the app, only the driver's personal auto insurance applies, and the rideshare company's coverage is not involved at all. This is the same as any ordinary crash involving a private driver.
The picture changes once the driver logs into the app. While logged on but waiting for a ride request, Tennessee requires $50,000 per person, $100,000 per incident, and $25,000 property-damage coverage, well below the $1 million that applies during a trip.
During an active trip, the company's $1 million coverage, including uninsured/underinsured motorist protection, generally applies. While a driver is only logged on and waiting for a request, coverage is lower, and uninsured-motorist protection may not apply at all.
Determining which phase was in effect at the moment of the crash and which coverage is available is the first and most important question in valuing a rideshare claim. And it may require obtaining the trip data from the company.
Several different people can be hurt in a rideshare crash, and the available coverage can differ depending on who the injured person is. A passenger riding in an Uber or Lyft is in the strongest position because during an active trip, the rideshare company's full commercial coverage is in effect, and the passenger is almost never at fault for the crash.
A passenger's claim is generally against the driver who caused the collision, whether the rideshare driver or another motorist, with the rideshare company's coverage available when its driver is at fault.
Other people hurt in the crash have claims as well. The occupants of another vehicle struck by a rideshare driver can claim under the available coverage based on the driver's phase. A pedestrian or cyclist struck by a rideshare driver is in the same position. And the rideshare driver themselves may have a claim when another motorist caused the crash.
Because the coverage analysis depends on both the app status and who was at fault, a rideshare crash can result in a layered set of claims and policies. Identifying every injured party's position and the coverage available to each is part of handling these cases properly.
Rideshare crashes in the Kingsport area follow the patterns of where these services are used most. The Tri-Cities Airport (TRI), which serves the Kingsport, Johnson City, and Bristol area, generates significant rideshare traffic as travelers arrange rides to and from their flights.
The routes connecting the airport to the cities see regular rideshare activity. Trips to and from the area's commercial districts, restaurants, and entertainment venues add to the volume, particularly in the evenings and on weekends.
The crashes themselves occur in the same places as other crashes: at busy intersections, on commercial corridors like Stone Drive, and on highways and interstate approaches connecting Kingsport to the surrounding region.
A rideshare driver focused on navigation prompts, watching for an address, or managing the app can be distracted in ways that contribute to a crash, and the pressure to complete trips efficiently is a factor in some of these collisions. The setting and circumstances of a rideshare crash matter to the case in the same way they do for any collision, and they combine with the app-status question to shape the claim.
The rideshare driver may have been at fault, or another motorist may have caused the collision, or fault may be shared between them. Establishing fault follows the same principles as any crash: the physical evidence, the police report, surveillance footage, and witness accounts together establish what happened and who was responsible under Tennessee's comparative fault rule.
The fault determination interacts with the coverage analysis in ways that affect recovery. When the rideshare driver was at fault during an active trip, the company's commercial coverage responds. When another driver caused the crash, that driver's insurance is the primary source, and the rideshare company's uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may fill a gap if the at-fault driver lacks sufficient insurance.
A passenger, bearing no fault, is positioned to recover from whichever source applies, but identifying the right one requires resolving both who was at fault and the driver's app status.
Handling both questions together, rather than treating coverage and fault in isolation, is what produces a complete and accurate picture of the claim.
A rideshare crash can cause the full range of injuries that any vehicle collision produces, and the medical response becomes part of the claim. A passenger, often seated in the back and perhaps not belted, can be thrown in a collision and seriously hurt.
A serious rideshare crash in Kingsport brings the injured to Holston Valley Medical Center, which operates as a Level III trauma center. The most severe cases are commonly stabilized and transferred to Johnson City Medical Center, the region's only Level I trauma center since the trauma system was reorganized in 2019.
The medical record that traces the injury from the scene through treatment establishes its severity and its connection to the crash, which matters as much in a rideshare case as in any other.
For a passenger who was simply a customer in someone else's vehicle, medical documentation is especially important because it is the foundation of a claim in which the passenger bears no fault. A clear, complete record built from the first response forward protects the value of the claim and counters any later effort by an insurer to argue the injuries were less serious than they were.
Tennessee allows a rideshare crash victim to recover the same economic and non-economic damages available in any injury case.
Economic damages cover medical expenses, future treatment, lost wages, and reduced earning capacity, proven through records and, for lasting injuries, a professional assessment of future needs. Non-economic damages compensate for pain, suffering, and the loss of the ability to live as before.
Tennessee caps non-economic damages at $750,000 (up to $1 million for catastrophic injuries). The cap is removed against a driver whose intoxication or felony conduct caused the crash.
What distinguishes the rideshare context is the coverage available to pay these damages. Because the recovery available depends on which coverage applies, the analysis of app status is not a technicality but the key to what the claim can actually pay.
If a rideshare driver hits you while you are walking, riding a bicycle, or standing near roads such as East Stone Drive, Fort Henry Drive, or in downtown Kingsport, you may seek compensation for the same economic and non-economic damages available in other Tennessee personal injury claims. The insurance that applies depends on the driver's status in the rideshare app at the time of the crash.
There is no true “average” Uber passenger accident settlement because every claim depends on factors like the severity of your injuries, medical expenses, lost income, and who was at fault. While settlements can range from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars, a passenger with serious injuries may be able to pursue compensation through Uber’s applicable insurance coverage.
Lyft does not pay a fixed amount for accidents in Tennessee, and settlement values vary based on the injuries, damages, liability, and the driver’s status in the app at the time of the crash. If the driver was actively transporting a passenger or on the way to a pickup, Lyft’s insurance may provide up to $1 million in liability coverage, but the amount an injured person receives depends on the specific facts of the case.
Rideshare companies have structured their businesses, and their insurance in ways that can make recovering for a crash more difficult than it should be. The companies classify their drivers as independent contractors rather than employees.
This distinction affects how responsibility is assigned and on which the companies rely to limit their exposure. Their insurance is layered by app phase, so coverage applies in full only during active trips, leaving lower limits or gaps in the other phases.
This structure gives companies and their insurers room to dispute claims, whether by contesting which phase the driver was in, pointing to the driver's personal insurer, or relying on the contractor classification. For an injured person, the result can be a frustrating situation in which multiple insurers each suggest that some other policy is responsible.
Cutting through that requires establishing the facts firmly, particularly the driver's app status through the trip data, and understanding how the coverage is supposed to work so that the responsible policy can be held to its obligation. The injured person who comes prepared with the facts and a clear grasp of the coverage rules is in a far stronger position than one who accepts an insurer's first answer about which policy, if any, will pay.
In Tennessee, insurance coverage for rideshare accidents (like Uber or Lyft) depends on how the driver was using the app at the exact time of the crash and what each insurance policy covers. Most personal car insurance policies are meant for everyday driving, like commuting or running errands. They usually do not cover accidents that happen while a driver is working for a rideshare company.
If a driver is giving rides or even using the app to look for passengers, their personal insurer may refuse to pay a claim. Tennessee law allows insurers to include these exclusions in personal auto policies. This exclusion creates a coverage gap precisely in the phases when the rideshare company's coverage is most limited.
To address this, Tennessee requires transportation network companies (TNCs) such as Uber and Lyft to maintain insurance coverage for their drivers while they are using the app. However, the amount of coverage depends on the driver's status at the time of the collision.
Sorting out which policy covers a crash, and resisting an insurer's attempt to use the for-hire exclusion to escape coverage, is the decisive issue in a rideshare case. A clear understanding of how these policies interact and which one bears responsibility in each phase prevents an injured person from falling into a coverage gap and being left without the coverage they should have.
Because the available coverage depends on the driver's app status at the moment of the crash, the data that establishes that status is among the most important evidence in a rideshare case.
The rideshare company maintains detailed records of every trip, including when the driver logged on, when a request was accepted, when a passenger was picked up and dropped off, and the vehicle's movements throughout. These records can establish, to the second, which phase the driver was in when the crash occurred and therefore which coverage applies.
Obtaining this data typically requires a formal request to the rideshare company, and the company has little incentive to volunteer information that may expand its coverage obligation. The driver's own account of their status may be incomplete or self-serving, which makes the company's objective records essential.
Securing the trip data early, before a case is shaped by competing accounts, locks in the factual basis for the coverage analysis. This is one reason it helps to involve a lawyer soon after a rideshare crash: the sooner the trip data is requested and preserved, the harder it is for an insurer to dispute which phase applied and which policy must respond to the claim.
The steps after a rideshare crash mirror those for any collision, with a few additions that protect the unique parts of the claim. Getting medical care comes first, both for health and to document the injuries.
At the scene, gather the same information you would in any crash: the names, contact details, and insurance for every driver involved, photographs of the vehicles and the scene, and the contact information of any witnesses. For a rideshare crash, capture the details of the ride itself, including screenshots of the trip in the app if you were the passenger, which can help establish the driver's status.
Reporting the crash to the rideshare company through the app creates a record, but it does not replace the independent investigation a serious claim requires. Avoid giving recorded statements to any of the insurers involved before getting advice, because coverage disputes in rideshare cases give insurers reason to look for admissions that shift responsibility to another policy.
Preserving your own documentation and acting promptly to secure the trip data and other evidence protects the claim while the coverage questions are sorted out.
Yes. The rideshare company's full commercial coverage applies when the driver is on the way to or carrying a passenger, while lower limits or only personal coverage apply in other phases.
Your claim is against whichever driver caused the crash. When the rideshare driver is at fault during your trip, the company's commercial coverage applies, and you bear no fault as a passenger.
You may claim against that driver's insurance, and the rideshare company's uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage may apply when the at-fault driver lacks enough coverage, depending on the trip phase.
The trip data from the rideshare company establishes the driver's status at the time of the crash, and obtaining that data is an important early step in the case.
You have one year from the date of the crash, under Tennessee Code Annotated section 28-3-104, the same deadline that applies to other injury claims.
In most rideshare crashes, the question that determines the outcome is not whether someone was hurt or even who was at fault, but which insurance policy is responsible for paying. The layered, phase-dependent structure of rideshare coverage means an injured person can have a strong claim on the merits and still struggle to recover if the coverage question is not resolved correctly.
This is what makes a rideshare case different from an ordinary crash, and it is why establishing the driver's app status, obtaining the trip data, and holding the right insurer to its obligation are so central. Getting the coverage analysis right is, in practical terms, what gets the injured person paid.
Fox and Farmer has represented injured people across East Tennessee since 1986, and our personal injury firm understands that a rideshare case turns on a coverage analysis most injured people are not equipped to perform alone.
Our lawyers can assist in:
Most Kingsport rideshare cases are filed in Sullivan County Circuit Court, 2nd Judicial District, in Blountville (with a Circuit office in Kingsport at 225 W. Center St.). A crash on Kingsport's Hawkins County side is filed in Hawkins County Circuit Court, 3rd Judicial District, in Rogersville. We confirm the county line before filing.
After an Uber or Lyft crash, the coverage that applies depends on the data the rideshare company holds, and accessing it requires action before the driver's status can be disputed. We know how to secure it. If a rideshare crash hurt you near Kingsport, starting early protects the coverage you need.
Call our office today at 423-390-0000. There is no charge for the consultation and no fee unless we recover.
