You booked a ride to get somewhere without the hassle of driving, maybe home from a late shift or to an appointment off Crater Road, and the trip ended in a crash. Now there’s a rideshare driver, possibly another motorist, and an insurance company you’ve never dealt with, each pointing somewhere else. We represent people hurt in Uber and Lyft accidents in Petersburg, Virginia, and we find out who is responsible for paying you.
At The Parker Law Firm, PLLC, we take on the insurers so you can focus on getting better. Whether you were a passenger, another driver, or a pedestrian, we’ll tell you plainly where your claim stands. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.
Uber, Lyft, & Rideshare Insurance Requirements
Our first job is pinning down which insurance policy applies, because in a rideshare case that depends on what the driver’s app was doing at the moment of impact. Once a driver accepts a ride request, and until the trip ends, Virginia requires at least $1 million in liability coverage. If the driver was logged in but hadn’t accepted a ride, the minimum drops to $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident for bodily injury. A driver’s personal auto policy usually won’t cover rideshare driving unless it specifically says so.
When the app status is disputed, we send the rideshare company a written request under Virginia law. The company then has 30 days to disclose whether the driver was logged in or carrying a passenger, and which insurer provides primary coverage. That answer tells us which claim to open.
Passengers also benefit from underinsured motorist coverage that isn’t reduced by what the at-fault driver’s insurer pays. That matters when an uninsured or barely insured driver causes the wreck. And because Virginia generally allows two years from the crash to file an injury lawsuit, we confirm your deadline early.
Determining Fault in Virginia
We investigate the crash ourselves rather than accepting the other side’s version of events. That starts with the police report, whether it came from Petersburg police or from Virginia State Police after a crash on I-95 or I-85. We also track down witnesses and request trip records, and we look for dashcam or nearby video before it’s erased.
That groundwork matters because Virginia follows contributory negligence, a rule under which an injured person found even slightly at fault can be barred from recovering anything. Back-seat passengers rarely face this defense. But if you were driving the other car, walking, or biking, expect the insurer to look for any misstep, such as a few miles over the limit. We gather the evidence that answers those arguments early.
When more than one driver shares the blame, we pursue each of them. Rideshare cases raise many of the same questions as other car accident claims in Petersburg, but the layered insurance makes early investigation even more important.
