Ubers in Washington, DC, have transformed how we get around the city. In many ways, this has been an upgrade. However, Ubers can be expensive in areas like Georgetown, Takoma, or 16th Street Heights, where Metro stations are absent and taxis are harder to come by. When Uber finally did introduce its technology to Washington, DC, residents were initially apprehensive. The thought of getting into a vehicle driven by a regular citizen, not even a professional taxi driver, was foreign. But Uber quickly became a trusted mode of transportation in Washington. Of course, as Ubers are driven by people, many with less driving experience than professional taxi drivers, the need for Uber crash attorneys became immediately apparent.
Gelb & Gelb has handled Uber accidents in the DMV since Uber first came to the region. Thus, we understand the complexities of ride-share injury claims in Washington, DC as well as, or better, than anyone. Since Uber’s inception in California back in 2009, its service has spread rapidly across the country. The presence of Uber vehicles, notably with services like UberPOOL in major metropolitan cities, is argued to reduce pollution and traffic significantly (by 75%). That impact is yet to materialize. But perhaps at some point in the future it will take shape and less accidents will occur. In the meantime, since 2009, we have helped victims navigate ride-share injury claims as we have for all car accident victims across the District.
While Uber is beneficial for many reasons, convenience is at the top of the list for people living in the Washington, DC, area. DC already has a fantastic public transit system. For this reason alone, many people choose not to own a car. Or, if they do own a car, they do not park it in DC’s expensive parking garages. Uber makes not owning a car even easier. According to one study, getting picked up is even faster than taxi cabs as it takes four and a half minutes for an UberX (Uber’s basic car) versus the average eight-minute wait time from a traditional taxi. Not to mention, an Uber ride is generally less expensive than a conventional taxi ride, according to the same study.
Another benefit Uber claims to have over traditional cabs is safety because every driver must undergo a thorough background check. While taxi drivers can also conduct background checks, you are not going to be familiar with a taxi company in every new city you arrive in. Thus, you will not know the extent to which they investigate their drivers. With Uber, you do.
Despite Uber’s thorough background checks addressing Uber safety concerns, no background check can prevent something unpredictable. Uber can hold drivers responsible for their level of service based on a rating system out of five stars for the driver, which is available to potential passengers before they step into the car. However, as Uber becomes increasingly popular, the number of Uber accidents rises. Below, we discuss compensation.
Considering the size and power of Uber, Lyft, and any rideshare company, people often assume it is a hard case to win. This is not true. We handle an accident with an Uber driver the same way as any auto accident, and our team of lawyers has had great success in these matters. Moreover, Uber is no larger a company than the insurance companies defending people in your everyday car crash.
Uber policies are now with Farmers Insurance, and Lyft has a similar carrier that writes and administers policies for its drivers. Naturally, if the negligence of the particular driver is within the scope of driving for the rideshare company, the carrier will defend and indemnify the driver. That is not to say that the driver is an employee of Uber – technically they are not. Nonetheless, the insurance companies are written to insure drivers when operating within the course of their app. Personal coverage will then kick in if the driver is not working at the time. If a driver is on the way to pick up a passenger or drop a passenger off, they are working for Uber, and the Farmer’s policy should apply.
Our legal help after an Uber collision has been in practice against these cases since the beginning. At one time, Uber and Lyft offered $1,000,000.00 in liability coverage to all drivers, considerably more than most policies for private drivers. However, that ended in 2019 when James River Insurance cut ties with Uber. In 2025, this again reverted in part, as Farmers’ policies now offer $1 million when a driver is on the way to pickup a rider or on a trip. This is the current policy in 2025 as it applies in Washington, DC, and elsewhere. The policy is much less if the Uber driver is on the app, but not en route on behalf of the app.
If you are in an accident while online, the insurance policy with Farmers Insurance should be utilized. This policy may provide PIP or Med-Pay coverage, which a DC ride-share accident lawyer can help you access. If you are an Uber or Lyft passenger, you may be entitled to first-party medical coverage and potentially wage loss reimbursement (Medical-Payment or PIP coverage). Please keep in mind that pursuing this particular claim may require the timely filing of an application form (sometimes within 60 days of the accident date) and may even preclude the liability claim. This makes consulting with an attorney imperative.
First, you must be online and available for a trip to be eligible for Uber’s insurance coverage. If you are offline, you are ineligible for Uber’s coverage. If you are on the app but not en route for a passenger, you are online. Moreover, Uber requires that you maintain personal automobile insurance at mandatory minimum limits to drive and deliver with Uber. The Uber policy behaves the same whether you exclusively deliver food on Uber Eats or drive passengers on Uber. The adverse driver’s insurance policy will be primary if you are not at fault. You can only use Uber’s insurance policy in two scenarios when you are not at fault as the Uber driver.
In all other respects, these cases behave like standard Uber or rideshare cases, which Gelb & Gelb regularly handles.
| Status | Coverage Details |
|---|---|
| When You Are Offline | You must use your personal automobile insurance if you are in a motor vehicle accident while offline. |
| When You Are Online | $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident for injuries. $25,000 in property damage per accident. Note: This may vary by state. |
| When You Are En Route or on a Trip | Insurance that covers at least $1,000,000 for property damage and injuries to riders and third parties involved in an accident where you’re at fault. You may also purchase optional injury protection. |
When selecting a law firm, consider three key principles. We cover each below.
When seeking legal help for Uber accidents in Washington, DC, seek an attorney with experience. Having practiced personal injury law in DC for over 70 years, our attorneys have fought for ride-share accident victims since the platform first came to DC. We have seen the evolution of how insurance companies handle cases, value them, and ultimately make settlement offers on cases.
Although their policies have changed over the years, two things have remained the same: the tort law that governs these claims and our determination to seek justice for our clients.
A second attribute to seek out when researching a law firm is prompt communication. This is important in any business. However, for rideshare accidents in particular, there are deadlines for benefits that may be relevant to your case. Attention to detail and communication can differentiate between meeting and missing these deadlines. Too often, we hear stories from clients about how previous Uber accident attorneys in DC failed to respond to numerous voicemails and were otherwise unattentive to client needs. These mistakes can cost you during your case. We have a standard of responding within an hour to any unscheduled client inquiries. But in reality, our response time is nearly instant. This is backed by our nearly perfect Google rating, and several hundred clients whose families we have represented for generations.
After an Uber accident, clients tell us their worlds are falling apart. In many ways, this is unfortunately true.
Our Uber lawyers hear this, and make it our mission to make the experience from the point you begin working with us to the end as seamless and stress-free as possible. There is nothing fair about getting into a car accident that is not your fault. It can be immensely disruptive to your daily routine. You may now have injuries that keep you from doing the things you love. With a disability note, you may be unable to work due to your Uber accident. You now have to travel to doctor appointments, which may be across town. Our legal team understands what you are going through and is ready to fight to get you the justice and compensation you deserve. Call us today for a free consultation.
Your options differ depending on your role in the crash. If you are a passenger, your rights differ from if you are a driver. Below, we carefully examine your rights and options for each role.
When no one blames you for the accident, the question becomes, who is at fault? Who can we hold responsible for your injuries? Do they have insurance? We have had many cases where a passenger is clearly not at fault by nature of their role in the accident, yet both insurance companies deny responsibility for the accident. If your Uber is in an accident and a third party is at fault, that is who we will sue for your injuries. If they flee the scene without you getting their information, you still have options.
Even if you do not own your own vehicle, you can use Uber’s insurance policy on the car you were in for its uninsured motorist coverage.
If the driver of your vehicle, your own Uber driver, is at fault, you will make a claim against him. Of course, he will use Uber’s insurance policy as he is covered if he is on an active ride with Uber. Please contact Gelb & Gelb today for a free consultation.
If you are an Uber driver and are not at fault for the accident, your case will proceed similarly to if you were driving in your personal capacity, not as an Uber agent. Your claim is against the negligent driver. However, the caveat is that you may still need to use your Uber policy for property damage to your vehicle. If you are ultimately victorious in your case on liability, you should be reimbursed for this deductible at the end of your case.
If a passenger in your vehicle attacks you, you may have a battery claim. However, you cannot claim directly against the tortfeasor as he will not have insurance that applies in most cases. But you may still have options. Reach out to our firm today for a free consultation.
A DC personal injury attorney will parse through Uber’s corporate policies, which do not apply in a traditional car accident. These corporate policies sometimes assist you as a paying customer on your path to recovering fair compensation. At other times, Uber may share liability for your injuries. In this circumstance, they may be unwilling to assist you and may stand in your way. This is when subpoenas are useful. However, you may require an attorney to first file a lawsuit against the Uber corporation for subpoenas to be an available tool. Otherwise, you cannot subpoena someone without a pending lawsuit.
Secondly, the Uber app assists drivers and passengers, which differs from traditional car accident cases. The app may contain valuable information such as where the accident occurred, when it occurred, who your driver is, and information on the vehicle you were in. Our injury lawyers will advise you on how to leverage information in your app to build your case. You can start by taking a screenshot or screen recording of your trip details. Do this as soon as possible, as you may not get this information via email later. This will help preserve key evidence, including your driver’s name, car details, and trip route. While it is not something we admit into evidence at trial, it will be a starting point in our investigation.
But remember, you are responsible for collecting information from all parties, including your driver, at the accident scene. There is a chance your driver is at fault. Thus, you could be out of luck if you rely on your driver for pertinent information, but the claim is against him. Unfortunately, thsi happens a fair bit. As a passenger who is not paying as close attention to the road, you may rely on your driver to get you information. You may exchange information with him, expecting him to give you what you need after the fact. Uber does not immediately release information on your driver, and not without cause. Thus, the more you get before leaving the accident scene, the better off you will be.
As an Uber passenger, your challenge in determining who is at fault is unique. In many cases, clients may tell us they were not paying attention to the road at the time of the accident. Thus, they are unsure who is at fault for causing their injuries. While fault may be evident in a rear-end collision, it is less obvious in a sideswipe. This is when an Uber crash attorney comes in, investigates the property damage to each vehicle, consults with an expert accident reconstructionist, and builds a case to support your narrative. This is distinct from the typical car accident case because we generally have your testimony as supporting evidence for how the accident occurred. Remember, we have the burden of proof at trial. Thus, building a robust case sufficient to meet that burden is critical to winning your case.
The unique aspects of Uber accident cases, tiered insurance policies, app-based evidence, and multi-party liability, make these claims more complex than traditional car accident cases. While you do not need to understand every aspect of an Uber accident case or what makes it unique, you should act quickly to preserve your claim and any evidence before Uber wipes it from its archives. Consulting with a lawyer after an injury in an Uber accident ensures you can address these complexities properly and can protect your rights.
Ride-share injury compensation acts the same as the compensation structure in any other motor vehicle accident. The primary distinguisher between an Uber accident and any other vehicle accident is who is ultimately responsible and whose insurance coverage is primary. In an Uber case, the driver likely has their own personal policy, his Uber policy, the other driver has at least one policy, and you may have your own policy. Sorting out which policy applies to your accident ad will cover you can be complex.
Once we determine whose policy applies, we immediately contact them and discuss liability. This is the first step in recovering maximum compensation. Then, once you are done with your medical treatment, we determine what your case is worth, and leverage the weight of your case against the defendant for settlement. If the insurer does not make you an offer we deem reflective of your injuries, we will file a lawsuit. From the very beginning of our representation, we prepare your case with litigation in mind. This positions us to aggressively pursue the defendant as appropriate.
As seen in the graphic above, a case’s value can be broken down into three categories. In the first two columns, medical expenses and lost wages represent your economic damages, or special damages. The last column represents your noneconomic damages. Economic damages are meant to compensate you for precise dollar amounts you lost due to the accident. For example, you should not be left to pay for hospital bills and doctor bills because you need treatment to return to normal health. This is the position the courts take as well.
Noneconomic damages are slightly more subjective and thus harder to estimate. When you injure your back or break your arm, you undergo severe pain and suffering. Moreover, you can no longer participate in your favorite hobbies or spend time with family or friends doing your favorite things. But they are slightly more challenging to calculate because we do not receive a bill from anyone for these noneconomic injuries. The value of that loss is a question for a jury at trial. However, we have decades of experience evaluating the value of these claims. If you are interested in a valuation of your case, call today for a free consultation.
Uber has a system to screen for new drivers. Drivers for Uber are not employees, but they still have to be approved to drive through the app. Negligently allowing a driver to use its app can result in liability, despite the driver’s role as an independent contractor and not an employee. Furthermore, when imagining how serious Uber’s driver screening and safety measures should be, you must simply consider how vulnerable a passenger is when getting into the car with a stranger. We have seen, heard, and won against all types of poor conduct by a driver. Uber wants to avoid having their drivers physically, verbally, and sexually assaulting passengers. There have been reports of all three of these things happening on numerous occasions. So, how does Uber avoid this?
Uber states that it implements multi-step safety screening tests to check for driving violations, impaired driving, and violent crime. Once on the app, drivers must pass an annual check to continue using it. But what if the driver is not the person registered through the app? Uber has thought of this. Drivers are periodically asked to photograph themselves, which is matched against their on-file identification. This protects against a friend driving under the registered driver’s account. What if a driver attacks you? Is Uber liable for their driver’s conduct? It depends. If the driver failed a background check, then it is reasonably foreseeable that the driver would attack a passenger if their background check reveals or would reveal a propensity for violence. Uber Technology’s liability becomes a factor because the driver’s automobile coverage may otherwise not apply to an intentional act.
Speak with an attorney at Gelb & Gelb to learn how these safety measures apply to your case.
In Washington, DC, strict negligence law generally prohibits plaintiffs from recovering against a defendant if the plaintiff contributes even 1% to causing their own injury. This doctrine is contributory negligence. If you are found contributorily negligent, you are barred from recovery unless an exception that preserves your claim. However, this doctrine comes into play less for DC Uber accidents, particularly if you are a passenger. If you are the passenger in an accident, it is highly unlikely, though not impossible, that you contributed to the accident.
But, as much as it does not take away your right to make a claim if you are a passenger, it may confuse you regarding who to make a claim against. For example, who would sue if your Uber driver were 50% responsible and another driver was also 50% responsible? Of course, you can sue both parties. However, settling with one party may be more difficult. Neither insurance company will want to pay you for your damages, and simply blame the other party. Insurance companies keep their profits high by not paying claimants, even when you have a viable claim. This is when an experienced and aggressive attorney can help.
If you have been in an Uber or Lyft accident in DC, call an Uber rideshare attorney to discuss your options. D.C. attorney Roger Gelb and his firm have represented over 10,000 clients and recovered over $400 million since our founding in 1954. Do not allow Uber’s lawyers to devalue your case. Contact our experienced personal injury attorneys today for a consultation and pursue maximum compensation today.
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