Uber and Lyft crashes in California What the app was doing decides who pays.
Which policy pays after a rideshare crash in California depends on what the driver's app was doing at the moment of impact. Public Utilities Code section 5433 sets the coverage floor for each period, and the app data is what proves which one you were in.
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Which insurance applies depends on what the app was doing, and with the app off the driver's personal auto policy is the only coverage. With the app on and no ride accepted, Public Utilities Code section 5433 requires at least $50,000 per person, $100,000 per incident, and $30,000 property damage, plus $200,000 in excess coverage, a second layer above those limits. From the moment a ride request is accepted until the ride is complete, the requirement is $1,000,000.
The law that decides which insurance pays
A transportation network company, or TNC, is defined by Public Utilities Code section 5431 as an organization operating in California that provides prearranged transportation services for compensation using an online application or platform to connect passengers with drivers using a personal vehicle. A participating driver is a person who uses a vehicle in connection with that platform to connect with passengers. The California Public Utilities Commission licenses these companies and publishes its transportation network company requirements, including permits, driver record checks, and a complaint process for the public.
Which coverage applies at each app stage
| What the app was doing | Required coverage | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| App off | The driver's personal auto policy only | Outside section 5433 |
| Logged on, waiting for a request | At least $50,000 per person, $100,000 per incident, $30,000 property damage, plus $200,000 excess | Section 5433(c) |
| Request accepted, driving to the passenger | $1,000,000 primary for death, personal injury, and property damage | Section 5433(b) |
| Passenger in the vehicle | $1,000,000 primary, plus uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage of $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident | Section 5433(b)(1) and (b)(2) |
Read the boundaries carefully, because the money moves at each one. Subdivision (c) covers the driver from log on until a request is accepted, and again from the end of one ride until the next acceptance or log off. Subdivision (b) takes over the moment a request is accepted and stays in force until the driver completes the transaction on the platform or the ride is complete, whichever is later. The uninsured motorist requirement in (b)(2) is narrower still: it runs from the moment a passenger enters the vehicle until the passenger exits.
Two more provisions matter when a claim is being handled. Section 5433(c)(3) makes the insurer providing the waiting period coverage the only insurer with a duty to defend, meaning to provide the driver's legal defense against, a claim arising in that window. Section 5433(e) requires the company to provide the coverage from the first dollar when a driver's own rideshare policy has lapsed or ceased to exist.
When the driver's personal policy denies you
Ordinary personal auto policies contain a business use or livery exclusion, meaning no coverage while the car is being used for paid work, which is why a personal carrier, the driver's own auto insurer, frequently denies a claim the minute it learns the driver was working. That denial is not the obstacle it looks like. Section 5433(d) states that coverage under a rideshare policy is not dependent on a personal automobile policy first denying a claim, and that a personal policy is not required to deny first.
The claim does not have to wait in line behind a denial letter. If the app was on, the rideshare coverage is reachable directly, and the correct first step is to establish the period rather than to argue with a personal carrier that was never going to pay.
The app period decides the whole case
Everything above turns on a fact only one party controls at first: the state of the application at the moment of impact. That data exists. It is timestamped, it is held by the company, and it decides whether the available coverage is $50,000 or $1,000,000.
- Report the collision through the app the same day. Both companies have an in app crash report, and the report itself creates a timestamped record tied to the trip.
- Screenshot everything before you close the app. The trip receipt, the driver name and photo, the vehicle and plate, the route map, and the times shown for request, pickup, and drop off.
- Write down what the driver said about the app. Whether they were waiting for a ride, driving to a pickup, or carrying a passenger, and whether another passenger was in the car.
- Get the police report. The officer records the vehicle, the parties, and any statements about working for a rideshare company. Our post on getting your LAPD traffic collision report covers the DR number and the request routes.
- Ask for the trip data in writing. A request that names the date, time, driver, and trip is far harder to answer with silence than a phone call to a support line.
Passenger or driver: what it changes
A passenger is in the strongest position in this practice area. While you are in the car the $1,000,000 requirement applies, and it does not matter whether your driver or the other driver caused the crash. If the other driver caused it and had nothing, the rideshare company's own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage of $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident is primary, meaning it pays first, over any other uninsured motorist coverage you have.
Another driver, cyclist, or pedestrian hit by a rideshare vehicle has the same coverage available but a harder proof problem, because you have no trip receipt and no app history of your own. That is why the period evidence gets collected in the first days rather than in the first deposition, the sworn questioning after a lawsuit is filed. Our post on a crash that was not your fault covers what to gather at the scene.
When the rideshare rules do not fit
- Delivery is not a prearranged ride. Section 5431 defines a transportation network company by the transportation of passengers. Food and package platforms sit outside that definition, and coverage comes from the platform's own policy and the driver's personal policy instead.
- The app was off. A driver running a personal errand is an ordinary driver with an ordinary policy, and the minimum limits under Vehicle Code section 16056 may be all there is. Our post on the 2025 minimum limit increase explains what to do when the policy is that small.
- $1,000,000 is a ceiling, not a payment. The statute requires the coverage to exist. What a claim is worth is decided by the injuries, the records, and comparative fault under Civil Code section 1431.2, as in any other case.
- A public entity is involved. If a Metro bus or a city vehicle is part of the collision, a six month claim deadline runs alongside everything above. See the Metro claim rules.
- Taxis and limousines are not TNCs. They are charter party carriers under a separate part of the same code, with their own requirements.
Questions about Uber and Lyft insurance in California
Which insurance applies if the driver had the app on but no passenger?
When does the $1,000,000 coverage start?
I was a passenger and the other driver caused the crash. Who pays?
The driver's personal insurer denied the claim. Is that the end?
How do I prove which period the app was in?
Does this cover Uber Eats or DoorDash crashes?
Which insurance applies to your rideshare crash
Answer one question and the rest follows: what was the app doing at the moment of impact? If it was off, it is a personal policy case. If it was on and waiting, section 5433(c) sets a floor of $50,000 per person with $200,000 in excess behind it. From acceptance through the end of the ride, the floor is $1,000,000, with the rideshare company's own uninsured motorist coverage available while a passenger is aboard.
The evidence that answers that question is timestamped and it is not in your hands. Save the screenshots today. Our Los Angeles Uber accident lawyer page explains how these claims are built and who gets sued, our post on dealing with insurance after an accident covers the calls that follow, and there is no fee unless we recover.
