Who Pays After an Uber or Lyft Accident in California?

The driver’s app status decides the coverage

California regulates rideshare companies, which the law calls transportation network companies, through the Public Utilities Code and the California Public Utilities Commission. The insurance the law requires depends on what the driver was doing on the app when the crash happened. The Commission describes three periods: logged on and waiting for a request, on the way to a pickup after accepting one, and carrying a passenger.

From the moment a driver accepts a ride request until the driver completes the transaction on the app or the ride is complete, whichever is later, the rideshare insurance must be primary and provide $1,000,000 for death, personal injury, and property damage. The company, a policy the driver carries that is written for rideshare use, or both together can provide it (Public Utilities Code § 5433(b)).

While the driver is logged on and available but has not accepted a request, and again after a trip ends until the driver accepts another request or logs off, the required coverage is primary insurance of at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident for death and personal injury and $30,000 for property damage, plus excess coverage of at least $200,000 per occurrence that the company must maintain (§ 5433(c)).

With the app off, these rideshare insurance rules do not apply, and the claim generally proceeds like any other crash, against the driver’s personal auto insurance. With the app on, the driver’s personal auto policy provides no coverage unless it expressly covers rideshare use, by its terms or by an endorsement (§ 5434(b)).

These are minimums, not a ceiling on responsibility. The statute states that it does not limit a rideshare company’s liability, in a lawsuit against the company, for amounts above the required coverage (§ 5433(f)). Whether the company, or anyone other than the driver, is legally responsible is a separate question that depends on the facts.

Uninsured-motorist coverage changed on January 1, 2026

A rideshare passenger can be hurt by someone else entirely, such as a driver who runs a light or rear-ends the rideshare car. If that driver has no insurance or too little, uninsured- and underinsured-motorist coverage can fill the gap. California requires the rideshare company itself to provide that coverage from the moment a passenger enters the vehicle until the passenger exits, and makes it primary over any other uninsured- or underinsured-motorist coverage that applies (§ 5433(b)(2)).

The required amount changed. Senate Bill 371 (2025) lowered it from $1,000,000 to $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident, effective January 1, 2026, and made the coverage solely the company’s obligation. For a crash before that date, the coverage depends on the policy in force at the time. The $1,000,000 primary coverage for the rideshare driver’s own liability during a trip did not change.

A passenger’s own auto policy, or a household member’s, may also carry uninsured-motorist coverage. Whether it applies to a rideshare trip, and in what order the policies pay, depends on their terms and on Insurance Code § 11580.2, so request the declarations pages and policy forms early.

Passengers, other drivers, and pedestrians

Who was hurt, and where, shapes the claim:

• Passengers. A passenger hurt by the rideshare driver’s carelessness generally looks to the $1,000,000 coverage that applies during a trip. A passenger hurt by another driver claims against that driver’s insurance, and the rideshare company’s uninsured- and underinsured-motorist coverage can apply if that insurance is missing or too small.
• Other drivers. A driver hit by a rideshare vehicle claims against the coverage that matches the rideshare driver’s app status: the driver’s personal insurance if the app was off, the waiting-period limits and excess coverage if the driver was logged on and waiting, and $1,000,000 if the driver had accepted a ride or had a passenger aboard.
• Pedestrians and cyclists. The same periods apply to a pedestrian or cyclist struck by a rideshare driver. If the driver cannot be identified, the injured person’s own uninsured-motorist coverage, or a household member’s, may apply, subject to the policy and the statute’s hit-and-run conditions, including a report to the police within 24 hours and a sworn statement to the insurer within 30 days (Insurance Code § 11580.2(b)).

Evidence to save after a rideshare crash

Whether the driver was logged on, on the way to a pickup, or carrying a passenger is often proved with the company’s own records. The law requires a rideshare company or its insurer to cooperate with other insurers investigating coverage, including by providing the date and time of the accident and the precise times the driver logged on and off the app (Public Utilities Code § 5435).

Preserve your own records as well, while they are easy to get:

• Screenshots of the trip in the app: the driver’s name and photo, the vehicle and plate, the route, pickup and drop-off times, and any messages.
• The trip receipt or confirmation email, and any report you submit through the app.
• The other drivers’ names, license, registration, and insurance information, and for the rideshare driver, both the personal policy and the rideshare coverage.
• Photographs of the vehicles, the scene, any rideshare sign or decal on the car, traffic signals, and your injuries, with the names of witnesses and other passengers.
• The police or CHP report number, and any dashboard-camera or nearby business video before it is overwritten.

Reporting and deadlines

A driver involved in a crash that injures or kills anyone, or causes more than $1,000 in property damage to any one person, must report it to the DMV on form SR-1 within 10 days (Vehicle Code § 16000). Report the crash through the app as well, and notify your own insurer as your policy requires.

Most injury lawsuits must be filed within two years (Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1). A claim involving a public entity, such as a city vehicle or a dangerous road condition, generally requires a written government claim within six months (Gov. Code § 911.2). Certain uninsured-motorist claims require a lawsuit, an agreement, or a formal arbitration demand within two years (Insurance Code § 11580.2(i)). An open claim with an adjuster generally does not stop any of these deadlines.