As an Orlando car accident lawyer, we regularly receive calls from Uber or Lyft passengers, or other drivers on the road, who were injured in accidents caused by Uber or Lyft drivers. These cases are very similar to any other auto accident. But there are some key differences.

Top 5 Ways To Get the Most Money Possible From Any Uber Or Lyft Auto Accident:

If you were injured in an accident caused by an Uber or Lyft driver, here are the top five things to do, immediately after your accident, to get the most money possible from your accident case:

#1: Receive immediate medical treatment if you feel any pain.

Transport by ambulance if needed. If you did not go to the hospital immediately by ambulance, then going to a walk-in clinic, rather than the ER, can be better for your case long-term. The reason is that the cost of the walk-in clinic is usually lower. The main purpose of receiving medical care immediately, or as soon as possible after the accident, is proving to the insurance company (or, later, possibly a jury) that you were really hurting after any Florida car accident. You also MUST receive medical care within 14 days, or your Florida no-fault (PIP) coverage will not cover your medical bills. But, ideally, you should see a doctor within a few days of your accident, at the very latest. Sooner is always better.

Note that sometimes the goal of your Orlando car accident lawyer is NOT to keep costs down in your case, particularly in an Uber or Lyft accident case, because depending on who was injured, may have a very high policy amount for coverage. The reason is that higher medical bills, as a general rule, provide very valuable evidence that helps us prove that your injuries were more serious. But we never like a client to incur major medical bills until we have a better idea of their specific injuries, recommended treatment by initial doctors, and how the insurance policy might apply. Basically we need to recommend treatment, on a case-by-case basis, depending on the unique facts of your case, to get the most money possible. Until we know more about the case, for your immediate medical care, the best first step, if you were not transported by ambulance, is a walk-in clinic.

#2: Take photos of all vehicles, and the accident scene, or have your family take photos.

Even if you are sitting in a hospital bed, you would be smart to have someone in your family go take photos of the vehicles, preferably in daylight. Photos of significant vehicle damage can be very powerful in convincing a jury that you suffered severe injuries, especially if your injuries aren’t obvious (like back or neck pain). Unfortunately, insurance companies often will not take photos, and cars and trucks can be impounded and destroyed, before we can get photos. So taking photos as soon as possible can be important. (We can still fight an auto accident case without photos, with things like vehicle damage estimates for repairs. But we greatly prefer to have our own photos.)

#3: Get any witness contact information.

This includes the witness’ name, address, phone number, and email.

This is particularly important if there might be a dispute regarding who caused the accident (which is common in things like intersection collisions, versus rear-end auto accidents, when fault is usually obvious, and placed on the rear driver).

Updated to add: you should ALWAYS contact the police on the scene, even if you have witness info. Not reporting an incident to police can destroy your case value.

#4: Do NOT contact Uber or Lyft, or even your own insurance company, before speaking to an Orlando car accident lawyer.

Except note that, if you do not follow #5 below, you are required to report accidents to your own company within a short time period, under the terms of your contract.

So if you do not plan to hire an Orlando auto accident lawyer, then you should report the accident to your own insurance company ASAP.

Just realize that, if you have something called Uninsured Motorist (“UM”) coverage, then your own insurance company steps into the shoes of the at-fault driver, and they will be just as much of an adversary (meaning not on your side) as the other driver’s insurance company would be. And the insurance company WILL try to get information to lower your case value. Their adjusters are very skilled at asking questions that sound innocent, to get information that hurts your ability to recover more money later in the process. For this reason the absolute most important thing you can do after any Uber or Lyft accident is #5:

#5: Contact a Florida auto accident lawyer ASAP, who is experienced with Uber or Lyft accident cases.

Our lawyers are experienced with Uber / Lyft accident cases — so we can guide you through the unique requirements of those cases.

We cannot over-emphasize the importance of NOT contacting Uber, or Lyft, or your own insurance company, before calling us. BUT with the HUGE disclaimer that you MUST report these accidents VERY QUICKLY. So you should report them yourself, if you aren’t going to call us ASAP.

These companies (meaning Uber, Lyft, and many insurance companies) often encourage you to report accidents through their mobile phone apps. This is a HUGE trap.

Please call us today, for your free consultation, before you speak to any insurance adjuster, and potentially (greatly) harm your Uber insurance claim. You should have a lawyer communicating on your behalf, so that you do not say anything that harms your claim. This includes those who really are injured, even seriously injured — insurance companies never want to pay you anywhere near what your case is actually worth. So they can twist very innocent statements to make it look like you really aren’t injured, or that you caused the accident. And they actively try to ask probing questions so that you will share ANY facts that could help them (for example, if you innocently share that you attending a wedding last weekend, which they use to suggest that anyone really injured wouldn’t attend a wedding).. And not paying you is ALWAYS their goal. They are very experienced with trying to collect evidence that hurts your car accident case value, often directly from you, so please do not help them!

You can read more here about the unique aspects of Uber & Lyft accident cases.

If you would like to speak with an experienced Uber / Lyft lawyer ASAP, please call our attorney hotline at (407) 803-2139, anytime of the day or night, for your totally free & fast consultation. Or contact us by email. After a few initial intake questions, if we think might might be able to handle your case, we will either have an attorney speak to you immediately, or return your call, often within a few minutes or hours. You never pay us one dime until we recover money for you.