Food Delivery Drivers and Insurance: What to Know?!
It’s no secret that the food delivery industry has skyrocketed in the last few years, and even more so due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
From UberEats to DoorDash and even your local pizza place, there are a plethora of ways to have food delivered to your home.
With that said, one downside to this luxury is that many people will find themselves sharing the road with these delivery drivers. In a world where instant gratification rules supreme, the risk of an increase in motor vehicle accidents is nothing to scoff about. These drivers typically find themselves racing from place to place in order to make their delivery on time and head off to their next destination.
If you get injured in a motor vehicle accident with a food delivery driver, you may be left with a lot of questions when looking to pursue a claim for damages. Can you file a claim against the driver’s insurance policy? Is the employer of the driver responsible for your damages?
The Issues With This Model
The vast majority of these delivery companies will classify their delivery drivers as independent contractors. Under the law, an independent contractor is not technically an employee, and the title itself helps to absolve these companies from any responsibilities towards a driver.
What this means, is that, if someone is injured in a motor vehicle accident with a delivery driver, it is the driver’s insurance company who’d be liable to cover the damages. Some of these companies do have limited liability insurance in place for the drivers, and the drivers are required to carry their own vehicle insurance, but that still may not be enough to fully cover the damages in a more serious motor vehicle accident.
One other issue is that many insurance companies will not pay if the driver was involved in a motor vehicle accident while working. It’s not a stretch to say that this is a severely complicated process, so it may be best to consult with an attorney before taking any action.
Do Food Delivery Companies Provide Insurance?
The short answer is this: some do provide coverage and others do not. It is important to contact a licensed attorney to help review the available insurance coverage and determine your options for pursuing compensation. Doing this on your own can be difficult and crash victims who go it alone often do not recover as much compensation as those represented by attorneys.
• DoorDash Insurance Coverage
DoorDash does provide basic liability coverage for their drivers if they’re found to be at fault in a crash. This coverage accounts for the bodily injury/injuries of any crash victims as well as the damage sustained to any third-party property.
It is important to note that this coverage does not kick in until the driver’s personal insurance coverage runs out. And, this coverage applies when there is food in the car.
In other words, if a driver is in between deliveries when the motor vehicle accident happens, unfortunately, DoorDash liability coverage may not be applicable to the situation.
• Uber Eats Insurance Coverage
Any individual who signs up to work for Uber Eats must sign a contract with Portier LLC, a subsidiary of Uber.
This company provides insurance coverage similar to the insurance provided to UberX drivers – $1M in liability coverage per crash, and the coverage applies from the moment the driver accepts a request to the moment in which the delivery is made.
Portier, LLC also provides liability coverage of up to $50,000 per individual/accident whenever a driver is in between deliveries.
• Grubhub Insurance Coverage
While DoorDash and UberEats make the attempt to help the driver, Grubhub does not.
Any driver working for Grubhub is responsible for the damages they cause in the event of a motor vehicle accident. If the driver does not have their own business-use auto insurance, you may need to look up your own coverage.
This predicament makes a compelling argument for motorist coverage because you truly never know when you may be involved in an accident with a driver who doesn’t carry insurance – never count on anyone to do the things you would do, everyone is different.
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An experienced car accident attorney recognizes that although an accident can occur within seconds, the serious injuries, pain, disability, and financial losses that result can last a lifetime. Every year, innocent victims are severely injured and sometimes killed in automobile accidents caused by negligent and reckless drivers.
Before you agree to a settlement with an insurance company, obtain knowledgeable legal advice from hard-fighting car accident lawyers at Marcari, Russotto, Spencer & Balaban. We understand how important it is to ensure that you are compensated for both today and tomorrow, and we are ready to stand up for your rights.
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