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Uber and Lyft Coverage in California Turns on the Driver's App Status
If you were hurt in a crash involving an Uber or Lyft driver in California, the insurance available depends on what the driver's app was doing at that moment.
From the time a driver accepts a ride until the trip ends, Public Utilities Code § 5433 requires $1,000,000 in liability coverage.
With the app on and no ride accepted, the required coverage drops to $50,000 per person.
Since January 1, 2026, the uninsured motorist coverage that protects passengers is $60,000 per person, down from $1,000,000.
For crashes on or after January 1, 2027, SB 623 also limits how lien-based medical bills are valued.
Keep the trip receipt and your app screenshots, and call (888) 713-6653 with any questions about your rideshare crash.
Which Insurance Period Applies Under Public Utilities Code § 5433
California sets the insurance a transportation network company must carry for its drivers, and the amount turns on the driver's status in the app.[1]
| Driver's app status | Required coverage | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| App off | The driver's personal auto policy only | The driver's own insurer |
| App on, waiting for a ride | $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident for injury, $30,000 for property, plus $200,000 in excess coverage | PUC § 5433(c) |
| Ride accepted, through the end of the trip | $1,000,000 for death, injury, and property damage | PUC § 5433(b)(1) |
| Passenger in the car, hit by an uninsured or underinsured driver | $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident, since January 1, 2026 | PUC § 5433(b)(2), as amended by SB 371 |
The gap between $50,000 and $1,000,000 can hinge on a few seconds of app activity, so the company's trip data, the driver's app log, and your own screenshots are the evidence that sets the ceiling of the case. A driver's personal policy may also exclude coverage whenever the app is on, which makes the waiting period the one most often fought over.
Asking the company in writing to preserve the trip records, in the first days after the crash, protects the proof of which period applies.
Passengers, Other Drivers, and Pedestrians in a California Rideshare Crash
The $1,000,000 policy protects more than the passenger. It covers anyone the rideshare driver injures while a ride is accepted or under way.
- Passengers hurt by their own driver's negligence, or by another driver, which our page on passengers injured in an Uber or Lyft covers in more depth
- Other drivers and their passengers hit by a rideshare driver who ran a light or was looking at the app
- Pedestrians and cyclists struck by a rideshare driver picking up or dropping off at a curb
- The rideshare driver, who can claim against an at-fault driver like anyone else
When the rideshare driver did not cause the crash, the claim runs against the at-fault driver's insurance, and the passenger's uninsured motorist protection matters only if that driver has too little coverage or fled.
Who caused the crash and where the rideshare driver was in the app are separate questions, and both have to be answered before anyone can say which policy pays.
What SB 371 Did to Passenger Uninsured Motorist Coverage in 2026
Until the end of 2025, a passenger hurt by an uninsured or hit-and-run driver during a rideshare trip had access to $1,000,000 in uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage through the company. SB 371 cut that to $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident, effective January 1, 2026.[2] The coverage applies only from the moment a passenger enters the car until the passenger exits.
For a passenger with a serious injury, $60,000 is unlikely to cover the medical bills, let alone lost income and pain. The passenger's own auto policy, through its uninsured motorist coverage, becomes the next source, under the rules on our page about uninsured motorist and hit-and-run claims in California.
SB 371 also ordered a state study of the coverage levels, due by the end of 2030, so the figure may change again.
What SB 623 Changes for Rideshare and Delivery-App Crashes in 2027
SB 623, signed June 25, 2026, adds Civil Code § 3333.9.[3] It applies to claims against a rideshare or delivery company, its subsidiary, or an app-based driver, using the Proposition 22 definitions, which include delivery-app couriers as well as Uber and Lyft drivers. It covers only crashes on or after January 1, 2027, where the injured person treated with a lien-based provider.
The Main Terms of Civil Code § 3333.9
A cap on lien-based medical bills. Past medical expenses from a provider treating on a lien are capped at the 70th percentile of FAIR Health billed charges for the same service in the same area. Amounts above the cap are void, and the jury does not hear them, unless a judge allows more for rare or highly specialized care.
Sold liens. If a lien was sold or financed, recovery is capped at the price the buyer paid, and the sale must be disclosed.
Discovery of referrals. Referral, ownership, and financing ties between lawyers and lien providers can be examined in discovery.
New limits on lawyers. A contingency-fee lawyer may not refer a client to a provider the lawyer or family owns, take payment for referrals, or charge an extra fee for negotiating a lien down.
What it leaves alone. Care paid through health insurance, Medi-Cal, Medicare, workers' compensation, or the Hospital Lien Act is outside the cap.
For a rider hurt in 2027 or later, how treatment is paid for now affects what the medical bills are worth in the claim. Using health insurance where you have it keeps those bills outside the new cap, and our page on medical liens on a California settlement explains how insurance payments and liens interact.
SB 623 Has No Attorney Fee Cap and Reaches Only App-Company Cases
Much of the coverage of SB 623 in the summer of 2026 described it wrongly. The law caps lien-based medical bills in claims against app companies and their drivers for crashes from 2027 on, sets no limit on attorney's fees, and leaves every other kind of car crash alone.
The law came out of a political deal. A ballot measure backed by Uber, a constitutional amendment that would have limited accident victims' medical recoveries and the fees their lawyers could charge, was certified eligible for the November 2026 ballot on June 17, 2026. On June 25, its proponents withdrew it, and SB 623 was signed the same day.[4]
A crash with an ordinary driver, a city bus, or a commercial truck is untouched by SB 623, whatever year it happened. The law also does not ban the sale of medical liens; it limits what a sold lien can recover and requires the sale to be disclosed.
The accident date decides whether SB 623 applies at all, so it is the first fact to pin down in any rideshare or delivery case.
Who Answers for an Uber or Lyft Driver Under Proposition 22
Proposition 22, approved by voters in 2020, classifies app-based rideshare and delivery drivers who meet its conditions as independent contractors rather than employees. In Castellanos v. State of California (2024), the California Supreme Court upheld it.
For an injured passenger or pedestrian, the classification matters less than it sounds. The insurance requirements in § 5433 apply regardless of how the driver is classified, so the $1,000,000 policy is in place during a trip either way. Claims that the company itself was negligent, for example in screening a driver, are a separate question; SB 623 also requires annual driver background checks.
The national picture of these cases, including claims when an Uber driver hits someone outside the car, is on our page about being hit by an Uber driver.
How Much Is a California Rideshare Accident Claim Worth?
A rideshare claim is worth the same damages as any California injury claim, your medical expenses, lost earnings, and pain and suffering, but the coverage behind it is unusually large during a trip. With $1,000,000 available, the injury, not the policy, usually sets the ceiling.
Value still depends on the details. Pure comparative fault reduces the award by any share assigned to you, and past medical expenses are measured by what was paid or owed under Howell v. Hamilton Meats. For 2027 and later crashes, SB 623's cap reduces the value of lien-based bills.
When the crash happened in the waiting period, with $50,000 primary coverage and the $200,000 excess layer, a serious injury can outrun the policy, and the at-fault driver's own coverage and your underinsured motorist coverage come into play.
Which period the driver was in, and how your treatment was paid for, are the two facts that move a California rideshare claim's value the most.
The Two-Year Rideshare Deadline and the Trip Records to Request First
A California rideshare injury claim must be filed within two years of the crash under Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1.[5] If a public bus or a city road condition was also involved, a government claim is due within six months, as our page on the six-month claim against a public entity explains.
The records that matter most are held by the company: the trip log with timestamps, the driver's app status, GPS data, and in-app messages. Ask for the trip receipt in the app, screenshot the ride details, and keep any messages with the driver.
Uninsured motorist claims against the company's coverage have their own two-year preservation rule, which requires a lawsuit, an agreement, or a formal arbitration demand within that time.