What the Uber or Lyft App Was Doing Decides Who Pays
Our rideshare accident lawyers start every Uber accident insurance claim with the phase, because who pays depends on what the app was doing when the crash happened. The figures below are Uber's published Ontario terms. Lyft runs the same four phases and the same two tiers but does not publish which tier attaches to which phase, so on a Lyft trip we read the policy.
App off
With the app off, the platform's commercial policy carries nothing. The driver's own policy is the only one on the car. If a driver was carrying a paying passenger off the app, the paying-passenger exclusion in their own policy is what decides the claim, and we answer that from the policy wording rather than from guesswork.
App on, waiting for a request
This is the weak point in a driver's position. Toronto's bylaw requires nothing for this period, so the $1,000,000 of third party liability here comes from the rideshare policy's own terms, not from a legal minimum. Standard accident benefits come with it, and contingent collision and comprehensive sit behind a $2,500 deductible that reaches only drivers who already carry that coverage personally.
Request accepted, on the way to you
$2,000,000 applies from this point, and it attaches the moment the driver accepts the request, not when the car reaches you. That matters to anyone struck while a driver was on the way to a pickup, and we check the acceptance time. The bylaw sets its own $2,000,000 floor from acceptance until the trip is complete, so the two line up here.
Passenger on board
The $2,000,000 holds until the passenger is out of the car. The app records the phase, which makes the trip record evidence rather than a memory, and it is one of the first things we ask for. Delivery trips in a car run on the same four phases.
If you do not know which phase your trip was in, an Uber accident lawyer can find out from the trip record and the policies behind it. The consultation is free. Contact us or call (416) 238-7105.
After a Rideshare Crash There Are Usually Two Claims
Two claims usually run side by side after a rideshare crash in Ontario, and they do different jobs. The accident benefits claim pays for treatment whoever was at fault, and for income support where the policy carries it. The claim against the driver who caused the crash is separate work. Together they decide what an Uber accident compensation claim can cover.
The accident benefits claim
It covers treatment whoever was at fault, and income support where the policy carries it.
The three benefits on every policy
Medical, rehabilitation and attendant care are mandatory on every Ontario auto policy, and you claim them whoever caused the crash. For accidents on or after July 1, 2026, the auto insurer pays first for most medical and rehabilitation costs. An accident benefits lawyer here runs that side and deals with the insurer.
What depends on your policy
Income replacement still depends on the policy that answers. Existing coverage carries forward at renewal unless the policyholder agrees in writing to drop it, so we read the certificate. Where a policy includes it, the standard benefit pays 70% of gross earnings up to $400 a week. What changed on July 1, 2026 is who those benefits reach, and standard accident benefits still apply to every passenger.
Which insurer answers
We work the order from the top: your own policy first if you are insured under one, then the policy on the car you were in, then any other car involved, then a provincial fund of last resort. A passenger claiming on somebody else's policy gets that policy's standard accident benefits, not the top-ups its holder bought, because those reach only that policy's named insured, spouse, dependants and listed drivers.
The claim against the at-fault driver
It covers the losses accident benefits do not.
Who the claim is against
The claim is against whoever caused the crash. Where that is the rideshare vehicle, the platform's commercial third party liability stands behind the trip, and the limit depends on the phase set out above. Where it is the other driver, their own policy answers.
What this claim is for
Accident benefits do not pay for everything an injury costs. This claim is for the losses they leave out, within the limits Ontario puts on that kind of claim. What it comes to depends on the injury and the evidence, so nobody can name a figure on day one.
The evidence that disappears
Trip records, the app's own account of the phase, and the other driver's insurer all matter, and none of them waits for you. A private transportation company has to publish a plain-language explanation of its insurance, so you are entitled to see it. We ask early.
Both claims run at once, and one firm runs both. An Uber injury lawyer here handles the benefits file and the claim against the driver together. Contact us or call (416) 238-7105 for a free consultation.
Who Our Rideshare Accident Lawyers Act For
Where you were when it happened changes the claim and the order the policies answer in. That is the first thing a Toronto Uber accident lawyer establishes, because it decides who to apply to and when.
The passenger in the Uber or Lyft
An Uber passenger accident claim is usually the simplest route in and the one people know least about. We identify the insurer it belongs to, apply there, and deal with the trip record and the driver's insurer for you.
The rideshare driver
On a trip the platform's policy joins your own, and where you are a named insured under both you may be able to choose. That choice matters, because the two can carry different benefits, so we read both before you decide. Medical, rehabilitation and attendant care are there either way.
The delivery driver working in a car
What decides your claim is what your insurer was told about the car, and that is where we start. Ontario's insurance regulator approves rideshare and delivery policies for a named list of platforms: Uber, Lyft and Uber Eats are on it as of October 2026, and DoorDash and SkipTheDishes are not.
The courier on a bike, an e-bike or on foot
On Uber's delivery terms, couriers who work without a car are covered by a personal injury policy rather than auto insurance, and the amounts sit in a schedule we read for you. A car that strikes you brings the auto rules back in.
The other driver, and their passengers
Your claim is a car accident claim, and it runs the way any other does. The rideshare trip adds a second policy behind the vehicle that hit you, with its own limits, so we notify the platform's insurer as well.
The pedestrian or cyclist struck by a rideshare vehicle
Having your own auto policy changes which insurer answers, not whether you have a claim. Standard accident benefits still apply to uninsured pedestrians and cyclists in Ontario. A pedestrian accident lawyer at HSK handles the rest of that claim.
What Working With Us Looks Like
Your part is small. An Uber accident lawyer at HSK takes the forms, the clocks and the insurer's requests off your kitchen table and onto our desk instead.
Free consultation
Bring the trip receipt or the app's record of the ride, plus anything the insurer has sent. We read it and tell you where the claim stands.
We work out which policy answers
We read your policy, the driver's and the platform's published terms, then ask for the certificate that shows what the answering policy actually carries.
We get the application in
We notify the insurer within 7 days, file the OCF-1 accident benefits application within 30 days of the forms arriving, and answer every insurer request inside its 10 business days. We run the deadlines that apply to an Ontario claim.
We build the file
We assemble the medical evidence, the trip record, and proof of what the time off work actually cost. Each piece goes in before the insurer asks for it.
We press the claim, and take a refusal further
Negotiation comes first. If the insurer will not move, we take the refusal further. You pay no fee unless we win.
While we work, keep going to treatment, attend any insurer examination you are booked for, keep every receipt, and send us anything new from the insurer.
Toronto Uber Accident Lawyers You Deal With Directly
Direct Lawyer Access
The lawyer who takes your file is the lawyer who calls you back. You are not explaining your case to someone new each time.
Five Languages
We work in English, Russian, Punjabi, Vietnamese and Ukrainian, so you can talk through your claim in any of those languages.
No Win, No Fee
Our fee is a share of what we recover. If we recover nothing, you owe no fee, and we put that in writing before you sign anything.
30+ Years of Collective Experience
Our lawyers bring more than 30 years of collective personal injury experience to the files they take on, and a rideshare file is a car accident file with more policies in it.
1,000+ Clients Helped
More than 1,000 clients have come to us with injury claims. The consultation that starts yours costs nothing and carries no obligation.
Our North York Office
We act for clients across Toronto and the GTA from this office, under the same Ontario rules wherever the crash happened.
Kind Words From Our Clients
Uber and Rideshare Accident Lawyer FAQ
In practice the claim is made against the driver who caused the crash and the insurers behind that vehicle, and during a trip the platform's commercial policy is part of that picture. Whether anyone else can be named depends on the facts, and an Uber accident lawyer works that out before anything is filed.