A crash involving an Uber or Lyft driver can involve different insurance coverage than a typical car accident. Which coverage applies depends in large part on what the rideshare driver was doing at the time of the crash.
South Carolina law establishes different insurance requirements depending on whether the driver is logged into the rideshare app and whether a ride has been accepted. As a result, determining the driver’s app status can be an important early step in a rideshare accident claim.
Why Liability Depends on the Driver’s App Status
South Carolina regulates rideshare services through its Transportation Network Company laws. The insurance requirements change depending on whether the driver is logged into the company’s digital network and whether the driver is providing a prearranged ride.
When the driver is not logged into the rideshare app, the special transportation network company insurance requirements generally do not apply. Once the driver logs in and becomes available to accept ride requests, South Carolina requires specific coverage. Higher coverage requirements apply after the driver accepts a ride and while the prearranged ride is underway.
This creates separate insurance periods that can affect which policy applies and how much coverage may be available after a crash. Establishing the driver’s app status can therefore be important for passengers, other motorists, and others injured in an Uber or Lyft collision.
South Carolina’s Three Rideshare Insurance Periods
Rideshare insurance requirements generally fall into three periods based on the driver’s app status:
- App off: When the driver is not logged into the rideshare network, South Carolina’s special transportation network company insurance requirements do not apply. Coverage depends on the driver’s personal auto policy and the circumstances of the crash.
- App on, no ride accepted: When the driver is logged in and available to accept a ride, South Carolina requires at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident for bodily injury or death, plus $50,000 for property damage.
- Ride accepted through completion: Once the driver accepts a ride request, South Carolina requires at least $1 million in liability coverage for death, bodily injury, and property damage. This period includes the driver’s trip to pick up the passenger and continues until the ride ends.
The difference between these coverage periods makes the driver’s app status an important issue after a rideshare crash. The same driver’s insurance situation can change significantly depending on whether they were waiting for a request or had already accepted a ride.
| Driver Status | South Carolina Insurance Requirement | Minimum Required Coverage |
| App off | TNC insurance requirements do not apply | Depends on the driver’s applicable personal auto coverage |
| App on, no ride accepted | Rideshare/TNC coverage requirements apply | $50,000 per person / $100,000 per accident for bodily injury or death, plus $50,000 property damage |
| Ride accepted through completion | Higher TNC coverage requirements apply | At least $1 million in liability coverage |
What Happens to Insurance While a Driver Is Waiting for a Ride?
The period after a driver logs into the app but before accepting a ride can create additional insurance questions. South Carolina allows personal auto insurers to exclude coverage while a driver is logged into a transportation network company’s digital network or providing a prearranged ride.
That does not mean every personal policy automatically excludes a rideshare accident. The policy language must be reviewed to determine whether an exclusion applies. At the same time, South Carolina requires the rideshare driver, transportation network company, or a combination of the two to maintain the required coverage while the driver is logged in and waiting for a request.
For someone injured by a rideshare driver during this period, the available liability coverage may therefore be different from the coverage required after a ride has been accepted. The Uber or Lyft decal on the vehicle does not establish which coverage period applied. The driver’s app and trip records can help answer that question.
How Coverage Differs for Passengers and Other Drivers
A passenger injured during a prearranged rideshare trip is within the period when South Carolina requires at least $1 million in liability coverage. That coverage period begins when the driver accepts a ride request and continues until the ride is completed.
Someone in another vehicle may encounter a different coverage situation. If the rideshare driver had accepted a ride or was transporting a passenger, the same $1 million minimum coverage requirement applies. If the driver was logged into the app but had not accepted a ride, the lower coverage requirements for that period apply instead.
The injured person’s own insurance and other available policies may also become relevant depending on who caused the crash and the circumstances involved. For that reason, identifying the rideshare driver’s app status is important whether the injured person was a passenger or another driver hurt in a rideshare accident.
What Happens When Rideshare Insurance Coverage Is Disputed?
A dispute can arise when it is unclear whether the rideshare driver was logged into the app, waiting for a request, or completing an accepted ride when the crash occurred. That question can determine which insurance requirements applied at the time.
South Carolina law addresses these coverage investigations directly. The transportation network company and relevant insurers must cooperate in determining coverage and exchange information that can include the driver’s precise login and logout times during the 12 hours immediately before and after the accident.
Trip and app records can therefore provide important evidence when the applicable coverage period is disputed. Police reports, ride receipts, screenshots, and other records may also help establish what the driver was doing when the collision occurred.
Helpful Evidence in These Claims
Evidence showing the driver’s app status can be particularly important after a rideshare accident. Useful records may include:
- A screenshot or other record showing the driver’s app status near the time of the crash, if available
- The ride receipt or trip confirmation showing when a ride was requested, accepted, and completed
- The police report documenting the vehicles and people involved in the collision
- Contact information for the rideshare driver, passengers, and other witnesses
- Photos, video footage, or dashcam recordings showing how the crash occurred
Trip and app records can help establish whether the driver was waiting for a request, traveling to pick up a passenger, or completing an active ride. That information may determine which of South Carolina’s rideshare insurance requirements applied when the crash occurred.
As discussed above, South Carolina law also requires cooperation and information exchange among the transportation network company and relevant insurers during a coverage investigation. This can include the driver’s precise login and logout times surrounding the accident.
Making Sense of This Kind of Claim
Rideshare accident claims can involve insurance questions that do not arise in a typical collision between two personal vehicles. The coverage requirements change depending on whether the rideshare driver was logged into the app, waiting for a request, or completing an accepted ride.
Determining the applicable period can significantly affect the amount and source of available liability coverage. The driver’s personal policy may also contain exclusions that need to be reviewed rather than assumed to apply.
Trip records, app data, insurance policies, and the circumstances of the crash can help establish which coverage applies. Anyone injured in an Uber or Lyft accident in South Carolina can have Morris Law, LLC, review that information before accepting an insurer’s determination of available coverage.