A Buffalo rideshare accident lawyer helps people hurt in an Uber or Lyft crash figure out whose insurance actually pays, which is the whole ballgame in these cases. At Rosenthal, Kooshoian & Lennon, LLP, we cut through the layered coverage, pin down who's responsible, and pursue the full compensation you're owed, whether you were a passenger, another driver, or a pedestrian.
Rideshare crashes look like ordinary car accidents until you try to file a claim, and then the insurance gets complicated fast. Uber and Lyft carry big policies, but only some of the time, and both the driver's personal insurer and the company will point at each other. Our Buffalo rideshare accident attorneys know how to sort it out. This is one focus of our broader Buffalo car accident and personal injury practice, so the full weight of the firm is behind your case.
Call us 24/7 at 716-854-1300 to speak with a personal injury lawyer near you, or contact us for a FREE consultation.
The coverage depends entirely on what the driver's app was doing at the moment of the crash. New York breaks a rideshare driver's time into periods, and the available insurance changes dramatically from one to the next. This is the single most important thing to understand about an Uber or Lyft accident claim.
For rideshare trips in the Buffalo area, the coverage generally works like this:
That jump to $1.25 million is why establishing the period matters so much, and why Uber and Lyft sometimes dispute exactly what the app was doing. New York City rideshare runs under different commercial rules, but for crashes in Buffalo and the rest of upstate, this is the framework that controls your claim.
Just about anyone the crash injured. A rideshare passenger, the driver of another car, a pedestrian, or a cyclist can all have a claim after an Uber or Lyft crash. Who pays, and how much coverage is available, depends on who was at fault and which app period applied.
Passengers are in the strongest position, since they almost never share any blame for the crash and are covered no matter which driver caused it. But other drivers and people on foot or on bikes struck by a rideshare vehicle can reach the same coverage when the rideshare driver was at fault during a trip. We figure out where you fit and which policies are in play.
You're in a strong spot. As a passenger, you didn't cause the crash, so you can recover regardless of whether your rideshare driver or another driver was at fault. Your initial medical bills and lost wages are covered by no-fault, and a serious injury opens the door to the larger liability coverage, up to $1.25 million during a trip.
The awkward part is that pursuing a claim can feel like suing your driver, but you're really making a claim against an insurance policy that exists for exactly this. You did nothing wrong by getting in the car, and the coverage is there to protect riders. We handle the claim so you never have to navigate that discomfort alone.
Usually the claim runs against the insurance coverage, not the company directly. Uber and Lyft classify their drivers as independent contractors, which they use to argue the company itself isn't responsible for a driver's mistakes. In practice, the fight is over the insurance policies that apply, which is where the real money is anyway.
That contractor argument is one of the reasons these cases are trickier than they look, and one of the reasons the companies invest so heavily in disputing claims. It doesn't leave you without options, though. The coverage tied to the trip is substantial, and getting to it is a matter of proving the period and the fault, which is our job.
Then your claim is primarily against that at-fault driver. If they don't have enough insurance to cover your injuries, the rideshare company's underinsured motorist coverage, up to $1.25 million during a trip, can fill the gap.
This is one of the most valuable protections in the whole system, and one riders rarely know about. Even when a random driver causes the crash and carries a bare-minimum policy, an injured Uber or Lyft passenger may still reach that large supplementary coverage. We make sure it isn't left on the table.
The core rules are the same, but the details of dealing with each company differ. Both carry the same New York coverage, and both defend claims aggressively, so knowing how each one operates helps.
If your crash involved a specific company, our focused pages go deeper on each. See our Uber accident lawyer page and our Lyft accident lawyer page for the specifics. Either way, our Buffalo rideshare accident attorneys handle both.
No-fault coverage does. Whether you were a passenger, the rideshare driver, or in another vehicle, no-fault pays your initial medical bills and lost wages regardless of who caused the crash, generally up to $50,000. It's the first source of money, meant to get you care without waiting for the fault fight to resolve.
No-fault doesn't cover everything, though, which is where the larger liability claim comes in. We make sure the no-fault benefits are handled correctly and on time while we build the bigger case.
Often, yes. No-fault covers your basic medical bills and lost wages, but not your pain or the disruption to your life. To recover for those, you generally have to show a serious injury under New York law, which the substantial trip-period coverage is there to pay.
Serious injuries clear that threshold and open the door to the full liability policy. That claim, for everything beyond the basic benefits, is usually where the real value of a rideshare case lives.
Because there are more moving parts than a normal crash. You may be dealing with the driver's personal insurer, the rideshare company's insurer, and another driver's insurer all at once, each with a reason to deny or shift responsibility. The app period, the contractor issue, and the layered policies all become points to fight over.
Uber and Lyft are sophisticated, well-funded companies with experienced legal teams, and they don't hand over a large policy without a fight. The complexity is exactly why these claims call for a lawyer who understands the coverage structure. Handled right, that complexity works in your favor, because it usually means more coverage is available than in an ordinary crash.
Yes. New York's comparative negligence rule lets you recover even if you share some blame, with your percentage of fault reducing the amount. And as a passenger, you almost never bear any fault at all.
If you were driving another vehicle, an insurer may try to assign you a share of the blame to reduce what it pays. We answer those arguments with the evidence and protect your recovery.
A rideshare accident claim can recover your medical bills, lost income, reduced future earning power, pain and suffering, and property damage. In a fatal crash, a family can bring a wrongful death claim, and the substantial trip-period coverage means serious injuries can often be fully compensated.
The insurer's first offer never reflects the real cost of a serious injury, and rideshare insurers are no different. The full picture includes future care, lost earning power, and the lasting effect on your life. We build that number with your doctors and, when the injuries are lasting, economic and medical experts.
By the full cost of your injuries, measured against the coverage available. Because the trip-period policy is large, serious injuries in a rideshare crash can often be compensated in full, which makes proving the extent of the harm, and the correct app period, especially important.
The value reflects your medical care, the lasting limitations, and the effect on your work and daily life. A short recovery is worth one thing; a permanent injury is worth far more, and the $1.25 million in coverage is there precisely for the serious cases. We build the value with treating providers and experts, and we establish the app period so the right, larger policy is the one on the hook.
Generally three years from the date of the crash to sue an at-fault driver, and generally two years for a wrongful death claim if someone was killed. There are also shorter deadlines for parts of a no-fault claim, so this isn't something to sit on.
Rideshare cases also depend on evidence that can disappear quickly, especially the app and trip data that proves the driver's status. The sooner a lawyer can move to preserve that information, the stronger your claim.
Get medical care first, then capture the evidence that's unique to these cases. Screenshot your Uber or Lyft trip in the app, including the driver's name and the trip details, because that record helps prove the app period that decides which coverage applies. Get the police report, photograph the scene, and collect information from every driver involved.
That trip screenshot is the piece people forget, and it can be the difference between the small waiting-period policy and the $1.25 million trip coverage. Report the crash through the app, but be careful what you tell any insurer beyond the basic facts, and talk to a lawyer before accepting anything or giving a recorded statement.
We start by nailing down the coverage, because everything depends on it. From the first days, we work to preserve the app and trip data, establish the driver's status at the moment of the crash, and identify every insurer in play, then build the injury case and prepare it as if it's going to trial.
Our attorneys gather the police report, the app records, and any video, then document your injuries with your treating providers so the harm can't be minimized. We deal with the driver's insurer, the rideshare company, and any other driver's carrier, and file suit in New York State Supreme Court when they won't deal fairly. Most cases settle through negotiation or mediation, but these companies pay fairly when they see a firm ready to try the case. We keep these matters in house from start to finish.
We represent injured people across Western New York, and we handle rideshare cases the same way we handle every case, in house, start to finish, through settlement, trial, and appeal. We understand the layered coverage, the app periods, and the contractor arguments Uber and Lyft rely on.
These cases reward a firm that knows where the coverage is and how to get to it, and isn't intimidated by a big company's legal team. That's what we bring, along with straight answers in plain language, so you always know where things stand. You focus on healing. We'll handle the insurers and the fight.
If you were hurt in an Uber or Lyft crash in Buffalo or Western New York, whether as a passenger, another driver, or a pedestrian, the attorneys at Rosenthal, Kooshoian & Lennon, LLP are ready to help. Contact us for a free consultation, and a Buffalo rideshare accident lawyer will review your crash, explain which coverage applies, and lay out your options, with no fee unless we recover for you.
The sooner we start, the more we can do to preserve the app data, establish the coverage, and protect your right to full compensation.
Call us 24/7 at 716-854-1300 to speak with a personal injury lawyer near you, or contact us for a FREE consultation.
Disclaimer: This page is for general information only and isn't legal advice. Reading it doesn't create an attorney client relationship. Insurance coverage amounts, rules, and deadlines can change, and the figures described reflect New York rideshare coverage as of 2026. Every case is different, and prior results don't guarantee a similar outcome. For advice about a specific crash, please consult a licensed New York attorney.
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