Are Uber and Lyft Drivers’ Injuries Covered Under Worker’s Compensation?

May 10, 2023 | Compensability

Are Uber and Lyft Drivers’ Injuries Covered Under Worker’s Compensation? – When you’re an employee, your employer must have Workers’ Compensation insurance. However, if you’re an independent contractor, you’re not going to be covered under Workers’ Compensation.

We handle many situations where someone who really is an employee is just called an independent contractor by their employer, so there’s often a debate on it. In the case of Uber and Lyft, you will probably be considered an independent contractor if you’re driving for one of them or for both.

Uber and Lyft Drivers’ Injuries

What determines if I’m an employee or an independent contractor?

There are some things that a judge looks for to determine if someone is an independent contractor

Who supplies the tools? If you supply the tools, you will likely be an independent contractor. So, if Uber provided you the car and they made you drive their car, chances are you’re going to be an employee, but if you provide the car, chances are you’re going to be an independent contractor.

Is there a requirement that you’re exclusive, or are you, in fact, exclusive? If you do a specific job for someone and they require you to do it only for them, chances are you’re going to be an employee, but if there’s no requirement of exclusivity, for example, someone who cleans houses and they clean certain house one day of the week, they’ll be considered an independent contractor. Same case with Uber and Lyft, since they tell you that you can drive for other services.

Is this your only gig? If you’re working full time for a business and you’re not providing that service to anybody else, sometimes that’s a factor, and that’s enough, so if you’re only doing Uber 40-50 hours a week and that’s your only gig, that’s a good argument for being an employee, but it’s not guaranteed since Uber and Lyft will be very clear about their documentation and about you being an independent contractor.

What do we recommend if you work as an Uber or Lyft driver?

Make sure you’ve got great insurance, and in fact, you can even get Workers’ Compensation insurance, which has advantages over other kinds of insurance:

In Workers’ Compensation, it doesn’t matter whose fault it is. In other insurance, like car insurance, you have to show that the other person was at fault. Otherwise, you won’t be covered, but in Workers’ Compensation, fault doesn’t matter, so even if it was your fault, you’re still covered.

In Workers’ Compensation, they pay right away. You don’t have to wait until the case gets accepted; a lot of times, Workers’ Compensation will step in right away and pay benefits.

If you get regular automobile insurance, make sure to get what’s called “underinsured or uninsured motorist coverage,” which covers you when the person that hits you only has a small amount of insurance.

We’re here to help!

The cases can be very complicated and fact dependent, so if you or your loved ones have been injured on the job in Colorado, we can help you. Call or text us at 970-356-98-98; all of our consultations are free and confidential.