Legal and Insurance Issues for Accidents Caused by Food Delivery Companies

There is a lot of talk about the legal issues that arise when you are a passenger in an Uber or Lyft (or other rideshare) that is in an accident, or when you are injured by a rideshare that is transporting passengers. But remember that there is a whole fleet of vehicles and drivers on our roads that don’t transport people—they transport food. And those vehicles are just as likely to get into an accident with you as any other rideshare vehicles.

Likelihood of Accidents

Delivery Dudes and Uber eats and similar companies may even be more prone to getting into accidents, because speed is such a factor. Drivers often will have to pick up multiple orders from multiple locations, and deliver them to customers as quickly as possible, so that the food is hot or fresh.

Additionally, as tips may be less, because the delivery locations are generally shorter, the driver needs to do more deliveries to make money.

Insurance Issues

There are a lot of insurance issues surrounding drivers who transport food or groceries or other goods, not human passengers.

Some Uber Eats drivers have found that when they get into accidents, their private car insurance won’t cover them for injuries they sustain or injuries they may cause to other people, because private insurance won’t insure drivers who make claims when delivering passengers or food for rideshares.

Many people don’t know this—when they are delivering food for companies like Uber, or Delivery Dudes, many don’t bother to look into insurance issues. When they injure other people, you, as the victim, can often have a problem, if the driver’s insurance refuses to cover them for the injuries they may have caused to you.

Different Companies and Policies

In the past, companies like Uber have looked to drivers, expecting them to get insurance for delivery of food or products, but more and more, large companies are providing their own insurance to their drivers.

Most insurance provided through Uber, DoorDash, or Delivery Dudes, will only provide coverage if the driver is “on the clock” (meaning, actually signed into the app provided by whatever company they are working for). From there, insurance coverage will often depend on whether the driver was actually transporting a passenger or food, or whether the driver was on the way to pick up a person or food, or whether the driver was just “idle,” looking for a delivery or pickup.

Companies like DoorDash often won’t insure drivers for accidents caused while the driver was picking up food—only if the driver is delivering food

Note that all this is only for companies like Uber Eats or DoorDash. Restaurants or companies that employ their own fleet of delivery drivers, or whose own employees deliver orders, operate differently.

Injured by a risheshare, or a food delivery company? Call the Knoxville car accident lawyers at Fox Farley Willis & Burnette, PLLC, today.

Sources:

forbes.com/advisor/car-insurance/delivery-drivers/

abc11.com/food-delivery-grubhub-doordash-car-accident/10333324/