RIDEGURU
We took two Lyfts today and both times drivers showed up in cars that were not the ones registered with Lyft. Both drivers were very nice and other than this there was no reason to rate them down. It made us wonder if we get in a car that is not registerd with Lyft or Uber does their insurance still cover us and the driver and should we report them? I hate getting anyone in trouble but there are reasons they give you a picture of the car and licsnse number.
Robyn
Comments
Yes, this does happen for various reasons:
Innocent explanation:
- The driver's car is in the shop, and instead of losing income, they borrow someone else's car.
Not-so-innocent explanation:
- These drivers are using someone else's UberDriver app. They most likely do not have work authorization and/or was denied by Uber but they still would like to work. All it takes is to borrow someone's login credential and voila! You just took over your friend's account.
The good news is that the passengers like you do notice, and it can be reported pretty easily. Uber and Lyft do consider this as a severe offense, so these offending drivers are taking significant chance of being deactivated.
Hmm, good question. Lyft's insurance only covers the time you are driving a customer. Any other time, you are covered under your own insurance.
Your auto insurance does follow the driver (in most states), so it would cover you while you are driving another car.
However, Lyft's insurance covers you while you are working for them and driving a Lyft passenger. Your app has to be on and running. Now, I suppose, without checking their terms, this technically may qualify (for coverage) as long as you are still "working for them." ...just happens to be on a wrong car.
Then again, you are obvioulsy not permitted by Lyft to drive an unregistered car. They will most likely fight you for it and it definitely wouldn't be worth it. Lyft would have a pretty decent argument to NOT pay out if you were breaking this rule.
Oh, gosh. I am not a lawyer or an insurance expert, but I would imagine the insurance claim can be declined if there is anything amiss, including driving a car that isn't even registered with Lyft.
I've had people report that I was driving the wrong vehicle before. (I wasn't) I've also had people mention that they didn't know it was me because my license plate number was different from the one on my account. (It wasn't) They were "confused" because I have (in state) military plates, and they were overlooking the first couple of letters that were stacked.
In anther incident, I was at fault, and forgot to switch the vehicle that I was driving in the app. (2 vehicles registered with Uber and Lyft) That was an innocent mistake, but Lyft temporarily deactivated me for it.
Are you covered by their insurance? If you were in their car and they're insured, you should be covered by their policy, but probably not by Lyfts.