Hurt in an Uber Crash in Georgia? Find Out How Your Claim Could Be Valued

How much money do you get from an Uber accident? The honest answer is that it depends on the facts. Your claim can cover medical bills, lost pay, and other losses the crash caused. Georgia law sets the rules for measuring those losses. This page explains the money side in plain terms. No average can tell you what your own claim is worth.

Who Can Bring an Uber Accident Claim in Georgia?

Anyone hurt in a crash involving an Uber vehicle may have a claim, depending on how the crash happened. That includes passengers, Uber drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, and people in other cars. A claim seeks compensation for losses you actually suffered. It is not a set payment for being in a crash.

Passengers often ask whether they can sue Uber. Georgia law says a ride share network service is not liable for a driver’s negligence in certain cases. Those cases require that the service itself was not negligent or involved in criminal misconduct, and that it meets several conditions (O.C.G.A. § 40-1-201). Other drivers involved in a crash can still be responsible.

Our car accident and catastrophic injury practice areas cover these crashes. More serious injuries mean more losses to prove, so they usually need a closer review. Read more on our car accident lawyer and catastrophic injury lawyer pages.

What Damages Make Up an Uber Accident Settlement?

Damages are the money a claim seeks for the losses the crash caused. Georgia splits them into general and special damages, and each follows different rules. General damages are losses the law presumes from a wrongful act, such as pain and suffering. They can be recovered without proof of a set amount. Special damages are losses that actually flow from the crash, such as medical bills and lost wages. They must be proved (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-2).

Claims often include these categories:

• Medical expenses: emergency care, hospital stays, surgery, imaging, and future treatment.
• Lost income: wages missed during recovery, and lost earning ability if injuries are lasting.
• Pain and suffering: physical pain, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life.
• Property damage: vehicle repair or replacement and other out-of-pocket costs.

Keep every bill, receipt, and pay stub, because they help prove your special damages.

Medical bills follow special rules. Georgia limits them to the reasonable value of medically necessary care. If you have public or private health insurance, the evidence shall include both what providers charged and the amounts actually necessary to satisfy those charges under the insurance contract or workers’ compensation program, regardless of whether the insurance has been used, is used, or will be used to satisfy such charges (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-1.1). Necessary expenses from the injury also count (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-7).

Future losses can be reduced to present value. A jury may discount future medical costs and lost wages using a 5 percent rate or another rate it considers appropriate (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-13).

When death results from criminal or other negligence, the personal representative may recover funeral, medical, and other necessary expenses (O.C.G.A. § 51-4-5). Our wrongful death lawyer page covers those claims in more detail.

What Changes the Amount You Can Recover?

Fault and insurance are the two biggest factors in how much money you get from an Uber accident.

Georgia uses comparative fault (shared fault). Your damages drop by your share of fault, and you recover nothing if you are 50 percent or more responsible (O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33). Partial fault does not always end a claim, but it lowers what you can recover. Georgia also does not make at-fault parties jointly liable. Under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33(b), the trier of fact divides damages among the persons who are liable according to the percentage of fault of each person, and those damages are not a joint liability and are not subject to any right of contribution, so each one pays only its own share. A nonparty’s fault is also considered if the plaintiff entered into a settlement agreement with the nonparty or if a defending party gives notice not later than 120 days prior to the date of trial that a nonparty was wholly or partially at fault.

Insurance depends on the app and the trip. Under Georgia’s transportation network company law, a driver’s personal auto insurer may exclude coverage while the driver is logged on to the app or giving rides (O.C.G.A. § 33-1-24). The company’s own policy does not depend on that insurer denying the claim first. For the period defined in subparagraph (a)(5)(B) of O.C.G.A. § 33-1-24, the statute sets a minimum of $1 million for death, personal injury, and property damage per occurrence.

If insurance a driver keeps to meet the statute’s rideshare coverage requirements has lapsed or ceased to exist, the transportation network company must provide coverage that becomes primary beginning with the first dollar of a claim (O.C.G.A. § 33-1-24).

How an Uber Accident Claim Moves Forward

A claim usually moves from a free case evaluation to evidence gathering, insurance demands, and a lawsuit, but only if one is needed.

1. Free case evaluation. We review the crash facts, your injuries, and your insurance information.
2. Evidence gathering. We collect the crash report, witness statements, photos, and medical records. A driver’s personal insurer can request trip timing records from the rideshare company, which must provide them within 15 days (O.C.G.A. § 33-1-24).
3. Insurance notice. We notify the responsible insurers and present your claim.
4. Demand and negotiation. Your injuries and bills are laid out in a settlement demand. Treatment records matter, because they show what care you needed and what it cost.
5. Lawsuit, if needed. Georgia generally requires a personal injury suit within two-year filing deadline (O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33). Claims for loss of consortium, such as a spouse’s claim for lost companionship, have four years.

Timelines vary. Treatment length and insurer response times both affect the pace.

Why Work With T. Madden & Associates, P.C.?

T. Madden & Associates, P.C. is a Georgia personal injury firm in practice since 1999. Terance Madden leads the firm. Our lawyers, Terance Madden and Shenia Madden, represent people hurt in car and truck wrecks, motorcycle and e-bike crashes, and other injury cases.

We have offices in Jonesboro (Clayton County), Atlanta, Decatur, Macon, and Augusta. Our first consultation is free, confidential, and carries no obligation to continue. We work on a no-fee-unless-we-win basis, but you may still be responsible for court costs and case expenses.

A free consultation gives you a chance to ask questions before you decide anything. You can bring your crash report, medical records, and insurance letters to that meeting. Our team is available 24/7 by phone to take a report of a crash or answer your questions.

Frequently Asked Questions: How Much Money Do You Get From an Uber Accident?

Each answer below turns on how your crash happened.

Talk With Our Team About Your Uber Accident Claim

Yes, a review of your crash can show how Georgia’s rules apply to your claim.

If an Uber crash has left you with hospital bills, missed paychecks, or an injury that still limits your daily life, now is the time to find out where you stand. Contact T. Madden & Associates, P.C. through our contact page to start your free case evaluation.

Terance Madden is the responsible lawyer for this page. Our offices are in Jonesboro, Atlanta, Decatur, Macon, and Augusta.