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What to Do After a Rideshare Accident in Chicago
Key Takeaways
- Illinois ties rideshare insurance to the driver’s app status, ranging from a personal policy up to $1,000,000.
- Passengers get $50,000 in uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage while inside the vehicle.
- Not wearing a seat belt cannot be used to reduce your recovery.
- You generally have two years to file, but only one year against the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) or a local government.
After a rideshare accident in Chicago, get safe, call 911, see a doctor that day, and screenshot your trip before the app changes. Then report the crash in the app and keep statements brief until you know which policy applies.
Climbing into an Uber or Lyft should have been the easy part of your day. Now you may be hurt, unsure whose insurance applies, and fielding calls from a company you only knew as an app. Knowing what to do after a rideshare accident protects both your health and the evidence that decides who pays.
Conboy Law helps injured riders, drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists sort out which policy covers their crash, and we are glad to talk through your situation.
What Should You Do Right After a Rideshare Accident in Chicago?
The first hour after a crash shapes both your recovery and your claim. Work through the following steps as far as your injuries allow:
- Get to safety and call 911: Section 11-407 of the Illinois Vehicle Code requires immediate police notice after an injury crash, and if your driver is physically unable to make the call, a capable occupant must.
- See a doctor the same day: Adrenaline can hide concussions and whiplash, and delayed injury symptoms after a crash are easier to tie to the crash with an early record.
- Screenshot the trip: Capture the driver’s name, license plate, route, timestamps, and receipt, since these screens show whether a ride was in progress.
- Photograph the dashboard emblem: The city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection requires rideshare vehicles to display an emblem verifying the driver’s Transportation Network Provider (TNP) chauffeur license.
- Collect driver information: Under Section 11-403 of the same code, each driver in an injury crash must share their name, address, registration number, and vehicle owner, and show a license on request.
- Document the scene: Photograph damage, signals, and injuries, get witness contacts, and ask nearby businesses about camera footage before it is recorded over.
- Report the crash in the app: Stick to the facts and avoid guessing about fault.
- Get the crash report: Learn how to get a copy of your crash report once police finish it.
Completing even a few of these steps leaves an insurer far less room to dispute what happened.
If a Rideshare Hit You as a Driver, Pedestrian, or Cyclist
Without trip details of your own, gather the following at the scene:
- Whether the driver’s app was on and a passenger was aboard
- Photos of the Uber or Lyft decal and the dashboard emblem
- The passenger’s name and number as a witness
Those answers point your claim toward the correct insurance tier.
How Does Rideshare Insurance Work in Illinois?
Rideshare coverage depends on what the driver’s app showed at the moment of the crash. Section 10 of the Transportation Network Providers Act sets minimum coverage for each phase, and the same rules apply to Uber and Lyft accident claims.
App Off
When the driver is logged out, the Act’s rideshare requirements do not apply. Your claim generally runs through the driver’s personal auto policy.
Logged In and Waiting for a Ride
The Act requires at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident for injury or death, plus $25,000 for property damage. The rideshare company must also carry backup coverage if the driver’s own policy excludes the crash.
Ride Accepted Through Drop-Off
Coverage rises to $1,000,000 from the moment the driver accepts a request until the trip is complete. Passengers also receive $50,000 in uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage from the moment they enter the car until they exit. UM/UIM coverage pays when an at-fault driver has no insurance or too little to cover your losses.
The same section includes several protections most riders never hear about:
- No waiting on a denial: The company’s coverage cannot depend on the driver’s personal insurer denying the claim first.
- Lapsed policies: If the driver’s own insurance lapsed, the company must cover the claim from the first dollar.
- No liability ceiling: The required amounts do not limit the rideshare company’s own liability above them.
These rules are currently in force, although the section is scheduled for repeal on September 1, 2028.
Not sure which phase applied when your driver crashed? Call Conboy Law at 312-726-9000, and we will review your trip records with you.
What Not to Do After an Uber or Lyft Crash
Adjusters for the rideshare company’s insurer often call within days, and early missteps can weaken a valid claim. Avoid the following:
- Giving a recorded statement to the rideshare insurer before getting advice
- Signing a release or accepting a quick settlement offer
- Deleting the app, your trip history, or messages with the driver
- Posting about the crash or your injuries on social media
- Skipping follow-up appointments, since gaps in treatment invite arguments that you were not badly hurt
If an adjuster presses, you can simply say you will follow up later.
Illinois Laws That Can Affect a Rideshare Injury Claim
Several state laws can change your filing deadline, your share of fault, and how much of a recovery you keep.
Filing Deadlines: Two Years, or One Year for the CTA
Most injury lawsuits must be filed within two years under Section 13-202 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the state’s statute of limitations for personal injury. Section 41 of the Metropolitan Transit Authority Act allows only one year for injury lawsuits against the CTA. Section 8-101 of the Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act sets one year for most other local government entities.
If a CTA bus sideswipes your Lyft, the claim against the CTA may need to be filed within one year, even though claims against the drivers have two.
Shared Fault and Two At-Fault Drivers
Under Section 2-1116 of the Code of Civil Procedure, your recovery is reduced by your share of fault and barred only if your fault exceeds 50%.
When two drivers caused the crash, Section 2-1117 makes every liable defendant jointly and severally liable for medical expenses, so each can be required to pay the full amount. A defendant found less than 25% at fault pays only its share of other damages, so a motorist found 20% at fault could owe all of your medical expenses but only 20% of the rest.
Riding Unbuckled in the Back Seat
Every passenger must buckle up, but Section 12-603.1 of the Illinois Vehicle Code says skipping the belt cannot be treated as evidence of negligence, meaning carelessness, or reduce a damages recovery. Our resource on seat belt use in an injury claim explains more.
Medical Bills and Health Care Liens
Hospitals and doctors who treat you can place a lien, which is a legal claim to part of your settlement or verdict. Under Section 10 of the Health Care Services Lien Act, all of those liens combined cannot exceed 40% of the recovery. That cap helps protect the share you keep when treatment costs run high.
Frequently Asked Questions About Rideshare Accidents in Chicago
Your screenshots and the company’s trip data can show the driver’s actual status at impact. We request those records early, before they become harder to obtain.
Yes. Delayed symptoms are common after crashes, and seeing a doctor as soon as they appear helps connect the injury to the collision.
Your health insurance or medical payments (MedPay) coverage typically pays first. Those payers may then seek reimbursement from any settlement or verdict.
Possibly. Anyone who opens a car door into traffic without checking can be found careless, and the driver’s choice of drop-off spot may also affect how fault is divided.
Call 311 or use the city’s 311 service, which takes complaints about rideshare and other public chauffeurs. You can also report safety concerns through the Uber or Lyft app.
Talk to Conboy Law About What to Do After a Rideshare Accident in Chicago
You booked a ride so someone else would handle the driving, and now you are the one sorting out insurers, app data, and medical bills. Our team requests trip records from the rideshare company early, identifies every policy that may apply, and handles adjuster calls so you can focus on healing.
Founding attorney Joseph M. Conboy, recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star, leads our litigation from our office at 53 W Jackson Blvd. We handle these cases on a contingency fee basis, and each one starts with a free case evaluation. You can also read how we handle Uber accident claims.
If you need help with what to do after a rideshare accident in Chicago, IL, call Conboy Law at 312-726-9000 or contact our team online.
Joseph M. Conboy is the founding attorney of Conboy Law and represents victims and families in serious personal injury, medical malpractice, and wrongful death cases throughout Illinois. He has obtained numerous multi-million-dollar results and has been recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star. As the firm’s primary litigator, he works closely with clients to build strategies tailored to the facts of each case.
