If you are an Uber Driver in Virginia, Maryland, or Washington, DC, then you may have been offered the chance to sign up for Uber’s “Occupational Injury Protection” coverage. Maybe you did. But do you understand what it is, and what it actually can do for you? Are there risks?
Attorney Joseph Blaszkow, the DMV’s leading Uber lawyer, is going to dive into what this coverage is, how it works, and what it means to you, in the end. We put together this list of frequently-asked questions (FAQs) to try to flesh this out for everyone!
What is Uber Occupational Injury Protection Coverage (“OIP”)?
This is a kind of injury protection coverage that you have the ability to sign up for, as an Uber driver. The coverage is marketed to drivers as a way to protect yourself while driving with the Uber app on, with passengers, etc. Note that the coverage ONLY protects you, as the Uber driver. This particular coverage is for you, not for your car, nor for your passengers.
If you’ve signed for the coverage, then you know because you are paying for it! Uber charges you different based on your mileage driven, and it can vary not only by usage but also by jurisdiction: your rate may be higher in DC than in Virginia, for example. Uber charges per mile, generally $0.03 or lower. As of the date of posting, we have not seen a higher rate than that.
The coverage is marketed as a way to provide “financial support” to drivers if they get injured while driving for Uber, or UberEats. Many in the insurance industry have argued that the coverage was rolled out as a mid-way point to try to satisfy Uber drivers who are not legally Uber employees, and thus not eligible for Workers’ Compensation benefits. The OIP coverage works like Workers’ Comp., but it’s not.
What does Uber’s OIP cover?
According to Uber’s own website, some of the coverages that are available include:
- Medical Expenses: Coverage up to $1 million for accident-related medical costs
- Disability Payments: If an accident leaves a driver unable to work, they may receive some income replacement
- Accidental Death and Survivorship Benefits: If a driver dies in an accident, their family may receive some financial support
- Accidental Dismemberment Benefits: Compensation for serious injuries such as the loss of a limb
The truth of what that means, however, is a bit more nuanced. Below is an excerpt from the Uber Occupational Injury Protection Policy itself. This document lists the “benefits” available from the plan.
Regardless of what they do pay, remember that this plan is supposed to help with expenses. There is no pain & suffering component, like there is in a standard car accident case!
What Are Some of the Problems with Uber OIP Coverage in the DMV?
As an initial matter, the Uber OIP policy is not specific to any state. Uber’s OIP policy is, according to their website, offered through “Affinity Insurance Services, Inc.” When you try to make a claim through Uber, you will get routed to “Atlantic Specialty Insurance.” But once you actually have the claim opened, you will be dealing with “Intact Insurance” or “Intact Specialty Solutions.”
1 – It’s Not Medpay
These policies are not first party motor vehicle insurance policies such as medpay in Virginia for pip in DC and Maryland. Instead they are an entirely separate kind of insurance policy that is governed by very unique laws. However, the insurance company (Uber, Affinity & Intact) will not tell you what law they are governed by. If you have a dedicated lawyer, however, you can flesh that out. Blaszkow Legal, PLLC has confirmed that, in Virginia, these policies are governed by Virginia Code Title 38.2, Chapter 35, Article 2, et seq (see the below email). You see, insurance policies in Virginia have to register what kind of policy they are, so you know what kind of law applies.
2 – Why is the Governing Law So Important?
This election is extremely important because you can then determine what law applies, and in Virginia at least, this can be very beneficial to you. In Virginia, because this policy is expressly registered as a “Group Accident and Sickness Policy,” it is thus also governed by Virginia Code 38.2-3405, which is Virginia’s anti-subrogation statute. This means, under sections A and B of this statute, that the Intact policy cannot come back to you after, say, an Alexandria car accident and demand to be repaid whatever they paid out to you.
In practical terms, after a car accident, you can get paid through a regular car accident claim AND the OIP claim! You can get both!!!
Unfortunately, they will try to demand their money back, even though the law says they cannot. They will do so because, in other states, they are allowed to do it, and remember, they are trying to use a “master” (read: multi-state) insurance policy to govern them all, which simply does not work. If you don’t have a lawyer to fight them on this, then they may get away with it!
Note – the foregoing relates to payments for medical expenses, not for
disability payments. Disability payments are lost wages that are paid,
and the law on this is less clear. For example, disability carriers are often
permitted to get paid back out of a third-party car accident case.
3 – They Don’t Pay The Full Price of the Medical Bills
The OIP plan does contain language that allows them to pay “usual and customary” expenses, rather than “incurred” expenses. Incurred means that you owe the amount that the hospital charged you (the same amount that, if you don’t pay, then will send to collections.
This plan, however, pays what they think is best.
For example, you owe INOVA Fairfax $3,675.00.
You submit the bills to OIP
They say that INOVA Fairfax should only have charged you 1,911.15. So they pay you $1,911.15 (but you still owe the full amount!).
4 – Claims Can Be Denied
Uber, via Intact, can sometimes deny claims if you do not give them what they want (even if they are legally not entitled to that thing, such as third-party information). Do not get discouraged, because we have been finding that Intact purports to deny or delay claims on a regular basis. The trick is to make sure that you have an attorney who can fight them!
Just like we track insurance companies, the insurance companies track lawyers, too. They know what firms they can delay, and which firms they have to actually deal with.
5 – Can I file an OIP claim and a Car Accident Claim?
As we said above, YES! OIP is a kind of insurance coverage, and it does not preclude you from filing a third-party claim in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. There may be states out there where this is not true, but in the DMV, you can do both. But make sure you have a lawyer who can handle both kinds of claims!
How Do You File an OIP Claim
If you are an Uber driver, you file an OIP claim as follows:
- You can call to open up the claim verbally, but we strongly recommend you follow-up with a letter, this way there is no ambiguity about time/date of claim. Call 844-747-6221 then email the letter to: [email protected] (This is to Atlantic Specialty Insurance Company, which is one of the subsidiaries who handles part of the claim set up). The telephone call will end in you getting a claim number, that will reference every part of the claim, moving forward.
- You will receive an “acknowledgement of claim” letter. However, this letter will ask for numerous documents that Uber already has, or they are otherwise not entitled to, such as claim information relating to the car accident (such as liability insurer’s information). Our office does not provide this, because we know that they are going to try to file some sort of subrogation claim, that is prohibited.
- Submit the medical records and itemized bills for payment once you have gathered them.
Conclusion
If you are an Uber driver who has been hurt in a car accident that was not your fault, then you need to call an attorney who handles these OIP claims immediately! Most lawyers do not handle them, but we at Blaszkow Legal do. We know how to maximize your recovery, by getting funds from every resource possible!
Alternately, if you were at fault for the car accident, you may still have an OIP claim even if lawyers have told you that you do not have a regular car accident case (because these claims are not governed by fault, like car accident cases themselves).
In order to protect yourself, contact an experienced Uber car accident lawyer right away! Blaszkow Legal is the leading law firm in the DMV for Uber and other rideshare drivers, and we can start fighting for you, today! Call 703-879-5910 for a free consultation!
