By Dan Rose, a Senior Local Business Guide Specializing in Personal Injury Legal Services in New York City

An Uber or Lyft crash in Queens leaves the passenger with a question no ordinary car accident raises: the driver works for an app, so whose insurance is actually on the hook? The answer in New York City is different from the rest of the state, it changed in March 2026, and it depends on something most passengers never think to check, which is where the trip began.

This is how rideshare coverage works for a trip that starts in the city, how much money the rules require to be there, and the mistakes that cost passengers part of it.

Why a rideshare crash in New York City follows different rules

Outside the five boroughs, Uber and Lyft operate under the state’s transportation network company law, Article 44-B of the Vehicle and Traffic Law. Inside the city, they do not. The Department of Financial Services says plainly that Article 44-B “does not apply to a prearranged trip originating in New York City.”

A rideshare car that picks you up in Queens is instead a licensed for-hire vehicle under the Taxi and Limousine Commission. Its insurance is set by the TLC’s own rules, not by the state rideshare statute, and the two sets of numbers are far apart.

How much insurance a TLC rideshare car has to carry

Under TLC rule 59A-12, a for-hire vehicle that seats fewer than eight passengers must carry at least $100,000 in bodily injury liability for one person and $300,000 for everyone hurt in a single crash, plus $10,000 for property damage. That is four times the $25,000 minimum an ordinary New York driver needs for one person.

The no-fault side is larger too. A TLC car must carry personal injury protection of $100,000 per person, double the $50,000 of basic economic loss on a private policy. Until this year that figure was $200,000. The Commission adopted a rule in September 2025 cutting it in half, and the cut took effect on March 1, 2026.

Who pays your medical bills as a passenger?

The car you were riding in. The state no-fault regulation, 11 NYCRR 65-3.12(a)(1), requires an occupant of an insured vehicle to bring the no-fault claim against the insurer of that vehicle. For a rideshare passenger, that means the TLC policy on the driver’s car, with its $100,000 of personal injury protection, regardless of who caused the crash.

This is different from a city bus, where the same regulation sends passengers to their own household policy first. In a rideshare car, your own auto policy, if you have one, is not the first stop.

When the trip began outside the city

Here is where the starting point matters. A trip that begins in Nassau County and ends in Queens is not a trip “originating in New York City”, so Article 44-B can apply to it. Under that law, from the moment a driver accepts the ride until the passenger gets out, the required coverage is at least $1,250,000 for bodily injury, death and property damage, with supplementary uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage of the same amount, plus no-fault benefits.

The state law also covers the stretch before a ride is accepted. When a driver is logged into the app and waiting for a request, the required liability coverage drops to $75,000 per person, $150,000 per crash and $25,000 for property damage. So a driver idling in a Hempstead parking lot with the app open is carrying less than one on the way to pick you up.

Two passengers hurt in the same kind of crash on the same Queens street can therefore be looking at very different ceilings, depending on whether the pickup was in Valley Stream or in Jamaica. The trip receipt in the app is what proves which.

The injury claim, and the other driver

No-fault pays medical bills and part of lost earnings. Compensation for the injury itself, including pain, lasting limitation and the effect on daily life, comes from a separate claim against whoever caused the crash. As in every New York car case, a passenger can bring that claim only when the injury meets New York’s serious injury threshold, which turns on what the medical records show rather than on how the crash felt.

If the rideshare driver caused the crash, the claim runs against the driver’s TLC policy. If another car caused it, the claim runs against that driver’s policy, which may carry only the $25,000 minimum. Often both drivers share the blame, and a passenger, who was not driving, can usually claim against both.

When more than one person is hurt

The $100,000 figure is a limit for each injured person. The $300,000 figure is the most the policy pays for everyone injured in the same collision, and “everyone” is wider than the people in the back seat. A pedestrian in the crosswalk and the occupants of the other car can all be claiming against the same TLC policy if the rideshare driver caused the crash.

Picture an UberXL leaving a family party in Ozone Park with four adults aboard. The driver runs a red light on Cross Bay Boulevard and is struck broadside. All four passengers are badly hurt, and each claim is fairly valued at $120,000. On paper that is $480,000 of injury. In practice no one passenger can collect more than $100,000 from the policy, and the four together cannot collect more than $300,000. If the $300,000 is split evenly, each of them takes about $75,000 from that policy, well short of what the injuries are worth, unless another source is found.

That is why the other driver’s share of fault matters so much in a crowded car, and why a passenger who has supplementary uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, called SUM, on a household policy should have someone read the declarations page. When the at-fault coverage runs short, SUM can fill part of the gap.

An example: a passenger on the way to JFK

A nurse takes a Lyft from her home in Jamaica to JFK for an early flight. On the Van Wyck, her driver changes lanes into a box truck. She fractures her shoulder and needs surgery.

Her medical bills reach $68,000. Because she was a passenger in a TLC car, the no-fault claim goes to the car’s insurer, and its $100,000 of personal injury protection covers the full $68,000. Had she been riding in a friend’s private car with only the $50,000 basic limit, $18,000 of those bills would have fallen outside no-fault.

Her fracture clears the serious injury threshold, and her lawyer values the injury claim at $200,000. Against the driver’s TLC policy, the most available for one person is $100,000, leaving a $100,000 gap unless the truck driver shares fault and his insurer contributes. Had the same trip been booked from a pickup in Valley Stream, the coverage required during the trip would have been $1,250,000.

What to save in the first week

Rideshare claims are won on records that exist for a short time. A few minutes of effort in the first days usually saves months of argument later.

The trip details from the app. Pickup point, drop-off point, times, the driver’s first name and the plate number. Take screenshots instead of relying on the emailed receipt alone.

The police report number. If officers came to the scene, ask the precinct for the complaint or accident report number. It names the drivers, their insurers and the officer’s description of how it happened.

The other car. If another vehicle was involved, its plate and insurance card matter as much as the rideshare car’s. Photograph both, along with the damage and the road.

Your treatment from the start. Go to an emergency room or urgent care the same day if you can, and tell them every part of your body that hurts. A gap of weeks between the crash and the first doctor visit is the argument insurers use most often against injury claims.

Where rideshare claims go wrong

Assuming the app company pays the claim

Passengers often write to Uber or Lyft and wait. For a trip that begins in the city, the money comes from the insurance on the for-hire vehicle, through its insurer. The claim belongs with that insurer from the first week.

Losing the trip receipt

The receipt shows the pickup point, the times and the driver. That is the evidence of where the trip originated, which can decide whether TLC limits or the much higher state rideshare limits apply. Screenshot it the same day, before anything in the account changes.

Missing the 30-day no-fault notice

You have 30 days from the crash to get written notice of the no-fault claim to the rideshare car’s insurer. A passenger who assumes the driver or the app has reported it can find, a month later, that nobody did.

Relying on old numbers

Much of what is written online about New York City rideshare coverage still says $200,000 of personal injury protection. For crashes from March 1, 2026 onward, the required amount is $100,000. Planning around the old figure means planning around money that is not there.

Settling with one driver before looking at the other

When two cars are involved, accepting the rideshare driver’s policy limit without examining the other driver’s share of fault can leave money on the table. The second policy is often the difference between a capped recovery and a full one.

Common questions

Another car hit my Uber. Whose insurance pays?
Your medical bills still go to the insurer of the rideshare car you were in. The injury claim goes against whichever driver caused the crash, and a passenger can usually pursue both if both share the blame.

I was walking and an Uber hit me. Is it the same?
No. A pedestrian files the no-fault claim with the insurer of the vehicle that struck them, which here is the rideshare car’s TLC policy. The injury claim goes against the driver and the vehicle’s insurer.

There were three of us in the car. Do we each get $100,000?
Each person can recover up to $100,000 from the driver’s liability coverage, but everyone hurt in one crash shares a $300,000 total. With several seriously injured passengers, that total can run out.

My crash happened before March 2026. Which amount applies?
The car’s policy in force on the day of the crash decides it. Before March 1, 2026, TLC vehicles were required to carry $200,000 of personal injury protection, so an earlier crash may have more no-fault coverage available.

Do I have to use my own car insurance?
Not for the no-fault claim. As a passenger in a TLC car, your medical bills go to the car’s insurer first. Your own policy can still matter later, if it carries SUM coverage and the at-fault driver’s limits are too low.

How long do I have to sue?
Generally three years from the crash for the injury claim against a driver, under CPLR 214(5). The no-fault notice deadline is far shorter, at 30 days.

Where to start

Three things decide most rideshare cases: where the trip began, whether the no-fault notice went to the right insurer on time, and how well the injury was documented. Ribowsky Law handles Uber and Lyft accident claims throughout Queens, and the injury team at Ribowsky Law will look at your trip receipt and tell you which policy and which limits apply.

The information here explains New York law and Taxi and Limousine Commission rules in general terms. It is not legal advice and does not make you a client of the firm. What any one claim is worth depends on the trip, the injuries and the policies involved. Current as of October 2026.

Speak to a Queens injury attorney

Hurt as a passenger, a pedestrian or another driver in a rideshare crash in Queens? The consultation is free, and you pay no fee unless the firm wins money for you. The Richmond Hill office is shown on the map.

Ribowsky Law Queens Personal Injury & Accident Lawyer
109-12 Jamaica Ave, Richmond Hill, NY 11418
Phone: 718-659-5333