After a rideshare accident, instead of focusing on healing from your injuries, you will be facing a complicated claims process. With multiple parties involved, including Uber or Lyft drivers, other vehicles, and the rideshare company’s insurance, insurance companies have ample room to dispute liability and work to reduce your potential compensation.
South Carolina’s “modified comparative negligence” law only raises the stakes in these types of claims. If insurers can successfully pin 51% or more of the fault onto you, they can get away with paying you nothing. Any share of fault below the 51% still reduces your potential settlement, as well. Insurance companies will try to shift as much blame as they can onto you or another liable party to avoid paying your claim.
At Auger & Auger Accident and Injury Lawyers, our rideshare accident lawyers in Myrtle Beach use decades of experience countering insurer tactics to demonstrate how another party’s negligence caused your injuries.
Our Myrtle Beach personal injury lawyers identify liable parties by investigating the rideshare driver’s app status at the time of the collision and determining which insurance policies apply. We can start working on your case under our A&A Zero Fee Guarantee™, which means you pay nothing up front and no attorney fees unless we win. Call us now for a free initial consultation.
Why Choose Our Myrtle Beach Lawyers to Represent You After a Rideshare Accident?
After a rideshare accident, insurers will try to use South Carolina’s modified comparative negligence law to reduce or deny your compensation. They’ll argue you were partially at fault because even a small percentage of fault can reduce the amount they owe you.
Insurers will try to make use of other laws that apply to rideshare collision cases, such as South Carolina’s joint and several liability laws, to cast blame onto other parties and dispute liability.
Our Myrtle Beach rideshare accident attorneys are positioned to protect your claim because we bring the following to every case:
- Decades of experience fighting for injury victims: Since 1995, we’ve been handling cases just like yours, managing the specific challenges of rideshare accidents and multiple responsible parties.
- Our success rate: With over $100 million recovered for our clients and a 99.5% success rate, we have a track record of delivering meaningful compensation, even when insurers try to shift blame.
- A process built to protect your claim: We know which records to investigate and how transportation network and negligence laws apply, and we use them to establish the fault of each liable party. This stops insurers from twisting the facts to avoid paying what you’re owed.
- Client-centered services: As a family-run firm, we focus on making this process as stress-free as possible for you. We handle everything, from insurer communication to negotiations, so you have the opportunity to recover your accident-related losses and access the medical treatment you need.
We know what’s at stake when filing a rideshare accident claim in South Carolina. We shut down blame-shifting arguments by conducting an independent investigation into the rideshare driver’s status, negligent behavior, and all applicable liability coverage.
Securing Results That Make a Difference
Our attorneys have secured meaningful recoveries for clients injured in rideshare accidents. In one case, our client suffered serious injuries, including those requiring surgery, when the rideshare vehicle they were in was rear-ended by a U-Haul truck.
The case required us to coordinate between multiple insurance companies, as it involved injured parties and resulted in a wrongful death claim. Our rideshare accident lawyers reached a $1,400,000 global settlement, obtaining the full policy limits and a fair recovery under South Carolina law for our client and others.
Verdicts and settlements like this reflect our commitment to protecting the rights of injured clients and recovering what liable parties owe them under the law.
How Insurers Use South Carolina TNC Laws and Updated Tort Laws to Deny or Limit Your Compensation
Insurance companies’ blame-shifting strategies hinge on South Carolina’s specific rideshare laws and tort reform statutes. They cite these laws and updates to the laws to reduce their obligations and avoid paying victims fair compensation after a rideshare accident.
Insurers seek to exploit various laws, such as S.C. Code Section 58-23-1625, to deny coverage in certain situations. For example, they may work to limit their liability based on the driver’s status and shift blame onto others, including you. With so many moving parts, insurers benefit from creating confusion or delays anywhere they can in the process, leaving injured victims to shoulder the consequences.
Excluding Personal Auto Policies When Rideshare Drivers are Logged in
Under South Carolina Code Section 58-23-1625, personal auto insurers may deny coverage entirely when a rideshare driver is logged into a transportation network company (TNC) app such as Uber or Lyft.
Whether the rideshare driver was actively transporting a passenger, on their way to pick up a passenger, or simply waiting for a ride request, their personal auto insurance provider can legally refuse to cover your injuries or losses.
Responsibility then shifts to the rideshare company’s commercial insurance policies, where those insurers also have room to argue their liability through any available gaps in coverage.
Limiting Rideshare Insurance Coverage
Under S.C. Code Section 58-23-1630, rideshare companies must maintain specific commercial insurance policies for their drivers, but coverage varies depending on their activity in the app:
- Waiting for a ride request: Rideshare companies provide lower coverage limits during this period than when a driver is actively transporting or picking up a passenger.
- Transporting passengers or picking up a ride: Coverage increases significantly when a driver is actively engaged in a trip, but insurers often dispute whether this higher coverage reduces their obligations.
Insurers will use every move available to argue over the driver’s status at the time of the collision to undermine your financial recovery.
Using Act 42 to Shift or Minimize Fault
Under S.C. Code § 15-38-15, an insurance company can use comparative negligence laws to shift blame onto you. If you are found to be more than 50% at fault for the crash, you will be completely barred from recovering compensation.
Furthermore, if the insurer can successfully reduce their driver’s share of fault to less than 50%, that driver avoids joint and several liability and is only responsible for their specific percentage of your damages.
As of January 2026, the state’s Tort Reform and Liquor Liability Act (Act 42) changed several liability and fault-allocation rules. Insurers may attempt to use these provisions to argue that other parties share responsibility for a crash, reducing the percentage of fault assigned to their policyholder.
Adding Nonparties and Manipulating Fault Allocation
Insurers work to spread fault by introducing nonparties into the case, such as municipalities for poor road conditions or third-party drivers. By arguing that these third parties contributed to the accident, they aim to lower their policyholder’s percentage of fault.
Insurers will also manipulate fault allocation by pointing to external factors such as inadequate signage or minor mistakes by other drivers. Whatever allows them to assign smaller percentages of blame to multiple parties ultimately reduces their client’s overall liability.
Spreading fault across you and other involved parties gives insurers a chance to lower their financial responsibility and create a far more complicated claims process.
What Our Myrtle Beach Rideshare Accident Lawyers Do to Protect Your Claim
Our firm knows how rideshare insurers operate and the specific strategies they use under South Carolina laws to reduce claims. Using every tool at their disposal, insurers pass the blame back and forth, arguing over liability, insurance coverage, and responsibility for damages.
With decades of experience handling rideshare accident cases, we take action to shield your claim from these tactics every step of the way.
Insurers will dispute whether the rideshare company’s commercial insurance or the driver’s personal policy is responsible for your compensation, and the answer hinges on the driver’s status in the rideshare app at the exact time of the accident.
Waiting for a Ride Request: Limited Commercial Coverage
When the rideshare driver is logged onto their company’s app but has not yet accepted a ride request, limited commercial insurance applies.
South Carolina law requires the TNC’s policy, or the driver’s personal insurance policy, to provide the following coverage:
- $50,000 for death or bodily injury (per person)
- $100,000 for death or bodily injury (per incident)
- $50,000 for property damage
Prepare for the TNC insurer to attempt to deny full responsibility by stressing that the driver was not actively transporting or en route to a passenger, claiming the driver was “just waiting” and therefore not engaged in significant rideshare activity. The driver’s personal insurer will also claim exclusion of all rideshare-related coverage under South Carolina Code Section 58-23-1625(A), which allows policies to specifically exclude losses sustained while driving for hire.
Our Myrtle Beach rideshare crash attorneys will send demand letters, or even subpoenas, to preserve app data showing when the driver logged in and to verify status directly with the rideshare company’s records. This evidence forces the TNC insurer to accept liability under its limited policy when applicable.
We also challenge unfair rideshare exclusions by personal insurers, ensuring every possible coverage avenue is explored.
Driving to Pick Up a Passenger: Commercial Liability Coverage
Once a ride request is accepted, and a driver is actively on their way to pick up a passenger, insurance coverage shifts into the TNC’s primary commercial insurance policy. Collisions occurring during this period of time trigger the minimum required liability coverage of $1 million for death, bodily injury, and property damage under S.C. Code § 58-23-1630(C).
TNC insurers will argue over timing issues, alleging that the driver was not en route at the time of the collision or that delays in the app’s logging system create ambiguity about the driver’s exact status. The TNC’s insurer will deflect liability to the passenger’s own auto insurance under certain circumstances, while the driver’s personal insurer outright denies coverage because of the rideshare activity exclusion.
Our attorneys go through ride request timestamps with a fine-tooth comb, lining up GPS app timelines against accident reports and insurers’ investigations to establish that the driver was actively engaged in providing TNC services. We use this information to lock in the rideshare company’s responsibility under the $1 million commercial liability policy, leaving no question about their obligation to cover your damages.
Transporting a Passenger: Full Commercial Coverage and Uninsured Motorist Protection
Once a passenger enters the vehicle, the driver is operating with the highest level of coverage provided by the TNC. At this stage, the TNC’s insurer provides $1 million in liability coverage for injuries, deaths, and property damage.
Uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage also applies, in case the accident involves an at-fault driver without enough insurance to cover the victim’s damages.
Even with full commercial coverage in play, insurers often throw up roadblocks, including:
- Disputing the ride’s status: They may claim the ride ended early (or hadn’t yet started), arguing that the commercial policy coverage doesn’t apply during “inactive” periods.
- Shifting blame to third-party drivers: Insurers often try to reduce their payout responsibility by assigning partial or full fault to a third-party driver involved in the crash.
- Challenging the extent of damages: Even when liability is clear, insurers may contest the amount of your medical expenses, lost wages, or pain and suffering, forcing you to fight for full compensation.
Our rideshare accident crash attorneys in Myrtle Beach cut through these tactics by subpoenaing app ride information to prove the ride was ongoing. We may also consult accident reconstruction specialists to establish fault and prevent insurers from unfairly assigning blame to third parties. Medical records can demonstrate the full scope of your losses, so we can seek compensation under the $1 million policy.
Rideshare Insurer Tactics May Simply Be Delay Tactics
Rideshare insurance companies employ delaying strategies to push injured claimants closer to South Carolina’s statute of limitations, which risks their entire right to financial recovery. This legal deadline is strict, requiring you to file a personal injury lawsuit within three years of the accident under S.C. Code § 15-3-530.
Miss your filing deadline, and your right to pursue compensation from any of the at-fault parties is gone forever. Insurance companies exploit this rule by making it harder to meet the legal deadline while they hold up the claims process during negotiations. By the time some victims realize what’s happening, it’s too late to take action.
Delays in Providing Case Information
Insurance companies will take every opportunity to drag out the process of gathering and presenting evidence and documentation to make their determination of fault.
For example, they will:
- Take weeks or months to provide accident details, app status information, or internal investigative reports.
- Stall on disclosing whether the rideshare driver was logged into the app or actively working, which determines the applicable coverage.
- Claim they are waiting on police reports, medical records, or third-party information when they already possess these documents.
By the time this so-called “investigation” ends, witnesses will be harder to locate, and app data may no longer be available.
Passing the Blame Between Policies
Rideshare accidents involve multiple insurers and policies, including the driver’s personal policy, the rideshare company’s policy, and sometimes third-party drivers’ insurers.
Insurers often argue about who is responsible for covering the damages, creating a standoff between:
- The personal auto insurer denying responsibility due to rideshare exclusions under S.C. Code § 58-23-1625(A).
- The rideshare company’s insurer claiming the driver wasn’t logged in or wasn’t actively transporting a passenger, thus invalidating their policy coverage.
Disputes that cannot meet legal standards still help insurers by creating delays, during which victims are left without clarity or compensation, forcing many to accept a low settlement or give up entirely.
Forcing Victims Into a Financially Weak Position
When delays stretch on, the financial and emotional strain starts to mount. You may have medical bills piling up or be unable to return to work, all while waiting for the insurer to respond. This puts victims in an impossible situation and pushes them toward settling for far less than they are entitled to.
As the statute of limitations counts down, you may succumb to an insurer’s pressure to accept what’s offered. Without experienced legal representation, victims often fall into the traps insurers set.
How Our Myrtle Beach Rideshare Collision Attorneys Protect Your Case From Delays
Acting quickly is the only way to protect your case and make sure that all available evidence is preserved.
Our Myrtle Beach rideshare collision lawyers do not hesitate to:
- Send legally binding preservation demand letters to the rideshare company, ensuring app records, GPS logs, and driver information are not deleted.
- Subpoena evidence such as traffic camera footage, accident reports, and app data before it can go missing or become harder to obtain.
- Gather witness accounts and physical evidence from the scene as soon as possible to build a claim on uncontested facts.
Taking these actions early prevents insurers from claiming that insufficient evidence exists to prove your case.
Holding Insurers Responsible for Responding in a Timely Manner
Insurers will ignore communications, so we document every interaction to compel timely responses. If they fail to act, we will escalate the matter in court, putting pressure on them to move your case forward.
Establishing Fault and Coverage Early
Our rideshare crash lawyers in Myrtle Beach demonstrate fault early in the process to avoid the blame-shifting that commonly stalls rideshare cases.
By analyzing evidence such as app data, timelines, and eyewitness reports, we show:
- The rideshare driver’s exact status within the app at the time of the accident.
- Which insurance policies are applicable and responsible for your losses.
- Clear liability assignments to counter any attempts to assign you a percentage of fault.
This approach prevents insurers from exploiting ambiguity to reduce or deny your claim.
Tracking Your Filing Deadline and Filing Your Rideshare Lawsuit
Our Myrtle Beach rideshare accident injury lawyers will not wait until the statute of limitations is near. Filing your lawsuit early preserves your right to compensation and ensures the legal process moves forward on your terms, not the insurer’s timeline.
Start Your Case Today With the A&A Zero Fee Guarantee™
Waiting to hire an attorney gives insurers the advantage and puts your compensation at risk. That’s why we offer the A&A Zero Fee Guarantee™:
- No upfront fees: You can start your case immediately without worrying about costs.
- No attorney fees unless we recover compensation: If you don’t win, you don’t pay.
This allows us to begin working on your case right away, sending preservation demand letters, issuing subpoenas, and gathering critical evidence while it’s still available. The insurers won’t wait, and neither should you.
Let Our Myrtle Beach Rideshare Crash Attorneys Handle Your Claim and Fight for Meaningful Compensation
Insurance companies representing rideshare drivers have a variety of tactics they can employ to shift blame and deny compensation, but you don’t have to face them alone.
With experienced legal representation and early case preparation, Auger & Auger fights the insurers’ strategies at every turn. Let us help preserve your rights and protect your claim under South Carolina law. Under our client-first approach, you will never have to deal with insurers since we handle the entire process for you.
Call us today to take advantage of the A&A Zero Fee Guarantee™ and start your case with a complimentary initial consultation.
