Newport Beach Food Delivery Accident Attorney

What Can Cause a Food Delivery Accident? Does a Food Delivery Company Have an Insurance Policy That Can Help Cover for Damages?

Food delivery services continue to grow in popularity across cities in California, including Newport Beach. Customers favor the idea of ordering food through an app and having thousands of restaurants, convenience stores, and grocery stores to choose from. Popular food delivery companies, such as Postmates, Grubhub, DoorDash, and Uber Eats, have estimated pick up and delivery times available on their apps for customers to get an idea of how long it will take for their order to arrive.

Although customers are given all of these benefits to enjoy, food delivery drivers are put at the short end of the stick by having to fulfill such a high demand of orders. Food delivery drivers are expected to establish an organized schedule that will allow them to deliver orders on time. If too many orders are accepted, it could cause the food delivery driver to become overwhelmed. This can influence them to perform negligent actions, such as speeding, in order to avoid facing any consequences for having poor time management.

A food delivery driver, as well as every other driver, is required to provide a duty of care to all motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians. Failing to follow the rules of the road could get them into legal repercussions, which could make them fall behind on completing their work-related duties. However, if a food delivery driver was obeying traffic laws, and got into an accident by another driver, they could seek legal assistance to acquire compensation for their losses.

At West Coast Trial Lawyers, our Newport Beach food delivery accident attorneys have over 60 years of collective legal experience in handling personal injury cases. We have won more than 5,000 cases and recovered over $1 billion in settlements for our clients. Due to our achievements we have been ranked as one of the top personal injury law firms in Newport Beach.

To schedule a free, no-obligation consultation at our Newport Beach personal injury law firm, please contact our 24/7 legal team by calling (949) 822-9593 or emailing [email protected]. 

How Does a Food Delivery Accident Happen?

It is not uncommon for a food delivery driver to get into an accident. There are many factors, or obstacles, that can interfere with a food delivery driver while they are on their way to pick up or deliver an order. This includes the following:

• Burn injury from hot foods or liquids. A food delivery driver could accidentally spill hot foods or liquids all over themself, which could cause them to sustain a burn injury. If this happens while the food delivery driver is driving, it could cause them to lose focus of the road and crash into an object, such as a vehicle, tree, or light post, nearby.
• Getting injured on someone else’s property. A food delivery driver may injure themself when entering the restaurant to pick up the food that the customer had ordered. The restaurant may have had slippery floors with no warning signs, which could have triggered a slip and fall accident. The food delivery driver could have also gotten themself hurt while entering the customer’s property. For example, the customer has an aggressive dog that is guarding the house. The dog may notice the food delivery driver and attack if it senses any threats.
• Motor vehicle accident. If a food delivery driver is in a rush to deliver the customer’s food on time, they may feel the need to speed in order to avoid facing any repercussions. However, speeding could greatly increase the likelihood of an accident. There could be moments where a food delivery driver is following the rules of the road, but still manages to get into a traffic collision because of a reckless driver.

Food Delivery Insurance Policies

Food delivery drivers who work under companies, such as Postmates, DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub may be offered coverage for an accident. However, each company offers a different insurance policy that may take into effect under specific circumstances.

• Per their website, Postmates states: “Property damage sustained to your property in an accident is [the driver’s] responsibility and should be addressed by your personal insurance carrier.” The company provides $1 million in excess liability to third party claims that will only come into play after the driver’s personal auto insurance coverage has been exhausted. Moreover, occupational accident insurance covers medical expenses and lost income with an amount up to the policy limits. Postmates will only cover the damages if the driver was on an active delivery, meaning after they selected “accept” on the platform and until the customer receives their order as logged by the platform. If you are offline, your personal insurance is your insurance policy. If you are online, but you haven’t accepted a delivery request, again, your personal insurance is your insurance policy.
• DoorDash requires its drivers “to maintain [their] own insurance, in the amounts and of types required by law which includes, but is not limited to, an auto insurance policy. If [they] fail to maintain [their] own insurance, DoorDash’s coverage may not apply.” DoorDash provides excess auto insurance for its drivers, but only for property damage or bodily injury caused to third parties. In the event of an accident, the driver’s personal auto insurance policy would serve as the primary coverage. This contingent liability policy only applies if the driver was in possession of goods to be delivered, meaning if they were driving from the restaurant to the customer’s home address, but not to a restaurant for pickup. Starting June 2019, drivers will be qualified to receive occupational accident  insurance coverage at no cost.
• Grubhub doesn’t provide any kind of liability insurance to its drivers at all. This means that if you drive for Grubhub and get into an accident, no matter the circumstances, you are 100 percent liable for all damages. That’s why it’s of the utmost importance to have the correct insurance coverage when doing deliveries for Grubhub.
• Uber Eats drivers’ liability to third parties is covered from the moment a driver accepts the request until the delivery is complete. If the app is currently on and the driver has not yet begun to pick up or deliver food, or if the driver is in between deliveries, the driver is covered for up to $50,000/$100,000/$25,000 (per individual/accident/property damage). Uber provides $1 million of liability coverage per incident, which is covered by Uber’s commercial insurance policy. The insurance coverage UberEats offers covers drivers while they’re on active deliveries. The additional insurance the driver attains through their private insurance would cover the time they’re logged in and waiting for a request.

West Coast Trial Lawyers Is Here to Help

If you were involved in a food delivery accident in Newport Beach due to the negligence of another individual, West Coast Trial Lawyers has experienced Newport Beach food delivery accident attorneys that will help you get the justice you deserve.

To schedule a free, no-obligation at our Newport Beach personal injury law firm, please contact our 24/7 legal team by calling (949) 822-9593 or emailing [email protected].