When a Delivery Driver's Insurer Denies the Crash Claim

Attorney Answer

A denial by the driver's personal auto insurer is not the end of the claim — it usually just means the wrong policy was asked. Personal auto policies commonly exclude use of the vehicle to carry goods or passengers for pay, so a delivery driver's own insurer often declines when the crash happened on a run. That is a coverage answer about one policy. It says nothing about whether the driver was at fault, and it leaves at least three other places to look.

The first is the commercial layer that sits over app-based driving. Florida's transportation network company statute, Fla. Stat. § 627.748, requires app drivers to carry two tiers of insurance: while logged on and waiting, primary liability of at least $50,000 for death or bodily injury per person, $100,000 per incident and $25,000 for property damage, plus PIP and uninsured motorist coverage as required; and while engaged in a prearranged ride, primary liability of at least $1 million for death, bodily injury and property damage, plus PIP and uninsured motorist coverage. That requirement can be met by the driver's policy, by the company's, or by a combination of the two. Whether a food delivery platform falls inside that statute's definitions, or is covered instead by its own contractual policy, is a legal question that turns on the platform and the facts — and it is exactly the question to put to a lawyer, because the answer may be worth far more than the personal policy that just denied.

The second is your son's own coverage. Under Fla. Stat. § 627.727(1), every Florida motor vehicle liability policy providing bodily injury coverage must include uninsured motorist coverage, and "the coverage required under this section is not applicable when, or to the extent that, an insured named in the policy makes a written rejection of the coverage on behalf of all insureds under the policy." So unless someone signed a rejection form, that coverage is likely there — and it is designed for exactly this situation, where the responsible driver has no reachable liability insurance.

The third is his personal injury protection, which pays regardless of fault. Under § 627.736(1)(a), PIP covers "Eighty percent of all reasonable expenses for medically necessary medical, surgical, X-ray, dental, and rehabilitative services, including prosthetic devices and medically necessary ambulance, hospital, and nursing services if the individual receives initial services and care pursuant to subparagraph 1. within 14 days after the motor vehicle accident," capped at $10,000 in medical and disability benefits.

Six months of arguing with one carrier is six months not spent on the others. That is the thing to change this week.

What you can do

1. Get the denial in writing, with the specific policy provision the insurer relied on.

2. Pull his own declarations page, and any household policy's declarations page, and look for uninsured motorist and PIP coverage and their limits.

3. Open a PIP claim with his own insurer if one was never opened.

4. Preserve proof that the driver was working: the crash report, any screenshot or app record showing a delivery in progress, photos, and the names of witnesses.

5. Write to the delivery platform and ask for its insurance information for the driver and the date of the crash.

6. Keep every medical bill, record and wage document in one place.

7. Ask a Florida attorney about an uninsured motorist claim and about a claim reaching the platform's coverage. Both are legal choices with consequences, and the deadline below is running. Most lawyers offer a brief initial call at no cost, and a few minutes on your specific facts is worth more than any general guidance, including this page.

⏱ Time limits apply. The deadline for a negligence claim is set by Fla. Stat. § 95.11 and keyed to the accident date. For crashes on or after March 24, 2023, the period is two years: "(5) WITHIN TWO YEARS. — (a) An action founded on negligence." For crashes before that date, the former four-year period applied. Your message says the crash was more than six months before you wrote, which could land on either side of that line — and if the two-year period applies, a meaningful part of it is already gone. Have a Florida attorney check the exact date now. This page cannot compute it.