Uber Eats driver not entitled to UIM benefits under Uber Eats’ insurance policy.

The plaintiff was operating his motorcycle as an Uber Eats driver in August of 2017 when he was involved in a motor vehicle accident and suffered significant injuries. The offending driver was minimally insured. The plaintiff sought to invoke New Jersey’s Transportation Network Company Safety and Regulatory Act, which, in sum and substance, afforded UIM benefits to rideshare drivers (e.g., Uber and Lyft). The court, while recognizing the increasingly ubiquitous nature of third-party food delivery, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, ultimately held to the text of the law: that the requirement extended only to actual driver and rider relationships established through a mobile device application and did not include food delivery. The court, following the text of the statute, clearly determined that this gap is one for the Legislature to address and that, even if a law logically should be expanded, it is not the court’s role to amend the applicability of a statute so narrowly drawn to address a specific issue. This is an area that is likely ripe for legislative action.

_{Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, January 2023 is prepared by Marshall Dennehey to provide information on recent developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. Copyright © 2032 Marshall Dennehey, all rights reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm.}