If you were hurt in a Portland wreck while you were driving for a transportation network company, riding in one of those cars, or walking when one of those cars struck you, the first insurance question is often not the other driver’s personal policy. Oregon requires a transportation network company to provide a motor vehicle liability policy with personal injury protection benefits to each driver who operates a personal motor vehicle in affiliation with the company. Section 742.520(1)(b) is the rule. While the driver is operating to provide transportation services to passengers in affiliation with the company, those PIP benefits must cover the driver, any passenger and pedestrians, under 742.520(1)(d).
Save the app screens that show the trip status at the moment of the crash. That status can decide which policy is in play. Other liability limits on a company’s policy are a matter of the policy itself and of any other law that applies. Ask the company, and a lawyer who holds a current Oregon license, what liability coverage was in force, rather than guessing at a dollar figure.
What the required PIP pays
The contents of personal injury protection are in section 742.524. Medical, hospital, dental, surgical, ambulance and prosthetic expenses that are reasonable and necessary, incurred within two years after the injury, are covered, but not more than $15,000 for that person. If disability continues at least 14 days, the coverage pays 70 percent of the loss of income, up to $3,000 a month for as long as 52 weeks. Funeral expenses have a $5,000 maximum. Deductibles of up to $250 are allowed on the categories that subsection names.
Open the PIP claim promptly, whether you were the rider, the driver or a pedestrian. Ask which policy is paying, the company’s or a household policy, and get the claim number in writing. PIP can take pressure off early bills while fault is still being sorted out under section 31.600. It does not replace a later claim for the rest of the loss, and it does not stop the two-year period in section 12.110.
Household coverage, UM and the other driver
A rider or a pedestrian may also have a household auto policy with PIP or with uninsured and underinsured coverage under section 742.502. A driver who was between trips, or who had the app off, may be back on a personal policy, which is a different insurance picture than a trip in progress. The app screens, the trip receipt and any messaging inside the app belong in the file with the crash photographs. Do not assume the company’s policy is open, or closed, based only on what an adjuster says on the first call.
If the other vehicle is uninsured, or underinsured, UM and UIM on a household policy, or on the policy the statute required the company to provide, may be the next path. Our UM guide explains the matching-limits rule and the signed election for lower limits. Comparative fault can still reduce or cut off what you are legally entitled to recover. Our fault guide covers that standard.
Reports, public vehicles and the courthouse
A regular Portland crash cannot be filed through the City’s ordinary online tool. Call 503-823-3333, or 911 if it is an emergency. If the other driver fled, a hit-and-run can be submitted online, as our report guide explains. Ask the City for the current fee when you request a copy. If a public body may also be involved, the 180-day notice in section 30.275 is a separate writing. A larger Multnomah case is usually filed at the Central Courthouse, 1200 SW 1st Ave.
Taxi companies have a parallel PIP duty in 742.520(1)(c), so a wreck that involves a taxi, rather than an app-based ride, should be read against that subsection as well. In either situation, get medical care, keep the bills, and calendar the two-year clock. If you want a lawyer to sort the coverages, get the fee terms in a signed writing and look up whether that person’s Oregon license is still active. Our first-week guide is a practical checklist for the days after the wreck.
Treat the first week like any other serious Portland crash
Get medical care, even if the injuries seemed minor in the back seat. Photograph the cars, the street and the app screen that shows whether a trip was in progress. Open every PIP claim that might apply, then watch the two-year period in section 12.110. If an insurer sends an early check, read section 12.155 before you treat that check as harmless, because a missing notice about the limitation period can change how the clock runs. Our deadline guide covers that rule.
If a city or state vehicle was also involved, the 180-day notice is not something the app, or a PIP claim, takes care of for you. Send the writing 30.275 requires, or have counsel send it. A larger Multnomah filing still goes to the Central Courthouse, 1200 SW 1st Ave, and commencement still follows section 12.020. Ask the clerk for the current filing fee, and confirm any lawyer you hire holds a current Oregon license.
If two household policies and a company policy might all apply, tell each carrier about the others and keep every claim number in one place. A later fight about which policy is primary is easier to manage when the early notices went out on time. Do not let that coverage argument distract you from medical care or from the two-year filing period.