What is the Lyft Cleaning Fee or Uber Damage Fee for Vomit?
If you drive long enough as an Uber driver or Lyft driver, you are bound to deal with vomit, especially on a Friday or Saturday night, especially on college campuses. This means that the Lyft driver or Uber driver and passenger will have to deal with the Lyft cleaning fee, Uber cleaning fee, Lyft damage fee and Uber damage fee.
Luckily, Lyft and Uber has almost cart-blanche authority to charge customers a Lyft cleaning fee or Uber cleaning fee based on any passenger-related damage to the car, including vomit or other bodily fluids. However, there is a limit on what they can charge and they usually don’t go charging a Lyft damage fee or Uber damage fee every passenger for damage or stains they leave in the driver’s car.
Here is a quick way to prevent dealing with the Lyft cleaning fee or Uber cleaning fee if you want to skip the headache of cleaning it up: Emesis Bags. There are a lot of Lyft drivers and Uber drivers who carry these that drive during late nights and it has saved the night of many drivers I know of.
Uber Cleaning Fee:
Here are Uber’s Payment Terms (https://www.uber.com/legal/usa/terms):
Any fees that the Company may charge you for the Application or Service, are due immediately and are non-refundable. This no refund policy shall apply at all times regardless of your decision to terminate your usage, our decision to terminate your usage, disruption caused to our Application or Service either planned, accidental or intentional, or any reason whatsoever. The Company reserves the right to determine final prevailing pricing – Please note the pricing information published on the website may not reflect the prevailing pricing.
The Company, at its sole discretion, make promotional offers with different features and different rates to any of our customers. These promotional offers, unless made to you, shall have no bearing whatsoever on your offer or contract. The Company may change the fees for our Service or Application, as we deem necessary for our business. We encourage you to check back at our website periodically if you are interested about how we charge for the Service of Application.
Here is the Uber Cleaning Fee policy
(https://support.uber.com/hc/en-us/articles/201830876-What-Is-this-cleaning-fee-)
Drivers work hard to maintain clean vehicles. A clean up fee for damage to the interior or exterior of the vehicle incurred as a result of events such as vomiting or pet accidents will be assessed and charged when applicable. In most cases, this fee will be $100 – $200, but the exact amount depends on the extent of the damage. We will always notify you when such a charge is necessary.
Here is the Uber Damage Fee policy
(https://www.uber.com/legal/terms/us/)
You shall be responsible for the cost of repair for damage to, or necessary cleaning of, vehicles and property resulting from use of the Services under your Account in excess of normal “wear and tear” damages and necessary cleaning (“Repair or Cleaning”). In the event that a Repair or Cleaning request is verified by Uber in Uber’s reasonable discretion, Uber reserves the right to facilitate payment for the reasonable cost of such Repair or Cleaning using your payment method designated in your Account. Such amounts will be transferred by Uber to a Third Party Provider, if applicable, and are non-refundable.
From anecdotal experience, the maximum Uber Damage Fee charged to passengers is $250 if damages exceed this amount.
Lyft Cleaning Fee:
Here are Lyft Terms and Conditions (https://www.lyft.com/terms):
Charges. As a Rider in all other markets that are not Donation Markets, You agree that any mandatory amounts charged following a ride (a “Charge”) are due immediately. Lyft reserves the right to determine pricing. In all markets, no Charge or Donation may exceed five hundred dollars ($500).
Administrative Fee. Lyft receives an administrative fee of up to 20% (the “Administrative Fee”) of each Charge or Donation of more than $0 that a Rider makes to a Driver, net of the $1 per ride trust & safety fee (the “Trust & Safety Fee”). For the sake of clarity, the Administrative Fee is assessed on a Donation or Charge, as applicable, after the assessment of the Trust & Safety Fee.
Refunds. The full amount of the Donation or Charge, as applicable (including the Administrative Fee and the Trust & Safety Fee), is charged immediately following completion of such election to the Rider’s authorized credit card and transferred (less the Administrative Fee) to such Driver’s account. All payments made are non-refundable. This no-refund policy shall apply at all times regardless of a Rider’s decision to terminate usage of Lyft, our decision to terminate a Rider’s usage, disruption caused to our Services either planned, accidental or intentional, or any other reason whatsoever.
Here is Lyft Cleaning Fee:
We know it’s not fun when a passenger causes damage to your car, so just let our Support team know immediately and they’ll help make it right. If it’s damage that requires significant cleaning or repair and stops you from giving Lyft rides, we ask that you hold off on driving until your car is back up to speed.
In order to receive a damage fee, drivers must send the following information within 24 hours of the incident:
At least 2 clear photos of the damage.
Any identifying information about the requesting passenger (first name works best, but pick-up and drop-off locations and times are also helpful).
A brief description of how the incident occurred.
Here is Lyft Damage Fee:
Damage Fee. In the event that a Driver reports to Lyft that a Rider has in any manner materially damaged the Driver’s vehicle, Rider agrees to pay a “Damage Charge” of either $100 or $250 depending on the extent of the damage (as determined by Lyft in its sole discretion), which shall constitute full payment for Driver’s cost of repairing or cleaning the vehicle, or otherwise remediating the damage. The Damage Charge shall be transferred to Driver. Lyft reserves the right (but is not obligated) to verify or otherwise require documentation of damages prior to processing the Damage Charge.
Lyft Cleaning Fee vs Uber Cleaning Fee:
- Uber Cleaning Fee: Maximum $150
- Lyft Cleaning Fee: Maximum $250
Even though it is a maximum, many drivers have been known to get the full amount if someone pukes or vomits in the car. Both companies will pay a lesser fee based on judgement of the support staff if other cleaning is needed, such as spilled soda, food, etc.
Tips for maximizing Lyft Damage Fee or Uber Damage Fee:
- Take pictures immediately after the incident. Only if there is sufficient vomit will they pay you the full amount. If its just some splatter or some random chunks, they will only pay you half or less.
- Stop driving immediately and email support about the incident with pictures.
- Provide a brief description of how the incident occurred.
- Clean up the mess immediately if you intend to drive again that day. Note the amount of time lost, including going home or to a car wash place. Take pictures of the receipt for any fees, like a car wash or interior cleaning service.
Difference between Lyft Cleaning Fee and Lyft Damage Fee? Uber Cleaning Fee vs Uber Damage Fee?
There is a small distinction between the Lyft Cleaning Fee and Lyft Damage fee, and Uber Cleaning fee and Uber Damage fee. The main difference between the cleaning fee and damage fee is that the cleaning fee is often capped at the above amounts. The cleaning fee is only paid when the interior or exterior of the car is dirty because of a passenger.
The damage fee is when there is physical damage of the Lyft driver or Uber driver car beyond wear and tear that is directly caused by the passenger. The damage fee charged to the passenger is often capped at $250 while the damage fee paid to the driver is capped by the actual repair costs. The Lyft driver or Uber driver will have to provide proof of the damage and also repair costs. The good thing for Uber passengers or Lyft passenger is that they can only be charged up to a maximum of $250 for damage, while the Lyft commercial insurance and Uber commercial insurance covers the rest.
What if the Passenger Isn’t Responsible?
This is where the problems lie with the damage fee and the cleaning fee. Here are two specific situations:
- Cleaning Fee: When you have a passenger in the car, someone outside the car vomits on the outside of your car.
- Damage Fee: When you have a passenger in the car, someone throws something at your car, damaging a window.
Regardless of if you can prove it was caused by the passenger or anyone in his/her party, as long as they were not a passenger in your car, you will have to claim it under Lyft commercial insurance or Uber commercial insurance. This will be claimed against the commercial insurance only if you have comprehensive coverage of your vehicle. It will also be subjected to the below stated deductible.
Here is the Uber commercial insurance policy for contingent comprehensive insurance and collision insurance.
Contingent comprehensive and collision insurance. If a ridesharing driver holds personal comprehensive and collision insurance this policy covers physical damage to that vehicle that occurs during a trip up to the actual cash value of the vehicle, for any reason, with a $1,000 deductible.
Here is the Lyft commercial insurance policy for comprehensive insurance and contingent collision insurance
Our contingent collision coverage is designed to cover physical damage to your vehicle resulting from an accident as long as you have obtained collision coverage on your personal automobile policy. The policy has a $2,500 deductible and a $50,000 maximum for physical damage to your vehicle. Like any driver’s personal auto policy, this policy is designed to step in regardless of whether or not you’re at fault.
Reader Response:
Have someone puked in your car? How was the reimbursement process?
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