52 people staged Uber hit-and-runs in Columbia to get insurance money, lawsuit says
More than 50 people were involved in a series of hit-and-run accidents with Uber rideshare vehicles in the Columbia area that an insurance company claims either never happened or were deliberately caused as part of an insurance scam.
According to a lawsuit filed in federal court by the insurance company, several defendants hailed Uber rides that were then rear-ended by another car. The passengers would then go to the hospital and file claims with the rideshare’s insurer, James River Insurance. The company’s lawsuit seeks to avoid paying claims filed by the individuals, which add up to more than $75,000, according to the suit.
The lawsuit, filed in August, alleges that of the 52 people identified in the lawsuit as being part of the scheme, “many.... are social acquaintances, neighbors, and/or have other personal relationships with their co-defendants.
“Such personal relationships decrease the likelihood that the defendants were all actually involved in real hit-and-run accidents while using an Uber ride share and increase the likelihood that these alleged ‘accidents’ are actually staged motor vehicle accidents for the purpose of committing insurance fraud,” the lawsuit says.
All but seven of the individuals named in the suit are identified as Richland County residents. In at least two instances, the Uber drivers were in on the scam, James River alleges in its suit. The rideshare company could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Between June 2017 and January 2019, 21 different collisions were reported to the insurance company, some of which involved thousands of dollars in damage to a car, while in some cases only “minor” or no damage was reported.
In one instance, an Uber ride was rear-ended on Augusta Highway by a car that then drove away. The Uber driver followed the car and even collided with it a second time. An unidentified man eventually abandoned the car and fled in another vehicle, which was later determined to be owned by the passenger in the Uber that was hit, the lawsuit alleges.
In one instance, the insurance company disputes an Uber driver’s account of a hit-and-run because the $3,000 in damage to the car is “consistent with an impact with a fixed object and inconsistent with an impact with a moving vehicle.”
In another incident, the lawsuit alleges an Uber driver was in cahoots with two Uber riders in her car, plus the driver and two passengers in another car that allegedly ran a stop sign at Duke Avenue and Mountain Drive and collided with the Uber, causing almost $9,000 in damage to the Uber driver’s car.
One woman involved in the case was pregnant at the time of a staged collision on an Interstate 26 on-ramp from Harbison Boulevard, in which the Uber was rear-ended twice by a car that then fled the scene, the suit says.
Only one defendant has responded to the suit at Columbia’s federal courthouse, denying James River’s allegations.
A spokesman for the Columbia office of the FBI said the agency is aware of the allegations, but declined to say if the agency is investigating. None of the defendants have been charged with a crime.
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