Can UBER or Lyft Divers Get Disability Benefits?

Can UBER or Lyft Drivers Get Disability Benefits?

By Emmett B. Irwin, Esq.

UBER and Lyft drivers are now one of the lynchpins of our economy, making it possible for ordinary people to go without a car, or have an instant designated driver. Drunk driving fatalities have decreased 35% since 1991, with much of that decrease owing to the popularity of ride sharing apps like UBER and Lyft. But when one of these drivers becomes disabled, how are they treated? What disability benefits are available to them?

Why would Ride Sharing Professionals Need Disability Benefits?

Many of my clients became UBER or Lyft drivers because they became disabled from another job. Many others feel that they can only drive UBER/Lyft because of an existing medical issue that worsens after they’ve been driving for years. Then they have to drop down to part-time or quit driving altogether. Often these two categories of people have different benefits available to them. Let me explain by discussing the 2 types of disability benefits generally available to drivers, and 1 type generally not available.

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)

SSDI is available to people who have paid payroll taxes for 5 out of the last 10 years before they become disabled. So let’s talk about our two categories of driver using 2 imaginary drivers:

Mike is 50 years old and has been working in an Amazon warehouse for 20 years full time. He had to quit his full-time job in the warehouse because he has bad knees. He started driving UBER last year to make ends meet and applied for SSDI due to his knees.

John is 30 years old and has been driving Lyft full-time for 10 years because he has scoliosis and depression. He doesn’t feel like he can do any other job because he needs flexibility to deal with symptoms. John recently had to get surgery to straighten his spine, which caused more pain and depression. So now he’s applying for SSDI because he can only drive part time.

Mike will almost certainly get SSDI if his knees are bad enough, because Amazon took payroll taxes out of his check for the last 5 years. That means he paid into Social Security enough to potentially get SSDI. Mike’s benefit will be around $1500-$2000/month because he made $40,000 to $50,000 per year consistently as a W-2 employee.

John, however, won’t get SSDI no matter how bad his medical conditions are. That is because he was a 1099 independent contractor driving for Lyft and didn’t pay self employment taxes. He, like many gig drivers, did not pay any taxes for the last 10 years. He went to a shady tax preparer who promised he wouldn’t pay taxes at all. And he didn’t! But he also didn’t pay self-employment taxes (same as payroll taxes) so he didn’t pay into Social Security enough to qualify for SSDI. Or Social Security retirement, for that matter!

Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

SSI is a needs-based benefit for people who can’t work due to a disability. Most people don’t qualify for it because they have income or assets (or their spouse has income or assets). And to keep getting it, you have to remain impoverished! So it is one of the the worst of the different disability benefits.

Mike will not get ongoing SSI because he will get SSDI, which will give him too much income to be considered “impoverished.”

John might get SSI but he will have to keep himself impoverished for the rest of his life to keep it.

Private Long Term Disability Insurance (LTD)

UBER and Lyft offer very limited disability insurance, but it is for a paltry amount of money and drivers have to pay for it.

Neither Mike nor John would qualify for this benefit unless they bought their policies before they became disabled.

What’s next? If you have questions about disability benefits for drivers, contact Baltimore Social Security Disability Lawyer Emmett Irwin to schedule a free consultation.