Uber and Liberty Mutual are suing 14 people and eight medical providers they say ran a staged-accident fraud ring targeting rideshare drivers in New York.
The lawsuit, filed on April 14, 2026, in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, lays out what the plaintiffs describe as a methodical scheme spanning roughly 19 months to exploit No-Fault insurance coverage through deliberately orchestrated collisions. The case has not yet been decided, and all claims remain allegations.
The suit paints a detailed picture of how the alleged ring operated. According to the filing, members would request an Uber ride late at night, typically on residential side streets in Nassau County. Within minutes of being picked up, a second vehicle - driven by an alleged accomplice - would side-swipe the rideshare car and flee. The passengers would then file injury claims through the Uber app and seek No-Fault benefits from Liberty Mutual, which underwrites the auto policy for Uber's subsidiary, Rasier-NY LLC.
What makes this case stand out for insurers is the web of connections the plaintiffs say they uncovered. The lawsuit alleges that multiple defendants shared a single Brooklyn address, used the same bank account to pay for Uber rides, and accessed the app through a shared iPhone 14. Several are alleged to be related by blood or association - including a mother-son pair who were passengers in separate alleged staged incidents weeks apart.
The alleged scheme involved at least eight incidents between August 2023 and March 2025, according to the suit. The plaintiffs say they have paid out no less than $312,979 in combined losses and expenses tied to the alleged fraud. According to the suit, the rideshare drivers - uninvolved in the scheme - were almost always uninjured, while the passengers claimed serious bodily injuries.
The lawsuit also names eight medical providers who allegedly treated the defendants for fabricated injuries and submitted claims for No-Fault reimbursement to Liberty Mutual. The plaintiffs argue those providers have no right to payment because the underlying incidents were not legitimate accidents.
On the coverage front, the filing highlights two key policy provisions. The first is the "Expected or Intended Injury" exclusion, which withholds coverage when an insured intentionally causes bodily injury. The second is the fraud provision, which denies coverage for anyone who makes fraudulent statements in connection with a claim. The plaintiffs also point to four defendants who failed to appear for Examinations Under Oath - a step New York law treats as a condition precedent to collecting No-Fault benefits.
Adding weight to the allegations, the suit notes that arbitrators with the American Arbitration Association have already found sufficient evidence in related proceedings that certain incidents were staged, ruling that the No-Fault endorsement "does not apply to staged or intentional losses, regardless of the culpability of a particular claimant."
The plaintiffs are pressing five causes of action, including common law fraud, unjust enrichment, civil conspiracy, and two declaratory judgment claims seeking a ruling that Liberty Mutual owes no coverage for any of the alleged incidents.
The case lands at a moment when staged-accident fraud is drawing increasing scrutiny in New York, with Governor Hochul flagging the issue publicly on January 22, 2026, and the New York State Department of Financial Services calling such schemes a "pervasive drain on the national health care system" in a report dated March 15, 2026.
