A Canadian rider says a distracted Uber driver in Puerto Rico left him with lasting injuries - and he is going straight after Liberty Mutual.
Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and Liberty Surplus Insurance Corporation are facing a lawsuit in federal court in Puerto Rico over a rideshare crash that, according to the filing, never should have happened on a clear, dry morning in San Juan.
The case landed on the docket of the US District Court for the District of Puerto Rico on May 4, 2026, exactly one year after the accident. The plaintiff, Marc-Olivier Hamon, a Canadian resident, says he was a fare-paying rear-seat passenger in a 2024 Kia Sportage operating as an active Uber when the driver veered off Carretera 22 and struck a metal barrier and a light post hard enough to deploy the airbags.
The reason, according to the filing? The driver was distracted while handing a charging cable to a passenger through the Uber platform. The complaint cites the Puerto Rico Police Department accident report and says weather, road conditions, and the vehicle were not factors. Hamon, who was 31 and says he had no prior medical or psychiatric history, alleges he came away with lumbar nerve damage, new disc problems, a cervical injury, PTSD with moderate-to-severe depression, and what his psychiatrist diagnosed as Driver Phobia.
For insurance professionals, the more interesting part is how the case is built. Rather than suing the driver or Uber first, Hamon is going directly at the carriers under Puerto Rico's direct action statute, 26 L.P.R.A. §§ 2001 and 2003. Under that framework, he says, an insurer becomes "directly liable to the injured third party whenever a covered loss under the policy occurs, without requiring a prior judgment against the insured."
The complaint frames the trip as falling within what the rideshare industry calls Period 3 - passenger in the car, trip not yet finished. Hamon alleges the Subject Vehicle was operating "during Period 3 of coverage (passenger aboard, trip in progress, not yet completed) triggering Liberty Mutual's full commercial liability coverage obligations," with policies covering Uber Technologies, Inc., Uber Puerto Rico, LLC, and Rasier, LLC "as named insureds and/or additional insureds."
There is also a coverage-transparency wrinkle. Liberty Mutual and Liberty Surplus are pleaded in the alternative because, the filing says, the complete policy "has been demanded since October 2025 and has not been produced." Unidentified carriers are also named as XYZ Insurance Companies under the same direct action provisions. Hamon is asking for damages of "not less than $500,000," along with interest, costs, and fees.
The matter is captioned Marc-Olivier Hamon v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company; Liberty Surplus Insurance Corporation; & XYZ Insurance Companies, Civil No. 3:26-cv-01264. The allegations have not been tested in court. Liberty Mutual and Liberty Surplus have not yet filed a response, and no judge has ruled on any of the claims. The insurers have not publicly commented on the lawsuit.
