What Happens If You Get Deactivated From Uber Driving?

Getting deactivated sounds big and scary, but is it that bad? The answer is that it sort of depends. In this video, I go over the common reasons for deactivation, how you can avoid it, and what you should do if you get deactivated.

Check out the video then read the transcript below to see all the points I cover.

Ratings are the most common reason for deactivation

The most common reason for being deactivated from Uber is for low ratings. As a driver you need to maintain a 4.6 rating or above to stay active on the platform, and 4.6 is not the most impossible thing, There are drivers who struggle with it, and we have a lot of resources out there that can help you boost your rating, if that’s what you need.

Let’s say it’s too late and you’ve found this video now because you’ve been deactivated, or you’re worried about getting deactivated for low ratings. In most Uber cities, they actually offer reactivation training if you’re deactivated for low ratings.

These are going to be courses, sometimes online, or via Skype, or sometimes in person. A couple of companies that offer them: R3Z Solutions, 7×7 and basically these classes are through third-party providers that Uber will email you and say, “Hey, go take a class with this company,” and will consider letting you back on. Almost always they let you back on, but the price of these classes might range from $50 to $100 so it’s not super cheap. You won’t be able to get back on if you’re deactivated for low ratings just by asking nicely.

Lyft actually doesn’t offer anything like this, so even though these Uber courses are expensive it’s better than nothing.

Other reasons for deactivation: Sometimes you have a chance of reactivation, sometimes you don’t

If you’re deactivated for another reason and you’re wondering if you can get back activated, it really depends on the reason. I kinda look at it like a sliding scale from good to bad. If you’ve done something egregious like driving drunk, molesting passengers, etc then you won’t get reactivated. That’s a no-brainer.

There are actually a lot of deactivations that kind of fall more in the grey area. Things like driving with another person in the car. This is a common one that actually a lot of new driver do because they’re worried about safety. A lot of people don’t realize that you can’t have someone else in the car. If you get reported, you’ll actually immediately be deactivated.

If it’s an honest mistake, you can and should definitely email to Uber, explain your side of the story. More often than not they’ll let you back on. I don’t necessarily always blame drivers either for doing stuff like this because there isn’t really a lot of training, and a lot of these policies aren’t published. Although Uber does have a published deactivation policy, but when I read it it didn’t have something like this, where if you drive around with another passenger you could be deactivated for that.

Misunderstandings about your behavior

And then you also have what I call misunderstandings. A misunderstanding type of deactivation would be something like a passenger reports you for driving under the influence, or driving super erratically, or unsafe. You might be thinking, “Why would a passenger do that if you’re not actually doing that?” But it does happen, and you might get temporarily deactivated for this if a passenger reports you while they investigate.

You can if Lyft or Uber receive a report from a writer that you’re driving drunk, the first thing they’re going to do is deactivate you, and then look into the situation. I think their policy kind of makes sense, but it does suck because if you get a falsely accused basically you have to email into Uber or Lyft and explain it and it might take some time for them to resolve the issue. Which is just another reason why if you’re driving for Uber, it’s always good to have Lyft as a backup, and vice-versa just in case any of those type of situations happen.

Temporary deactivations for things like documents, inactivity

The other thing that I want to talk about are temporary deactivations. These would be things like not submitting your insurance documents or letting your insurance documents expire or just being inactive. If you don’t drive for Uber for 2 or 3 months they’ll temporarily deactivate you, and all you need to do is just send an email to get back on or upload your insurance documents to get back on. It’s kind of like putting your account on hold because you still have an account and literally as soon as you email in or take care of whatever action you need to take care, you’ll be back on the platform. If that does happen, contact Uber or you can always go in-person.

Have a backup! Sign up for both apps

It always make sense to have Lyft as a backup. If you’re out driving for Uber and you only do Uber, that’s fine, have Lyft as a backup, even if you never drive for them, just keep your account active with them. Lyft doesn’t even require you to do a ride every 2 or 3 months like Uber does. Just make sure your documents are up to date once every 6 months. Then if you do get temporarily deactivated, with or without cause, you’ll have that backup to fall on basically, and you won’t have to go days or even weeks without being able to make any money. What you really don’t want to do is get deactivated for something stupid, like a drunk passenger says that you were drunk, and then it takes Uber a week to resolve that and now you can’t make money for a week. So that’s definitely why you want to have a backup like Lyft, and if you’re only driving for Lyft vice-versa applies too, you definitely want to have Uber as a backup.

If you do get deactivated permanently, Lyft might be your only other option, or there might be other delivery companies that you can look into.

Hopefully this video was helpful, I know deactivations can be a little bit stressful, but if you have any comments definitely feel to reach out below. Feel free to like, comment, subscribe to the channel and look forward to hearing from you guys soon. Alright, take care.