Driving with a rideshare company like Lyft is a great way to earn some supplemental income or when you want to work on your own schedule.
As with most peer-to-peer platforms, Lyft has specific driver requirements.
If you’re thinking about signing up to drive with Lyft, you probably wonder what personal information they require and if they make drivers get a background check.
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Is Background Monitoring Required for Lyft?
Yes.
Lyft requires that all their active drivers have up-to-date background checks on file.
A background check will happen when you initially sign up to drive with the platform as a way of screening you, and then they’ll perform continuous background checks as you continue to drive with Lyft.
What Does Lyft Background Monitoring Check For?
When you sign up for Lyft, their background screening covers two areas.
They’re looking into your criminal background and your driving background.
You’ll want to know about Lyft that even if you pass the background check upon joining the platform, they’ll conduct background checks regularly to ensure you’re still a safe driver.
Criminal Record
The main thing that Lyft is looking for when performing a criminal background check on their drivers is to make sure there are no violent offenses on your record.
Several crimes automatically disqualify you from driving with the platform.
Whether you have them as you initially start to sign up or get convicted during your time driving, the Lyft team will remove you from the platform if any of the following appear on your criminal record:
- If you’re registered on the National Sex Offender Registry
- A sexual offense (child pornography, rape, or sexual assault)
- Terrorism
- Driving under the influence (DUI) within the last seven years
- A disqualifying violent offense
- A disqualifying theft or property damage offense
- A disqualifying drug offense
- A disqualifying fraud offense within the previous seven years (including identity fraud)
As mentioned above, not all violent offenses are automatically disqualifying, as with the other disqualifying convictions.
A disqualifying violent crime includes murder, kidnapping, human trafficking, arson, burglary, assault, robbery, and carjacking.
Lyft will perform continuous criminal background checks on its drivers to ensure that you’re not convicted of any of the above crimes during your time as an active driver.
Driving Record
In addition to monitoring your criminal background while driving with Lyft, they’re going to check your driving record.
They also do this upon signing up to drive with the platform.
For both criminal and driving record background checks, you’ll need to provide your personal information.
This includes your social security number, driver’s license number, full name, and birthdate.
They’ll use photographic identity verification by asking you to provide a photo of yourself to make sure they’re running your background check and verify you’re not trying to use someone else’s to get hired at Lyft.
They’re looking to ensure you’re a safe driver.
This means no outstanding traffic tickets, not an unreasonable amount of speeding tickets, or any reckless driving charges.
How Often is Background Monitoring Required for Lyft?
Lyft is very upfront about its background monitoring when you sign up to be a driver on the platform.
Now that you know that they provide continuous monitoring to ensure that riders stay safe, how often are they actually running your background check?
Annually
When driving with Lyft, you can expect them to rerun background checks on their drivers every year.
Some states don’t require them to run it annually, but it’s the best way to make it a universal rule across the platform to keep everyone safe.
They do provide continuous criminal monitoring for the safety of everyone.
How Long Does Background Monitoring for Lyft Take?
You can’t start driving with Lyft until your background screening comes back.
While signing up for the platform can take you only minutes, how long your background check will take varies.
2-10 Business Days
Your background check can take anywhere from two to ten days to get back to Lyft.
For most drivers, it will take between two and four.
The process is usually much faster for those who live in larger cities with electronic records.
If you’re driving in a county where the records aren’t electronic, this can prolong the process as the county takes the time they have to get back to Lyft with your records.
Another factor that can extend your background check results is if you’ve lived in multiple states throughout your life.
When you’ve lived in more than one state, they’ll have to check your background and driving record in every state.
Can You Dispute a Lyft Background Check?
If you know there’s something that may appear on your background check, you may be wondering if you can dispute this with the company.
Or, let’s say you’ve gotten a notification back that you cannot drive with Lyft, but if you believe it was a mistake, you can try to dispute it.
As long as your charges aren’t any of the disqualifying criminal offenses, you can try to dispute your background check.
How to Dispute a Lyft Background Check
There are several reasons you can try to dispute your Lyft background check.
These include the disqualifying offense was outside the timeframe, or it was an accident that it appeared in the first place.
When disputing your background screening, you have two options.
You can call Checkr, who they use for background monitoring, at (844) 824-3257 or by logging into the candidate portal.
Once you log in, you’ll be able to see the results and file a claim disputing the check.
Wrapping Up
Lyft does everything in its power to ensure every passenger is safe in their drivers’ vehicles.
They do this by continuously monitoring all their independent contractors’ criminal and driving records.
A Lyft driver will need a background screening when they initially sign up with the platform, and then they will have an annual review of their background as long as they’re active drivers.
Continuous background checks help to keep everyone safe, happy and wanting to use Lyft to get to and from their destinations.
