Uber Insurance Issues - 2016 Edition

Need a ride home from the airport? It’s easy with Uber or Lyft. Both business models entice regular drivers to enlist their own vehicles in a for-hire taxi service of sorts. Most personal auto companies prior to the Uberlution would not provide coverage while operating on a for-hire basis. The one question everybody wants to know is ‘Am I covered?’ It’s not as clear as you may think.

What Does Uber Provide?

• $1 million limit of liability per incident from the moment a driver accepts a job until its conclusion.
• $1 million uninsured/underinsured motorist bodily injury coverage which would cover injuries to all occupants of the Uber driver’s vehicle in an event an uninsured/underinsured driver causes an accident.
• Comp/collision coverage during a trip given that the driver has comp/collision on their personal policy on that vehicle.
• $50,000/$100,000/$25,000 of liability coverage between trips that pays out only if the driver’s personal auto policy declines.

 Where Do the Gaps Lie?

• If you have the Uber app on, but have yet to accept a trip there is no coverage to repair your own vehicle if an accident happens. It does not go into effect until you accept a trip and will be left up to your own personal auto policy to determine whether they would cover it.
• Even though there is liability before a trip is accepted, it’s not enough. $50,000 per person for bodily injury is not very much when you think of how fast hospitals bills can add up. There’s still only a $100,000 total limit per accident for bodily injury. Even scarier is for property damage only $25,000 there to repair the vehicle or property. Don’t hit a luxury car whatever you do!
• Most personal auto policies will specifically exclude coverage for commercial activities, like using your vehicle as a taxi. Some companies have opted out of anything involving Uber or Lyft all together. In other words, if you try to secure a quote and disclose that you’re an Uber driver, some companies will not provide a quote because they are not willing to a take a risk on commercial activities. If it’s not disclosed, then those activities would be excluded.