A-Insurance Agencies
Are you a Rideshare driver for Uber or Lyft?
If you are . . . are you covered? Every Personal Line Auto Policy has very specific exclusions for delivery of practically anything; food, people or product. To be clear it is designed for personal use, not business-related “livery service” activities. Whether you are delivering pizza, or Uber Eats, or you are a Lyft or Uber driver- without a special endorsement to your personal auto policy you may have major problems with your auto insurance coverage in the case of a claim. Each insurance carrier is different, so ask your agent! The GAP in coverage begins when the driver starts the APP on the phone or when you start the car to deliver that pizza. If the pizza/delivery company offers coverage at that point, then great, get it in writing!
With rideshare services, your personal auto policy coverage ends when you turn on the app, and the Uber/Lyft policy may only pick up coverage once you have someone in the vehicle. That time between turning on the app and the rider entering your car, there is no coverage unless endorsed from your personal auto policy. In that gap period if the driver is involved in an accident the personal policy is no longer responsible for the damage to the driver’s car AND the rideshare insurance does not pay for this either. There are also other considerations of PIP (Personal Injury Protection) loss of use for rental car and even towing/emergency roadside service.
One last thing to consider is the pizza company or rideshare company may only offer liability protection to third parties. Basically, they may only pay for damage to another vehicle and injuries to another party. There may be no coverage for your own vehicle. Sadly, a number of years ago we had a client who had major damage to their own vehicle with nobody to cover it. Nothing like paying a car payment on a vehicle that’s busted up in your driveway. Our advice is to get a copy of the Declarations page from your auto insurance company. Have the agent show you where the coverage is and if possible send you a copy of the endorsement so you know 100% what the coverage is. We have seen people who are legitimately trying to make decent money only to lose thousands of dollars in a small accident. If your agent can’t provide this, please call our office as we have options and resources to cover you properly for the risks associated with all kinds of delivery jobs.