I don’t have a lot of experience with Uber of Lyft. In fact, I’ve only been in a Lyft vehicle once in my life.
It was a great experience, aside from my agent conscious questioning, “I wonder if this driver realizes he may have no collision coverage to repair his car if he gets in an accident.” The other half of my experience involves yelling at friends and clients who sometimes drove for these companies.
All that yelling didn’t matter as most were convinced that they were covered regardless of what their friend and insurance agent told them: Personal auto policies exclude coverage for public livery. In other words, when you are using your personal vehicle as a taxi, your coverage becomes invalid.
Nobody ever listened when I said, “If you don’t believe me call the insurance commissioner.” However, because of recent developments in the insurance industry, “I told you so.” may not apply anymore. While, all that yelling and forewarning was well worth it at the time, it looks like personal lines auto carriers are ready to fill in that much needed gap in coverage.
Effective December 10th I’m proud to say that SAFECO is now CLOSING THE COVERAGE GAP. With their new Auto Ridesharing Coverage endorsement, drivers for ridesharing companies such as Uber and Lyft, will now have coverage in case of an accident. This saves drivers from either having zero coverage, or buying expensive commercial coverage, for an inexpensive $100 a year on top of their existing policy.
While I find something else to yell at my friends about, be sure to talk to discuss this endorsement with your agent if this happens to apply to you.
Happy Insured Properly Driving to all!
Lynne Chesley