An update on COVID-19 financial assistance

The last few weeks have been hard for everyone. But we know they have been particularly tough for drivers and delivery people like you.

With fewer people moving around, many of you are earning less than usual. In response, we launched a new Work Hub in the Driver app, which can help you find more work opportunities—whether with other Uber services like Uber Eats or even at another company. We’re also developing resources to help make it easier for you to request financial assistance now available from many governments.

If you’re still on the road, you are providing critical services during this period—like getting essential workers to their jobs or getting food to people at home. To help keep you safe, we’ve begun distributing free disinfectants to drivers, and we’ve purchased tens of millions of ear loop face masks. Availability is limited, but we’re working hard to get these supplies to drivers, starting with cities in the most need. We also launched COVID-19 Resources, an in-app resource center dedicated to safety information and updates from us.

And over the last month, we’ve provided financial assistance to drivers and delivery people diagnosed with COVID-19 or ordered to self-quarantine or self-isolate by a doctor or public health authority. We moved quickly to announce this policy, even though acting quickly meant moving forward with limited information, because we believed the most important thing to do was to provide support as soon as possible.

Since then, many of you have told us that the policy we originally launched supported too few drivers and the process to get funds has been complicated and confusing. Today we’re revising our policy in 2 ways:

1. We are focusing our assistance on those of you who are still actively driving and delivering during this crisis.
2. We are expanding eligibility to include drivers and delivery people who have been told to individually quarantine because they have preexisting conditions that put them at a higher risk of suffering serious illness from COVID-19. Because this will mean more people are eligible than under the old policy, we’ve chosen to establish a maximum per-person payment to make this new policy more sustainable.

The new policy is in effect in the US starting today and will be implemented in the rest of the world over the next week and a half.

Applying under the new policy

To be eligible, you must provide written documentation from a licensed doctor or government public health official showing that:

• You have an active case of COVID-19; or
• You were individually ordered to self-quarantine because you’re suspected to have an active case of COVID-19; or
• You were individually ordered to self-quarantine because you have preexisting health conditions that put you at higher risk of serious illness due to COVID-19

To find out how to apply for financial assistance, go to “COVID-19 Resources” in your app, or to the Help section in your app, then tap “Safety and security.” We’ll aim to process your request within 7 business days. Before you apply, please carefully review all the requirements listed in the site linked above. When you apply, your Uber account will be temporarily put on hold as a safety measure to help limit the spread of COVID-19. Even though your account is on hold, we’ll still need to review your application to determine if you qualify for financial assistance.