RideShare Insurance

Best Car Insurance Options for Uber Drivers and Lyft Drivers

If you’re looking for the best rideshare insurance in 2020, we’ve made it easy to learn about the options in your state on the page below. After you sign up for a gig job like Uber, make sure to get several rideshare insurance quotes from the agents below.

If you’re just learning about rideshare insurance and not sure why you need it, it’s because as a rideshare driver, you need to be especially mindful about the risks and insurance limits in your state. There are many states where there isn’t an officially recognized rideshare insurance policy and, although you may still be covered by Uber/Lyft, your personal insurer may drop you for being a rideshare driver. You don’t want your income stream cut off before rent is due next month!

Why You Need Commercial Auto Insurance When Driving for Uber and Lyft

Uber and Lyft only cover rideshare drivers during Periods 2 and 3. Period 2 starts once you accept a ride request and are en route to your passenger, and Period 3 starts once your passenger gets into your car. BUT when you’re online and waiting for a request during Period 1, you have no collision coverage from Uber or Lyft and much lower liability limits. So as a rideshare driver, you’re most at risk during Period 1 since you won’t get any collision coverage from rideshare companies and your personal insurer likely won’t cover you during this time either.

Getting a rideshare insurance quote and rideshare insurance solves this gap by covering drivers during Period 1, and additionally they won’t drop you for being a rideshare driver. Some policies will even cover you during Periods 2 and 3 so you won’t be subject to Uber’s $1,000 collision deductible and Lyft’s $2,500 collision deductible.

Rideshare insurance really should be part of Uber driver requirements and Lyft driver requirements. When you drive for Via, you’ll need proper commercial auto insurance.

You may be able to deduct your rideshare insurance from your tax bill. Use the Stride Tax App to maximize your deductions to keep more of your income.

What is Rideshare Insurance?

I’ve covered this issue extensively, so if you want to brush up on the current state of insurance for rideshare, here are some of the best rideshare insurance resources for you to review:

What’s the difference between rideshare and commercial insurance?

Is Rideshare Insurance Available in Your Area?

Over the past year, almost all of the major carriers have begun offering rideshare insurance policies for drivers. This is great news since we no longer need to worry about being dropped by our insurance company if we insure with a rideshare-friendly insurance company. This is why it pays to get multiple rideshare insurance quotes!

But changing insurance is obviously not a simple matter since many of us have policies across our homes, other cars, etc. My hope is that one day all major carriers will offer rideshare-friendly policies but, until then, drivers will have to either switch insurers or assume the risk of going without a rideshare friendly policy.

Rideshare Insurance Companies

Rideshare insurance is widely available these days and even some of the most well-known insurance providers are offering competitive coverage levels for drivers. Here’s what some of the top 4 big names in the industry offer.

Geico

Geico offers rideshare insurance in most states and they offer a hybrid coverage option which covers you when you drive rideshare along with when you drive for personal reasons. Geico’s rideshare insurance is comprehensive and covers you for all three periods of Uber and Lyft driving including when the app is on and you are waiting for a passenger (Period 1) when you’re en route to a passenger (Period 2), and when passengers are in your car (Period 3).

This hybrid insurance also covers you when you’re doing food delivery (Uber Eats for example) and there are no strict mileage restrictions.

Allstate offers a rideshare endorsement to your regular auto insurance policy which will help cover your vehicle while you’re rideshare driving. Allstate’s rideshare endorsement helps close the infamous Period 1 coverage gap when Uber and Lyft’s insurance won’t cover you if you get into an accident when the app is on and you’re waiting for a trip.

However, Allstate’s endorsement won’t cover you during Periods 2 and 3 when Uber and Lyft’s insurance would cover you. With this policy, you’d also get deductible gap coverage so if you did need to file a claim through Uber or Lyft, Allstate would reimburse you for a portion of that deductible, so that it matches the deductible on your personal policy. For example, if you have to pay Lyft’s high deductible of $2,500 and your Allstate insurance deductible is only $500, you’d get reimbursed the difference.

Adding a rideshare endorsement to an existing policy can only cost you an extra $10 – $20 per month.

State Farm is another company that offers ‘gap coverage’ for rideshare drivers that extends to your personal policy to include Period 1 coverage. In fact, State Farm’s rideshare insurance can provide you with some amount of coverage during all 3 periods for rideshare drivers.

According to State Farm reps, adding a rideshare coverage endorsement “typically adds about 15–20 percent to your current premium.”

Farmers was one of the first insurers to offer rideshare endorsements. Like many other companies thy offer ‘gap coverage’ for rideshare drivers which can be added to a standard personal policy. While Farmer’s rideshare insurance is not a commercial policy, it does extend coverage through Period 1 so you’re completely covered when rideshare driving.

You can expect to pay about 25% more for your Farmers policy with a rideshare endorsement, but you won’t have to worry about getting dropped for driving for companies like Uber or Lyft. Another perk is that Farmer’s offers a rental car/loss of use option where they will provide you with a rental car or a set amount per day each day that your car is out of commission. There are caps for this of course, but it’s a nice benefit to have overall.