As ride sharing apps such as Uber, Lyft, and others gain popularity so does the number of people unknowingly placing themselves at risk.
All personal auto policies specifically exclude “livery”. An abbreviated definition of livery is “the transporting of people and/or goods for hire, such as by a taxi service, motor carrier, or a delivery service.” (this includes pizza and mail delivery by the way)
What this means is that if you are driving for these companies and you are relying on your personal auto policy for insurance protection, you are driving without insurance at that time. Some insurance may be provided by the ride sharing company, however those limits are minimal and in most cases insufficient.
Some companies advertise the ability to add a rider for ride sharing. However I have read the endorsements from ten carriers and so far none of them lift the exclusion upon accepting a passenger.
IF you are driving for one of these companies please let us know. Over the last few years many insurance companies have written and filed endorsements with the state that can be added to their personal auto products to amend the livery exclusion. These new endorsements however can vary greatly, and after reading a few dozen carrier versions they are certainly not created equal. Some in fact, aren’t worth the paper they are written on….while some are excellent.
If you have any questions about your auto policy and ride sharing or delivery please let us know. Thank you very much!
Joseph D. Beck, CIC, VP
