# Why do we need car insurance?



## drexl_s (May 20, 2016)

Why need proof of personal insurance when we are covered by uber insurance?


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## SEAL Team 5 (Dec 19, 2015)

drexl_s said:


> Why need proof of personal insurance when we are covered by uber insurance?


Ask the CA State Legislature. And I'll give you a little heads up. You and your vehicle are not covered by Uber's insurance. Only the damage you cause to others whether personal or property is covered by Uber's insurance so long as you've accepted an Uber fare and/or have Uber pax in vehicle.


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## Ben105 (Feb 27, 2016)

You need proof of insurance to drive period and as SEAL Team 5 said, you are not fully covered by Uber insurance. If you don't have insurance in your name, you shouldn't be driving at all.


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## drexl_s (May 20, 2016)

Ha. So how many of you even have gap insurance? All I am saying, there should be no need for personal, unless uber wants to claim losses on our insurance instead of theirs. It is just a wierd requirement.


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## Ben105 (Feb 27, 2016)

No it's not weird. Uber insurance doesn't really start until you accept a ping and truly doesn't kick in until you have a pax in the car. You need to cover your bases. Your personal insurance most likely will not cover you if you're driving for Uber unless you have GAP insurance. And again, it shouldn't even be a question as you MUST have insurance to drive a car in CA. Even if you don't have a car in CA, if you drive, you must have insurance.


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## phillipzx3 (May 26, 2015)

drexl_s said:


> Ha. So how many of you even have gap insurance? All I am saying, there should be no need for personal, unless uber wants to claim losses on our insurance instead of theirs. It is just a wierd requirement.


So California doesn't require you to have insurance on you personal car?

Oregon does. But no insurance company will cover you (with a personal policy) if the find out (or you tell them) you're going to use your car, even part time, as a cab.

Actually, the State law here says you must carry a commercial policy if you use your car for livery.


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## Ben105 (Feb 27, 2016)

phillipzx3 said:


> So California doesn't require you to have insurance on you personal car?
> 
> Oregon does. But no insurance company will cover you (with a personal policy) if the find out (or you tell them) you're going to use your car, even part time, as a cab.
> 
> Actually, the State law here says you must carry a commercial policy if you use your car for livery.


CA requires all persons with a drivers license to have insurance whether or not they have a car. Most people don't get insurance if they don't have a car, but technically, by law, it is required of all people who hold a drivers license. Plus, if your insurance company reports that your insurance lapsed or was cancelled to the DMV, you are charged a fine per day that you don't have coverage on a CA-registered vehicle.


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## WeirdBob (Jan 2, 2016)

Ben105 said:


> CA requires all persons with a drivers license to have insurance whether or not they have a car. Most people don't get insurance if they don't have a car, but technically, by law, it is required of all people who hold a drivers license. Plus, if your insurance company reports that your insurance lapsed or was cancelled to the DMV, you are charged a fine per day that you don't have coverage on a CA-registered vehicle.


Another great reason to avoid California!


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## Ben105 (Feb 27, 2016)

WeirdBob said:


> Another great reason to avoid California!


I was raised in Michigan, but live in CA. It's a great place to live. And yes they require insurance, but it's better than being in an accident with someone without insurance. It still happens, but it's a little less with these restrictions in place.


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## GoodHandsDill (Aug 10, 2016)

Having personal insurance is crucial to make sure you're protected if things go awry. Uber's insurance policy is in place to save *their* butts if you get in an accident. They're not overly concerned with protecting you, hence the $1,000 deductible. I'm not from Cali, but I did a quick search and saw the state minimums for auto insurance is 15/30/5. This doesn't provide any where near enough coverage. If you get in anything more serious than a fender bender, you're going to be paying through the nose out of pocket. This is why I encourage coverage limits of at least 100/300/100, regardless of carrier.

Let's break down these numbers and figure out what they mean.

*Assume this is an accident in which you are at fault*

*15*/30/5 - This means you have a maximum of $15,000 to cover medical expenses to any one person. Seems like a lot, but it adds up quick. Even ambulance rides can cost well into the thousands of dollars.

15/*30/*5 - This means you have a maximum of $30,000 dollars to cover all expenses caused by the injuries from the accident - medical, funeral, lost wages, etc. If you seriously injure or kill someone in an accident, $30,000 is no where near enough coverage and you are expected to cover the rest.

15/30/*5* - This means you have a maximum of $5,000 to cover any property damage you cause to the other person's vehicle. With the average new car costing around $30,000, if you total someone's brand new car in the accident, the other $25,000+ is coming out of your pocket.

Hopefully this illustrates why having good coverage limits is so important. Bumping your coverage limits up to 100/300/100 (read: $100,000/$300,000/$100,000), assuming a clean driving record and average to ok credit, it shouldn't cost much more a month than you currently pay and you're getting almost 10x the coverage.

If you have any questions or just want to chat about insurance and make sure you're protected, please don't hesitate to reach out!


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## Rick Deckard (Aug 20, 2016)

Ben105 said:


> No it's not weird. Uber insurance doesn't really start until you accept a ping and truly doesn't kick in until you have a pax in the car. You need to cover your bases. Your personal insurance most likely will not cover you if you're driving for Uber unless you have GAP insurance. And again, it shouldn't even be a question as you MUST have insurance to drive a car in CA. Even if you don't have a car in CA, if you drive, you must have insurance.


I don't think that's what GAP insurance is. GAP insurance is supposed to protect you for the period of time that the cars deprecation is greater than what you owe. As soon as you buy a new car it deprecates thousands of dollars, so there is a period of time that if you total the car, your standard collision insurance will not cover the amount you owe on the car because your insurance is based on the blue book value which is always much less than a brand new car.

Generally people don't buy it when offered at a dealership because its a rip off that rarely would ever be needed. GAP insurance has nothing to do with Liability insurance which covers the injuries to people.


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## MrA (Jul 7, 2016)

Ben105 said:


> CA requires all persons with a drivers license to have insurance whether or not they have a car. Most people don't get insurance if they don't have a car, but technically, by law, it is required of all people who hold a drivers license. Plus, if your insurance company reports that your insurance lapsed or was cancelled to the DMV, you are charged a fine per day that you don't have coverage on a CA-registered vehicle.


I don't know. i thought that was for registration of vehicle?


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