# if Uber requires hybrid insurance July 1st....



## LAuberX (Jun 3, 2014)

Can anybody driving UberX in L.A. at $1.00 mile/.18 per minute afford it?

We already buy the car, the gas, the tires, the brakes, the details....

And make minimum wage! No "extra" in my account for new insurance... It would cost $400/ month vs. $40/ month I pay now.


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## Huberis (Mar 15, 2015)

Will Uber require that themselves? They may be forced to. It won't be them requiring it. By way of my observation, Uber doesn't want you to have to purchase hybrid insurance. That is my belief. If drivers purchase real and effective insurance, well that is one very real move towards personal agency on the part of that driver. I don't think Uber wants that.

From my perspective, that $400 bucks a month is a heck of a chunk of change. Having that to pay would surely change the tenor of driving Uber in LA. Uber would no longer be able to charge chump change/mile and they would lose their endless supply of disposable drivers. 

Travis would lose sleep over it. It would end the careers of many rideshare drivers, that would benefit those with their shit together who are able to make it work.


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## chasethecarrot (May 9, 2015)

Whoa, where is this coming from? I'm about to finalize the purchase of a Prius, this is making me wonder if I should be backing out of that immediately! Can u give more info on this?


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## Huberis (Mar 15, 2015)

chasethecarrot said:


> Whoa, where is this coming from? I'm about to finalize the purchase of a Prius, this is making me wonder if I should be backing out of that immediately! Can u give more info on this?


You aren't buying a car for the sole purpose of driving rideshare are you? If so...... take your time on that one.

Will you be financing the car? If so, you will be more than likely driving a car on invalidated personal insurance. If your personal insurance provider says they won't cancel you for driving rideshare, you more than likely will be left without collision coverage during phase one of the rideshare experience. If you have a financed car - you would need to have collision on the car at all times.

You paying for it outright? Don't buy into the Uber bullshit that your personal insurance is sufficient and Uber has you covered....... That is dubious.


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## chasethecarrot (May 9, 2015)

Actually I'm leasing a car to get my credit up so I can purchase one next year and I was going to get insurance through metromile so the ridesharing thing isn't an issue, but what is this hybrid insurance thing?? Is that really going to be a requirement, special insurance for having a hybrid??


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

chasethecarrot said:


> special insurance for having a hybrid


Has nothing to do with having a hybrid vehicle ... "hybrid insurance" refers to personal insurance policies with Ride Share Gap Protection coverage


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## Huberis (Mar 15, 2015)

chasethecarrot said:


> Actually I'm leasing a car to get my credit up so I can purchase one next year and I was going to get insurance through metromile so the ridesharing thing isn't an issue, but what is this hybrid insurance thing?? Is that really going to be a requirement, special insurance for having a hybrid??


Ziggy is correct. It has nothing at all to do with a hybrid vehicle. "look up Hybrid insurance for rideshare" or something close. If you lease a car or are leasing a car to do rideshare, be sure you are covered properly. You are at the mercy of James River and Uber an awful lot under MM.

How long have you been driving? You are leasing a car to drive rideshare with the hope of building credit to get a loan to purchase one, also for the purpose of driving rideshare? That sounds like a tall order.


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## Moofish (Jun 13, 2014)

Leasing for Uber is a bad idea, not only is there most likely a line in the contract somewhere saying it can't be used for Livery, but you will easily go over the milage limit which will cost you a lot more. Even with Metromile, Ubers insurance for drivers sucks, I would check to make sure their insurance covers what is required by the leasing terms.


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## chasethecarrot (May 9, 2015)

My quote through metromile was actually less than any other insurance provider I've found so far. And I'm leasing through Uber's vehicle financing program (yes, I know I can get deactivated any time, I know all these things, again the point is to build my credit just enough to be able to purchase my own car because I just tried to purchase one through Hertz car sales and got turned down, they said my credit needs to go up by 70 points before I can be approved), so it's more than fine to use the vehicle for livery, and Uber is not even close to the only thing I need a car for; my kids' school doesn't provide bus transportation so the bus fare to get them to and from every day is seriously killing me financially and costs more than it would to just pay a car and insurance payment PLUS gas! And I have another job and I'm a student; I need a car for all these things. I'm hoping to not be deactivated for at least 5 months, which should push me over the 70 points line so I can purchase through Hertz. Hoping to drive for Uber for 5 months isn't unreasonable, IMO. I'll definitely do my part to ensure I get those 5 star ratings..


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## chasethecarrot (May 9, 2015)

Ziggy said:


> Has nothing to do with having a hybrid vehicle ... "hybrid insurance" refers to personal insurance policies with Ride Share Gap Protection coverage


Gotcha, thanks! Whew.


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## dangle (Apr 27, 2014)

chasethecarrot said:


> Gotcha, thanks! Whew.


Please don't sign that lease from santander! They don't report to credit Bureau's unless you finish paying off loan or miss payments! If you are doing it to build credit back out now PLEASE!!!! Get an unsecured credit card! it's not worth it!


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## Huberis (Mar 15, 2015)

Moofish said:


> Leasing for Uber is a bad idea, not only is there most likely a line in the contract somewhere saying it can't be used for Livery, but you will easily go over the milage limit which will cost you a lot more. Even with Metromile, Ubers insurance for drivers sucks, I would check to make sure their insurance covers what is required by the leasing terms.


Well said. There is a fair amount of risk here. chasethecarrot, does your lease allow you to drive livery (I wrote this before I read you lease from Santander disregard)? There are usually mileage caps, you might have a rather generous mileage allowance.

There seems to be a component to this whereby you are trying to build your credit. There is no guarantee you will last as a driver, the rating system is structured around the purpose of manipulating drivers and not much more. Moorfish has solid advice there. I would strongly suggest you look up Sacto Burbs thread roughly titled "Accident, Game Over?" He was in an accident where he was not found to be at fault. He eventually was taken care of but, I believe he initially paid a nice chunk of change out of pocket. The entire process was quite slow. He was not able to drive rideshare for several months. I believe he was driving Lyft at the time, but they use James River too. Lyft has a bigger deductible.

Check out the thread if you can find it. TimFromMA also had an accident, with another Uber driver. He was also found not at fault. He was eventually taken care of too, but again, he was off the road for quite a while. He in fact was so turned off by the experience that he suggested he was going to stay away from rideshare.

Will you need the rideshare work itself to be able to make payments on the car you are leasing? If so, be sure to be careful and do all your homework. That you mistook hybrid insurance for hybrid vehicles is understandable for anyone other than someone who happens to be leasing one to drive for Uber.


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## Huberis (Mar 15, 2015)

chasethecarrot said:


> My quote through metromile was actually less than any other insurance provider I've found so far. And I'm leasing through Uber's vehicle financing program (yes, I know I can get deactivated any time, I know all these things, again the point is to build my credit just enough to be able to purchase my own car because I just tried to purchase one through Hertz car sales and got turned down, they said my credit needs to go up by 70 points before I can be approved), so it's more than fine to use the vehicle for livery, and Uber is not even close to the only thing I need a car for; my kids' school doesn't provide bus transportation so the bus fare to get them to and from every day is seriously killing me financially and costs more than it would to just pay a car and insurance payment PLUS gas! And I have another job and I'm a student; I need a car for all these things. I'm hoping to not be deactivated for at least 5 months, which should push me over the 70 points line so I can purchase through Hertz. Hoping to drive for Uber for 5 months isn't unreasonable, IMO. I'll definitely do my part to ensure I get those 5 star ratings..


Uber's financing plan.... Santnader??? What is your interest rate? I find it hard to believe taking the bus is more money a month.


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## Huberis (Mar 15, 2015)

dangle said:


> Please don't sign that lease from santander! They don't report to credit Bureau's unless you finish paying off loan or miss payments! If you are doing it to build credit back out now PLEASE!!!! Get an unsecured credit card! it's not worth it!


Those loans are usury, they shouldn't be legal. Taking one on for the purpose of building your credit is like shooting yourself in the arm to build immunity to lead poisoning. What are your payments? I noticed you mentioned leaving the state for a few weeks looking to drive elsewhere while away.....

Uber is supposed to take out your loan payments each pay period correct? Keep an eye on that VERY CLOSELY! There are people on here who mention Uber failing to deduct the payments and really getting screwed in a huge way. It was a complete disaster for those people.

Honestly: If you can get out of that lease deal, give that long, thoughtful consideration perhaps talked over with someone you have know well and respect a great deal. We are all just strangers here, but Christ........ those loans are called predatory for a very real reason. They feed you all sorts of lies. The loans are literally given out, under the assumption of the lender, that you will in fact fail. I guarantee you that is the case.


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## Bart McCoy (Nov 4, 2014)

LAuberX said:


> And make minimum wage! No "extra" in my account for new insurance... It would cost $400/ month vs. $40/ month I pay now.


whoah, that's over 4grand a year
that would get most folks in the nation full commercial insurance
hybrid insurance is no where near 10 times what you pay in personal insurance
hell commercial insurance isnt even 10 times

nice exaggeration though


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## Simon (Jan 4, 2015)

chasethecarrot said:


> Actually I'm leasing a car to get my credit up so I can purchase one next year and I was going to get insurance through metromile so the ridesharing thing isn't an issue, but what is this hybrid insurance thing?? Is that really going to be a requirement, special insurance for having a hybrid??


Your perfect for this... Uber On!


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## chi1cabby (May 28, 2014)

chasethecarrot said:


> And I'm leasing through Uber's vehicle financing program (yes, I know I can get deactivated any time, I know all these things, again the point is to build my credit just enough to be able to purchase my own car because I just tried to purchase one through Hertz car sales and got turned down, they said my credit needs to go up by 70 points before I can be approved)


A word of caution, Uber's financing/leasing program does not require a credit check, and nor does it report your timely payments to credit bureaus. So it does not improve a drivers credit profile.


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## berserk42 (Apr 24, 2015)

Bart McCoy said:


> whoah, that's over 4grand a year
> that would get most folks in the nation full commercial insurance
> hybrid insurance is no where near 10 times what you pay in personal insurance
> hell commercial insurance isnt even 10 times
> ...


If it's just 1.3x my personal, I wouldn't get it. I just drive for supplemental income and only got into this because the initial investment was just about 1 hour of my time. This just reduces the effective hourly rate I can pull, so I would just stop Ubering (unless rates went up enough to offset this).


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

My Progressive Commercial insurance was $431/mo ... with $1M policy
My USAA with Ride Share coverage is $128/mo ... with $1M policy *granted you don't need a $1M policy; so you could probably have USAA with Ride Share for $75/mo


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## LAuberX (Jun 3, 2014)

Bart McCoy said:


> whoah, that's over 4grand a year
> that would get most folks in the nation full commercial insurance
> hybrid insurance is no where near 10 times what you pay in personal insurance
> hell commercial insurance isnt even 10 times
> nice exaggeration though


I drive 4,000 Uber miles per month, that is the Metromile price I received.


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## LAuberX (Jun 3, 2014)

Having a high debt ratio hurts your credit rating.

Buying a Prius on credit for $22,000.00 means after one year you still owe $19,000. That means you use 86% of your "available credit"... Not good. After 5 years it helps, for the first three years its a negative on your credit score.


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## Huberis (Mar 15, 2015)

LAuberX said:


> I drive 4,000 Uber miles per month, that is the Metromile price I received.


How does that work then? I was under the impression that MM does not insure you during phase 2 and 3 of your rideshare driving. I can't remember what the coverage was supposed to be during phase 1......... Seem to remember it as rather minimal at best. Why would the 4,000 Uber miles matter? Those miles should be at the mercy of James River.


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## Realityshark (Sep 22, 2014)

chasethecarrot said:


> Whoa, where is this coming from? I'm about to finalize the purchase of a Prius, this is making me wonder if I should be backing out of that immediately! Can u give more info on this?


Back out immediately. The landscape on ridesharing is changing daily. I believe it would be very foolish to purchase a car right now just to get into the rideshare game.


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## Huberis (Mar 15, 2015)

Realityshark said:


> Back out immediately. The landscape on ridesharing is changing daily. I believe it would be very foolish to purchase a car right now just to get into the rideshare game.


.... let alone one through Santander/Uber.

I hope all goes well for the OP. This lending practice should be criminal. The lenders know exactly what the score is and they clearly know the risk or the interest rates wouldn't be what they are.


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

chasethecarrot said:


> My quote through metromile was actually less than any other insurance provider I've found so far. And I'm leasing through Uber's vehicle financing program



Don't look for the cheapest insurance ... make sure that the coverage you get covers what you need. After you've had an accident, it's too late to say to yourself "I should have gotten more coverage". Also depending on where you are driving in LA, I would strongly recommend getting the most coverage possible, rather than going with the minimum required ... if you're only driving in Compton or East LA you probably won't need as much coverage as Bel Air, Manhattan Beach or Laurel Canyon .... but since you can't dictate where your pax destination is, I'd definitely recommend more coverage instead of less. FYI - I carry a $1M coverage policy, because many of my pax live in ultra expensive homes in Austin. For instance, just today, I picked up a pax from their place that had 2 Bentleys, a Maserati and a Land Rover in the driveway and then took them to their private jet at the airport ... a policy that only covers the minimums would not have covered the damage on either the Bentleys or Maserati had I hit them at any speed. Obviously, I didn't hit their cars or jet ... but a minimum only coverage policy is not your best bet. And generally the difference between $300K vs. $1M coverage is only a few extra bucks a month.
Read this article before you sign on the dotted line - http://www.lctmag.com/vehicles/news/294353/uber-trolls-in-subprime-underground-to-finance-vehicles ... and I'd definitely look for other financing options; because sub-prime is not the way to go


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## cybertec69 (Jul 23, 2014)

LAuberX said:


> Can anybody driving UberX in L.A. at $1.00 mile/.18 per minute afford it?
> 
> We already buy the car, the gas, the tires, the brakes, the details....
> 
> And make minimum wage! No "extra" in my account for new insurance... It would cost $400/ month vs. $40/ month I pay now.


You wanna play Taxi driver, you have to pay like a Taxi driver.


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## DrJeecheroo (Feb 12, 2015)

Realityshark said:


> Back out immediately. The landscape on ridesharing is changing daily. I believe it would be very foolish to purchase a car right now just to get into the rideshare game.


Otherwise they'll get eaten up by the sharks. That is a reality.


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## Realityshark (Sep 22, 2014)

cybertec69 said:


> You wanna play Taxi driver, you have to pay like a Taxi driver.


We're Uber drivers...we shouldn't have to play by the rules....we're special....just like Uber.


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## DrJeecheroo (Feb 12, 2015)

Realityshark said:


> We're Uber drivers...we shouldn't have to play by the rules....we're special....just like Uber.


That's right. Deregulation is uber's middle name.


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