# Cash for Trips?



## Jason Jay Jones (Apr 7, 2017)

OK, forum, I has a new question. Would you take a cash ride while you’re online? Even though Lyft isn’t very popular here in College Station, TX, I would always get requests from people hanging out at the bars if I could take them to X place if they pay me in cash. I had to add signs to my windows saying that I can’t take cash. In nearly 1,300 combined rides on Uber & now Lyft, I have gotten 20 cash requests. Are you OK with cash rides? Why or why not?


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## Maven (Feb 9, 2017)

Jason Jay Jones said:


> OK, forum, I has a new question. Would you take a cash ride while you're online? Even though Lyft isn't very popular here in College Station, TX, I would always get requests from people hanging out at the bars if I could take them to X place if they pay me in cash. I had to add signs to my windows saying that I can't take cash. In nearly 1,300 combined rides on Uber & now Lyft, I have gotten 20 cash requests. Are you OK with cash rides? Why or why not?


Don't know about Bryan TX, but here in most northeast jurisdictions, street hails (cash for trips) is illegal for anyone except licensed taxicabs. Cops are fond of running stings and issuing huge fines to the gullible and unwary. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. However, cash for tips is OK everywhere that I know.


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## Trafficat (Dec 19, 2016)

Good chance a guy asking for a cash ride works for the government doing a sting.


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## Jason Jay Jones (Apr 7, 2017)

I normally never take a cash ride. My main reason is because you can’t keep track of that in your taxes.


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## Atom guy (Jul 27, 2016)

I would never take a cash ride from someone off the street. I have occasionally done cash rides for regular passengers. For example, I brought a woman to the mall one day (using Uber), and she told me to come back and pick her up at a set time. We had arranged rides like this dozens of times and always used Uber. Well this time her credit card is declined for some reason and she can't request the ride. So I took her home for cash. Not a normal thing, but didn't want to leave a regular passenger stuck 30 minutes from home.


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## Maven (Feb 9, 2017)

Atom guy said:


> I would never take a cash ride from someone off the street. I have occasionally done cash rides for regular passengers. For example, I brought a woman to the mall one day (using Uber), and she told me to come back and pick her up at a set time. We had arranged rides like this dozens of times and always used Uber. Well this time her credit card is declined for some reason and she can't request the ride. So I took her home for cash. Not a normal thing, but didn't want to leave a regular passenger stuck 30 minutes from home.


The situation is different if you have an advanced arrangement with a friend or acquaintance. It is not a "street hail" even if you do not use Uber. This is more common with little to no risk of a police sting.

If you are not using Uber then make sure your driver-App is off or at least offline. Then it is not a violation of Uber's TOS. If there is any problem then it should be covered by your personal auto insurance. Report your passenger's full name, address, etc. to your insurer, any cops called to the scene (recommended), and other interested parties. Remind your friend or acquaintance that this was not an Uber ride.

It can be a win-win for both parties. You can charge a bit less than the estimated fare calculated by the rider-App and still make more than an identical Uber trip. A cash transaction will be completely "off-the-books". Plus you both have the additional comfort of conversation with someone that you already know.


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## rdhall3637 (Jan 2, 2018)

Maven said:


> The situation is different if you have an advanced arrangement with a friend or acquaintance. It is not a "street hail" even if you do not use Uber. This is more common with little to no risk of a police sting.
> 
> If you are not using Uber then make sure your driver-App is off or at least offline. Then it is not a violation of Uber's TOS. If there is any problem then it should be covered by your personal auto insurance. Report your passenger's full name, address, etc. to your insurer, any cops called to the scene (recommended), and other interested parties. Remind your friend or acquaintance that this was not an Uber ride.
> 
> It can be a win-win for both parties. You can charge a bit less than the estimated fare calculated by the rider-App and still make more than an identical Uber trip. A cash transaction will be completely "off-the-books". Plus you both have the additional comfort of conversation with someone that you already know.


I've been told that your personal insurance policy WILL NOT cover you at all if you are engaged in "for hire" driving at the time of the accident. Does anyone know for sure? Of course you could just say you were driving friends, but in a major accident the truth will defiantly come out.


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## Kodyhead (May 26, 2015)

I doubt cops care, but a cab driver complaining to the right people would lol

Need to be discreet


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## nickd8775 (Jul 12, 2015)

I did so recently and even dumped a 4x surge ride to take a cash ride. A sold out concert had just let out and there was a thunderstorm. Surge had been 4x for over an hour and people had an hour wait for an Uber. A group approached me offering to pay $80 to go 10 miles and I took them. 
It would have been hard to find my real passengers and I didn't want to waste time.


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## Stevie The magic Unicorn (Apr 3, 2018)

Jason Jay Jones said:


> I normally never take a cash ride. My main reason is because you can't keep track of that in your taxes.


Yeah there is,

YOU have to keep records for it. A log with pickup/destination and amounts is a very good idea.

It's somewhere on the 1040, or you include it in with the total amount your "business" made

I do it every year and it's in the range of $10,000+


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## Kodyhead (May 26, 2015)

you can document cash with a square reader


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## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

I have insured my cars with geico for 50 years and now they have my boat too. I called to ask about rideshare insurance. And got a quote. These policies as I understand it, piggy- back on Uber and Lyft policies.  Uber or lift are still responsible when you are driving to a passenger and when there is a passenger in the car. With a rideshare policy you are covered when you are just driving around with the app on, waiting for a ping too

The agent I spoke to asked if I was going to be doing “cash rides” off the app. She let me know loud and clear, a geico policy with or without the rideshare rider would not cover me driving “for hire”

Insurance isn’t the only issue, in my county (lee county fl) you need a permit to drive “for hire” I’m no lawyer but I have read the new law (written in response to Uber) and I think you need one of these permits (same as a taxi or limo) to do Uber. I may be wrong because they aren’t enforcing it, but I don’t care; I’m getting commercial insurance (one of the requirements to get a permit) and I’m getting a permit.

I’m taking pre arranged rides now on the app, and when a customer insists, I take cash. But the risk worries me a lot. As I said. Im gonna get legal


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## rdhall3637 (Jan 2, 2018)

oldfart , thanks for the info. Right now I accept private prearranged rides using the app + cash. For example, if I agree to take someone to a concert, I set the total price and explain to them that they will need to pay the agreed price minus the charge in the app. It's essentially an agreed upon TIP. I only drive part time so there is no way that I can justify the cost of commercial insurance.


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## Stevie The magic Unicorn (Apr 3, 2018)

oldfart said:


> Insurance isn't the only issue, in my county (lee county fl) you need a permit to drive "for hire" I'm no lawyer but I have read the new law (written in response to Uber) and I think you need one of these permits (same as a taxi or limo) to do Uber. I may be wrong because they aren't enforcing it, but I don't care; I'm getting commercial insurance (one of the requirements to get a permit) and I'm getting a permit.


Commercial insurance is only necessary if your taking fares "off book"

And just so you know... taking customers off book is a second degree Misdemeanor in the state of Florida, (based on your current insurance)

The permit on the other hand IS NOT required for uber/lyft, but it IS required driving anything else that needs a permit. (anywhere that actually cares)

And look into a taxi permit while you are at it. $10 for a clip to roof sign and a free app... The permit might not be all that much at all. In Osceola county it's like $300 a year (and that gets you legal for Walt Disney area 100%)

In some places there is no legal distinction between taxis or towncars, its worth looking into to see, also there's some wonky distinctions between having a "For hire" sign VS a "Taxi" sign. In Orlando you can have a "for hire" sign with a town car permit but you can't use "taxi"

I totally recommend it. Most places in Florida it's surprisingly easy to get started.

The hard part is getting customers


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## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

Stevie The magic Unicorn said:


> Commercial insurance is only necessary if your taking fares "off book"
> 
> And just so you know... taking customers off book is a second degree Misdemeanor in the state of Florida, (based on your current insurance)
> 
> ...


Lee county equates all vehicles for hire. Limos taxis etc are all subject to the same rules

60 years ago I was a paper boy and delivered the Washington Post door to door, and the hard part was getting customers. 40 years ago I owned rental property and the hard part was finding good tenants, 30 years ago I was a stock broker and the hard part was getting new clients, 20 years ago I published a little advertiser supported magazine and a coupon book. The hard part was selling ads. 10 years ago I sold real estate and the hard part was finding the buyers and sellers My real estate business morphed into a vacation rental business and the hard part was getting customers.

The hard part is always getting and keeping customers

I understand the difficulty in getting customers but I never miss an opportunity to make an Uber rider my regular customer and now there is google ad-words to help


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## Stevie The magic Unicorn (Apr 3, 2018)

oldfart said:


> Lee county equates all vehicles for hire. Limos taxis etc are all subject to the same rules


That's good news, should be a matter of insurance and getting a permit then.

I'd get one of these, or something like it. Suction cupped so you can take it on and off quickly to comply with rideshare rules. Accept a ping, take it down, dropoff throw it back up.


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## steveK2016 (Jul 31, 2016)

oldfart said:


> I have insured my cars with geico for 50 years and now they have my boat too. I called to ask about rideshare insurance. And got a quote. These policies as I understand it, piggy- back on Uber and Lyft policies. Uber or lift are still responsible when you are driving to a passenger and when there is a passenger in the car. With a rideshare policy you are covered when you are just driving around with the app on, waiting for a ping too
> 
> The agent I spoke to asked if I was going to be doing "cash rides" off the app.  She let me know loud and clear, a geico policy with or without the rideshare rider would not cover me driving "for hire"
> 
> ...


Geico made me cancel my personal insurance and open commercial insurance even for hybrid rideshare coverage. Do you still get bulk discount even though theyre separate accounts?


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## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

Geico told me that to do what I wanted to do (cash rides) I needed commercial insurance They do rideshare insurance but not commercial. They suggested calling a local independent agent. 

So to answer your question. I’d be taking a car away from geico. So no discounts


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## Stevie The magic Unicorn (Apr 3, 2018)

oldfart said:


> Geico told me that to do what I wanted to do (cash rides) I needed commercial insurance They do rideshare insurance but not commercial. They suggested calling a local independent agent.
> 
> So to answer your question. I'd be taking a car away from geico. So no discounts


Same thing happened to me, I'm going to tell you that you are going to end up paying A LOT more on insurance than before, like $100s a month more, once you factor in the costs of not being bundled with other insurance (like home owners) i was in the $400 a month range.


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## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

Stevie The magic Unicorn said:


> Same thing happened to me, I'm going to tell you that you are going to end up paying A LOT more on insurance than before, like $100s a month more, once you factor in the costs of not being bundled with other insurance (like home owners) i was in the $400 a month range.


I'm expecting in increase of $400 a month


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## Leah Swift (Aug 29, 2017)

Trafficat said:


> Good chance a guy asking for a cash ride works for the government doing a sting.


Yes..or a shopper for uber. It happened here in Vegas. A driver accepted cash for a ride and he got busted almost fired but just suspended.


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