# Michigan Insurance Denial



## EarnestS (Oct 21, 2015)

Greetings

For two months I have been trying to start driving Uber in Lansing, MI. The reason I cannot drive is that I cannot acquire insurance to cover my car (I bought a car to drive Uber) while I am not Ubering. Why? every insurance company I contact, including my current company where I have a commercial coverage for my business, say that they do not offer any insurance for rideshare (one qualified it by saying "at this time", which was Farmers)....EXCEPT for a full "livery" coverage...which will cost you up to $15K/yr.

So, how is everyone who is driving Uber getting insurance? My guess and my opinion is that they are ALL violating their personal insurance contract by NOT disclosing their intended use of their personal vehicle for Uber driving. The problem with that is....all insurance policies have a clause to which you agree that you have fully disclosed all factors which can be considered for risk purposes...and when you are found, after killing 3 school children while you are driving to get coffee on your personal time (NOT WHILE UBERING), and you make a claim, IF your insurance company finds out, and they will, they will deny your claim. 

It does not matter at all about you claiming you weren't Ubering.....its about your sworn statement of full disclosure...it doesn't matter that Uber provides some kind of coverage when you are Ubering, its about the disclosure clause itself. 

Here you go.....if you think I am wrong.....call your insurance company and tell them that you are driving Uber. Alternatively, call some other insurance company and tell them you INTEND to drive Uber, but you want an insurance policy to cover your private driving.....you WILL BE DENIED....at least based upon my experience with 5 major insurance companies. 

So, I spent money buying a car, paying for title, and I even formed an LLC for further protection....yet I cannot drive Uber. My insurance company issued a temporary commercial insurance policy to cover my car until I get it transferred to me personally...as a non-Uber use vehicle.

Uber has continually responded to my emails by telling me to keep looking for insurance. The responses appear to be carefully lawyer crafted responses which are then personalized.

Uber....if anything above is not factual, please give me the name of an insurance company in Michigan who will sell me a personal policy for a car which is also an Uber car some of the time. I have not made a dime driving Uber yet.

If you are driving Uber in Michigan, it is my opinion that you are very likely not actually covered on your own time....unless you bought livery insurance like taxi drivers. Wish it were not so.

Earnest


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## EarnestS (Oct 21, 2015)

Additional information to the previous post:

It appears the issue for Michigan (and presumably similarly insured states) is of "no-fault" insurance (too new here to post a link). 

Nature abhors a vacuum, and business always fills it in: there is obviously a market in no-fault states, so someone is going to come up with a policy....just not today, not in Michigan.


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## EarnestS (Oct 21, 2015)

SPECIAL NOTICE
ANY PERSON WHO KNOWINGLY AND WITH INTENT TO DEFRAUD ANY INSURANCE COMPANY OR ANOTHER PERSON FILES AN APPLICATION FOR
INSURANCE OR STATEMENT OF CLAIM CONTAINING ANY MATERIALLY FALSE INFORMATION, OR CONCEALS FOR THE PURPOSE OF MISLEADING,
INFORMATION CONCERNING ANY FACT MATERIAL THERETO, COMMITS A FRAUDULENT INSURANCE ACT, WHICH IS A CRIME AND SUBJECTS
THE PERSON TO CRIMINAL AND CIVIL PENALITES.
ANY PERSON WHO KNOWINGLY AND WITH INTENT TO INJURE OR DEFRAUD ANY INSURER FILES AN APPLICATION OR CLAIM CONTAINING ANY
FALSE, INCOMPLETE OR MISLEADING INFORMATION SHALL, UPON CONVICTION, BE SUBJECT TO IMPRISONMENT FOR UP TO SEVEN YEARS
AND PAYMENT OF A FINE OF UP TO $15,000.

That last part is pretty broad and the insurance companies seem really serious about it.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


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## observer (Dec 11, 2014)

EarnestS said:


> Greetings
> 
> For two months I have been trying to start driving Uber in Lansing, MI. The reason I cannot drive is that I cannot acquire insurance to cover my car (I bought a car to drive Uber) while I am not Ubering. Why? every insurance company I contact, including my current company where I have a commercial coverage for my business, say that they do not offer any insurance for rideshare (one qualified it by saying "at this time", which was Farmers)....EXCEPT for a full "livery" coverage...which will cost you up to $15K/yr.
> 
> ...


If you are the driver involved in an accident, an LLC will not protect you.


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## EarnestS (Oct 21, 2015)

Observer - thanks. I had gone to Secretary of State yesterday and transferred my title back to me personally from the formed company (which I will now dissolve).

Chillyz12 - Heh...big thanks. Now, here are the details, and they aren't too bad.

Korotkin specializes in transportion insurance. Shelby took application information, then passed me along to Christie. Christie is the lady at the top who knows the legal/tech/cost answers.

Here is what I learned. They have been issuing policies, mainly in the Ann Arbor (aka U. of Michigan) area.

The *liability-only* policy is a "livery" policy, which means you have to get a chauffeur's license. MDOT limo. The cost is $3028, with 20% down and 10 installments. That is effectively $252/month, which is surprisingly reasonable since it IS A LIVERY policy. All other livery policy quotes I had before Korotkin were at least $13,000/year. I mentioned that with good advertising, they could capture the market, at least until the other companies catch up. She wasn't sure if her company would be that aggessive for this market, somewhat understandably.

Christie also concurs that it appears that a lot of people have personal insurance acquired without full disclosure (see above) which legally allows a company to deny a claim. If someone has an incident while driving Uber, they may not disclose that to their insurance company, although it certainly should appear on their record which their insurance company should eventually discover.

Kororkin can give you a collision policy, but its $1000 deductible. My 06 Mazda5 is in great condition and low mileage, but I would probably not get collision....maybe.

I don't yet know the best way to determine an insurance company's reliability. My chance of driving Uber has gone up, but I am going to do more homework on the company.

Thanks again, Chillyz12. I had just gotten my first "interactive" response in two months from Uber 3 days ago in which they said they would pass along this link to management. 

E


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## EarnestS (Oct 21, 2015)

Hi again.

After serious consideration of all known aspects of driving Uber I have concluded that the ONLY ADVANTAGE to that job is scheduling. Otherwise, working for net income on the average below minimum wage is not worth it, in particular the risk. And the risk of not averaging minimum wage is very high given the unrelenting cost of insurance as outlined above.

My Uber career is DOA.

Good luck to those who drive Uber.

E


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