# Roadside Assistance while on Uber/Lyft



## GHz

While online and driving a pax, and you happen to get a flat, what should one do?

Cancel trip, end trip? Notify Uber/Lyft? Does the Uber/Lyft insurance have road assistance for such woes?

I have roadside assistance with my personal insurance, but do not want to use it if I have pax in my vehicle, for the risk of my insurance discovering I'm doing ridesharing and the possibility of getting dropped. 

Suggestions? Tips? Advice?


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## DexNex

Saw a fellow Seattle driver, with a smoking engine, blocking traffic after a Mariner's Game the other day. His PAX were trying to help out. Felt bad for the guy.


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## DexNex

GHz said:


> While online and driving a pax, and you happen to get a flat, what should one do?
> 
> Cancel trip, end trip? Notify Uber/Lyft? Does the Uber/Lyft insurance have road assistance for such woes?
> 
> I have roadside assistance with my personal insurance, but do not want to use it if I have pax in my vehicle, for the risk of my insurance discovering I'm doing ridesharing and the possibility of getting dropped.
> 
> Suggestions? Tips? Advice?


I would end the trip and get another Uber there to pick up the PAX before initiating insurance-provider provided road-side assistance.


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## MrsUberJax

This happened to me. Got pax outta there via another Uber. Called my road side assistance folks, they showed up, towed me to the shop, all was well in the world.


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## GHz

MrsUberJax said:


> This happened to me. Got pax outta there via another Uber. Called my road side assistance folks, they showed up, towed me to the shop, all was well in the world.


Did they know you were doing Uber or didn't mention anything?


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## duggles

Road side assistance through insurance or AAA is operated by third-party independent contractors, much like yourself. So all they care about is getting paid, they have no incentive to report to your insurance company that you have an Uber sticker in your window or a passenger in your car. They probably won't even notice that that's what you're doing as they could care less. 

But first off, have the passenger order another Uber. And expect to have the money earned for the portion of the trip you did complete taken away by Uber.


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## GHz

duggles said:


> Road side assistance through insurance or AAA is operated by third-party independent contractors, much like yourself. So all they care about is getting paid, they have no incentive to report to your insurance company that you have an Uber sticker in your window or a passenger in your car. They probably won't even notice that that's what you're doing as they could care less.
> 
> But first off, have the passenger order another Uber. And expect to have the money earned for the portion of the trip you did complete taken away by Uber.


My roadside assistance is provided by my insurance carrier. I have to call my insurance for them to dispatch a roadside assistance tech to come out. But good advice on prioritizing the pax first, make sure they are safe, and wait til they get another Uber, then proceed with roadside assistance.


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## duggles

GHz said:


> My roadside assistance is provided by my insurance carrier. I have to call my insurance for them to dispatch a roadside assistance tech to come out. But good advice on prioritizing the pax first, make sure they are safe, and wait til they get another Uber, then proceed with roadside assistance.


Yes, it's "provided" by your insurance carrier. But the dude in the tow truck who comes out to help you isn't an employee of your insurance carrier. Rather, the insurance company works with independent contractors all over. Just like you're the "other dude in the car," they're just a dude doing an independent contractor job. The dude who comes out to help you will fill out some paperwork and submit it to get paid the standard contracted rate with your insurance. They don't give a **** who you, what you're doing, or why you need their help. They care that they got dispatched to you and that they get paid for that.


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## ReviTULize

DexNex said:


> I would end the trip and get another Uber there to pick up the PAX before initiating insurance-provider provided road-side assistance.


Interesting dynamic. That would be the first thing out of my mouth. But it could bite the pax if there's a surge or something.


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## duggles

ReviTULize said:


> Interesting dynamic. That would be the first thing out of my mouth. But it could bite the pax if there's a surge or something.


Just explain to them that they should email Uber and Uber will adjust, if that's even the case.


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## MrsUberJax

GHz said:


> Did they know you were doing Uber or didn't mention anything?


I got the pax outta there via another Uber.. of course I didn't say anything. It's roadside assistance, you get on the phone with a dispatcher and they dispatch a mechanic/tow truck to help you on the road. No more information is necessary.


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## Caplan121

duggles said:


> Road side assistance through insurance or AAA is operated by third-party independent contractors, much like yourself. So all they care about is getting paid, they have no incentive to report to your insurance company that you have an Uber sticker in your window or a passenger in your car. They probably won't even notice that that's what you're doing as they* could care less*.
> 
> But first off, have the passenger order another Uber. And expect to have the money earned for the portion of the trip you did complete taken away by Uber.


It's couldn't care less. Your implying that they do care. I hate to be a grammar nazi but get it right.


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## Uguy22

MrsUberJax said:


> This happened to me. Got pax outta there via another Uber. Called my road side assistance folks, they showed up, towed me to the shop, all was well in the world.


I had this situation 3 weeks ago in Chicago Loop, blocking 1 lane. I cancelled the trip with no charge and the pax called another Uber. I called AAA and they towed my car for free to one of their certified repair shop.


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## Johny Sam

This is definitely an issue for every Uber driver and I will explain you how I tackled it, first let's be clear Uber's insurance while you are on trip is excellent but tricky $1M Liability this is called also BI or bodily injury when you hit someone and you are at fault, $1M Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Injury this mean if the other party is at fault and has no insurance or not enough insurance (a cheap insufficient coverage) so Uber insurance covers that , but no Collision(damage to your car from a collison) and Comprehensive (damage to your car from natural disasters). When you are between trips Uber uses another insurance policy that covers you $50,000/$100,000/$25,000 Covers bodily injury up to $50,000/individual/accident with a total of $100,000/accident and up to $25,000 for property damage.
Now here's the problem, you will have to have an insurance to satisfy your states requirement while you are offline (going home from work/uber or driving running errands) and Uber rely on that insurance while you are on a trip for Collision and Comprehensive and Roadside assistance even-though the roadside technical issue can occur during the trip or while you are between trips or while you are offline because of the wear and tear you put on the car when you were online. You see the problem here?
I personally used many different insurance's roadside assistance including AAA but I ended up switching to the motor club because they are the only one offering unlimited towing, battery services, low fuel delivery lockout, flat tire, health, ER, legal protection and much more you can find the details of the benefits I m getting for less than 20 bucks a month by visiting joinmca.team I put a copy of the back of my motor club card below.
I realized that even with the highest coverage level with AAA and USAA which was my car insurance, they were limiting me at 2 to 3 roadside service calls per year and the rest I was left on my own and had to pay out of pocket and if you drive a used car older than 3 years, you can burn those 2-3 roadside calls very quickly with a couple of flat tire and battery services. Then if you end up in a situation where your fuel pump is dead, or your starter went bad or your serpentine belt is out or worn out, you will need to get towed and I just couldn't handle those limitation with these small roadside assistance providers so I had to go with mca which gives me unlimited for almost as much as the other guys. as far as just purely auto insurance goes I recommend combining policies with family or your spouse this way you get more discounts, for instance my wife is a good driver and also is a teacher, so by combining with her insurance provider I am paying less because I am getting also the 2 cars/good driver/ and teacher discounts. Again don't under estimate the need for a good roadside assistance provider and don't think you are well covered with your auto insurance and uber insurance. for more info go to joinmca.team
Be safe out there everyone!


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## cmabraham

GHz said:


> While online and driving a pax, and you happen to get a flat, what should one do?
> 
> Cancel trip, end trip? Notify Uber/Lyft? Does the Uber/Lyft insurance have road assistance for such woes?
> 
> I have roadside assistance with my personal insurance, but do not want to use it if I have pax in my vehicle, for the risk of my insurance discovering I'm doing ridesharing and the possibility of getting dropped.
> 
> Suggestions? Tips? Advice?


You are playing with fire, here. Almost every major underwriting insurance carrier has a "Rideshare" exclusion clause in all their private auto policies. This basically means that all your personal private insurance is not good if you're using your vehicle for Rideshare purposes, even when you are NOT driving for Uber. If you're relying solely on Uber's liability certificates in your State for your rideshare coverage, you're even double whammying yourself. Uber's liability coverage claim payout is interdependent on your vehicle being compliant to operate in your State. If your insurance doesn't know you're using your vehicle for rideshare and they have an exclusion clause in your private auto policy that won't let you do that, then your operating your vehicle illegally in your State and Uber will use that to leave you holding the full liability bill, if ever you are in an accident. They don't have to pay. Just get your own full commercial rideshare coverage; that's what I do.


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