# How much is your rideshare insurance? (poll) + more



## Dammit Mazzacane (Dec 31, 2015)

A pivot point: Going with or without rideshare insurance, and balancing this into the books.

I obtained a quote with a rideshare rider that added an additional $325.00 / 6 months ($54 / month, or extrapolated to $650 / year), but haven't been floating around for rideshare quotes much since I perceive that red flags me to any insurer about whether I drive on these platforms.

The pivot point for me is that $650 for a year's worth of rideshare coverage to go play taxi driver would sincerely cut into the gross profits I earn as a part-timer, let alone net profit. However, without it, one accident could mean a major headache, and with the weather looking riskier I don't want to put my ass(ets) on the line.

Is $54 / month comparatively high (this is for a Washington State policy)? Vote in the poll.

And, is this rideshare gap rider a deductible tax expense for a rideshare business?

Lastly, do you have your business incorporated as an LLC etc to minimize personal liability risk in the event of an accident?


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## Uber's Guber (Oct 22, 2017)

I pay less than $100 a year for the added peace of mind.
And yes, that portion is the policy is a deductible tax expense for your rideshare business.


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## Mista T (Aug 16, 2017)

Oregon
About 10/mo
USAA


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## kcdrvr15 (Jan 10, 2017)

Kansas City, MO, I went from an individual personal auto policy, full coverage, to Commercial Livery Insurance for Black car service from Progressive commercial Insurance. Went from $650 to $700 for 6 months coverage. $1000 deductible, ( can't get commercial insur with lower deductible ) this was for a 2009 Lincoln towncar


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## Las Vegas Dude (Sep 3, 2018)

$18 extra a month here in Las Vegas with State Farm. $500 deductible.


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## Seamus (Jun 21, 2018)

Not offered by any insurance company in ny


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## BigRedDriver (Nov 28, 2018)

Mine is $12 a month. I also have a separate policy for a small consulting business I have that also covers the commercial use of my vehicles. But for $12 more a month, it’s worth it.


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## 1.5xorbust (Nov 22, 2017)

Approximately $30 per month through USAA in CA.


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## touberornottouber (Aug 12, 2016)

I'd love under $100 a month. The thing is in Florida it just isn't possible for a full time driver. There is a lack of competition and basically they charge the same as what full commercial taxi insurance would cost.


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## Dammit Mazzacane (Dec 31, 2015)

I’ll add an item: Does your insurance quote consider how many miles you are operating on the platforms versus using the car for personal use?
In my case, this insurer did not separate personal vs. commercial mileage into its quote.


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## Mista T (Aug 16, 2017)

Dammit Mazzacane said:


> Does your insurance quote consider how many miles you are operating on the platforms versus using the car for personal use?


No.
My insurance simply extends my personal coverage to cover phase one, at the same deductible and conditions as my regular insurance.
Maybe does more, i dunno, but that's the important one for me.


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## Dammit Mazzacane (Dec 31, 2015)

This guy says GEICO added $100 a month for a rideshare policy rider:
https://uberpeople.net/threads/geico-hybrid-rideshare-insurance.166499/page-2#post-4470388

I've been impressed how many of you have much lower prices.


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## Scott.Sul (Sep 9, 2015)

Mista T said:


> No.
> My insurance simply extends my personal coverage to cover phase one, at the same deductible and conditions as my regular insurance.
> Maybe does more, i dunno, but that's the important one for me.


Ditto.
After a few back and forth emails with my insurer (3 years ago), I sent them Uber's policy and they said I am OK with my current policy as is. They understand Uber's policy would cover me while driving for them. I even have it in writing direct from their legal department.


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## Bbonez (Aug 10, 2018)

I pay $110.55 every 6 months for the rideshare endorsement with state farm in California.


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## MadTownUberD (Mar 11, 2017)

About $10/mo
Wisconsin
USAA


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## DustyToad (Jan 10, 2018)

I think I pay an extra $200 a year on my policy for rideshare.


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## AlexCom (May 4, 2017)

Different companies have different rideshare endorsements


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

$8/mo Gap
TX
USAA


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## HectorB (Mar 22, 2018)

$20 per year. Allstate, NJ


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## Oscar Levant (Aug 15, 2014)

Dammit Mazzacane said:


> A pivot point: Going with or without rideshare insurance, and balancing this into the books.
> 
> I obtained a quote with a rideshare rider that added an additional $325.00 / 6 months ($54 / month, or extrapolated to $650 / year), but haven't been floating around for rideshare quotes much since I perceive that red flags me to any insurer about whether I drive on these platforms.
> 
> ...


$167 MO. Mercury. It's not Gap it's just an insurer who won't drop me for being Rideshare driver. State Farm has gap insurance and it's around 200 a month I think that includes the normal insurance my normal insurance is around a hundred a month



Scott.Sul said:


> Ditto.
> After a few back and forth emails with my insurer (3 years ago), I sent them Uber's policy and they said I am OK with my current policy as is. They understand Uber's policy would cover me while driving for them. I even have it in writing direct from their legal department.


Uber has a $1,000 deductible

In California if there's only a small number of insurers that will insure a Rideshare driver


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## AuxCordBoston (Dec 3, 2016)

I switched to GEICO commercial. It covers personal and Uber/Lyft, Amazon and food apps


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## La La Lady (Nov 9, 2018)

I pay about $9/mo with USAA in Los Angeles.


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## Darrell Green Fan (Feb 9, 2016)

I added it to my Erie policy and it was free. I'm not kidding, I asked my broker to check again He was surprised too, this makes zero sense. But it is what it is. I have not seen the poll results but judging by the posts it's just not that expensive, again another reason those studies that claim we don't make as much as we think we make is off the mark.. They often list insurance, cell phones (like we don't already have a cell phone expense) and car depreciation which is always overstated if you drive the right car.

Wait 31% of you have no gap insurance? What an incredibly stupid idea, especially after seeing the results and how cheap it is.


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## jfinks (Nov 24, 2016)

My agent said my policy fully covers rideshare already. He would let me know if anything changes in the future. I drove for about 2 years without asking and finally did the last time I was in his office. I was surprised they wouldn't at least note it on account for data purposes so that at some point in time they could look to see how many policies are ride share related.


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## 2Cents (Jul 18, 2016)

touberornottouber said:


> I'd love under $100 a month. The thing is in Florida it just isn't possible for a full time driver. There is a lack of competition and basically they charge the same as what full commercial taxi insurance would cost.


They don't charge anywhere near close to the same as full taxi insurance. Full commercial insurance is much much more in Florida.


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## MissAnne (Aug 9, 2017)

Mine is only $2.00 per month, on top of my $168 I pay for 3 cars, a RV, a scooter and 2 ATV’s


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## touberornottouber (Aug 12, 2016)

2Cents said:


> They don't charge anywhere near close to the same as full taxi insurance. Full commercial insurance is much much more in Florida.


Are you really in Orlando? What are you paying then if you don't mind answering. I had full taxi insurance in the past in Daytona (when I drove a taxi). It was about $400 a month for a minivan with a less than a perfect record. With a perfect record for a compact it was about $250 a month.

I'm not aware of many options for rideshare insurance in Florida. Especially for full time. I believe GEICO has something at a reasonable price but the mileage limit ends up being around 100 miles a day (measured annually). It's not enough for a full time driver. You could do it but you would be taking a risk that when you made the claim they would refuse it on that basis. I actually called up a GEICO rep and asked what would happen if I got the rideshare insurance but went over the mileage limit. They stated that the claim might not be paid.

USAA offers something but it is somewhat limited to military families. Also from what I understand it isn't true blanket coverage. It is basically "Pay $20 a month (or whatever) and we will look the other way". Less than ideal coverage.

Farmers has rideshare in Florida but from what I understand theirs is often near what full taxi coverage runs. Some have claimed really low rates but that seems to be the exception. I also suspect some people are fibbing on their mileage estimates in order to see those low rates. If I claim 40,000 miles a year then the rates change rather radically.

Please show me to be wrong so I can go out and buy better coverage. I keep monitoring the situation every few months but it never seems to change. Let me know please if it did.


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## jfinks (Nov 24, 2016)

Remember your rates are risk related also so it is hard to compare person to person and region to region. A persons age matters, driving history, credit, etc.


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## 2Cents (Jul 18, 2016)

Full coverage commercial is $2,100+ per quarter...
The Farmer's insurance addendum for a regular policy is $18-64 per month.
It's tricky because they can request information from the rideshare companies and with out the addendum not only can they deny the claim they can drop your coverage all together.


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## touberornottouber (Aug 12, 2016)

2Cents said:


> Full coverage commercial is $2,100+ per quarter...
> The Farmer's insurance addendum for a regular policy is $18-64 per month.
> It's tricky because they can request information from the rideshare companies and with out the addendum not only can they deny the claim they can drop your coverage all together.


I know someone who has a taxi here (compact) and he pays about $250 a month ($3000 a year). Though when I had my taxi minivan it was about $400 a month ($4800 a year).

Are you really only paying $64 a month extra for rideshare with Farmers in Florida or is this just what you heard? If so, can you link to any online information about the policy?

Here's someone who was quoted $3,200 a year with Farmers:
https://uberpeople.net/threads/florida-ride-share-insurance-companies.151726/#post-3154944 This seems to be about the common experience. Mote that $3200 a year is about what my taxi friend pays for full commercial insurance here.

Right now my full coverage insurance (with no rideshare) is about $95 a month. If I could get something under $150 a month with REAL rideshare coverage and up to 40,000 miles a year I would gladly pay it.


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## 2Cents (Jul 18, 2016)

Our insurance regulations are different in this city we actually require a higher level of insurance so the commercial policies much more No I do not have farmers.


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## Jenga (Dec 10, 2018)

Why buy rideshare insurance? Uber covers anything up to a million beyond what your own insurer covers. The only danger is that your insurer will drop you if they find out you're ridesharing. I know, cuz it happened to me!


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## touberornottouber (Aug 12, 2016)

Jenga said:


> Why buy rideshare insurance? Uber covers anything up to a million beyond what your own insurer covers. The only danger is that your insurer will drop you if they find out you're ridesharing. I know, cuz it happened to me!


Well the other danger is that when you make a claim they refuse the claim on the basis of your doing rideshare and not disclosing it. So basically with this risk the money you are paying for insurance is pretty much for nothing because you have no insurance at all.


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## Jenga (Dec 10, 2018)

touberornottouber said:


> Well the other danger is that when you make a claim they refuse the claim on the basis of your doing rideshare and not disclosing it. So basically with this risk the money you are paying for insurance is pretty much for nothing because you have no insurance at all.


As I said, Uber will pick up any uncovered difference, so it's irrelevant. And your insurer cannot refuse to pay, unless they can prove fraud (in court) and then only if it happens on an Uber ride. They can only easily prove fraud if you lied to them on an application. Withholding information that was never requested would be extremely difficult to prove as fraudulent. So the way I see it, extra coverage is unnecessary.


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## Dammit Mazzacane (Dec 31, 2015)

Jenga said:


> As I said, Uber will pick up any uncovered difference, so it's irrelevant. And your insurer cannot refuse to pay, unless they can prove fraud (in court) and then only if it happens on an Uber ride. They can only easily prove fraud if you lied to them on an application. Withholding information that was never requested would be extremely difficult to prove as fraudulent. So the way I see it, extra coverage is unnecessary.


One straightforward question during the accident claims process from a few years ago is: "Do you drive for a rideshare company, like Uber or Lyft?" I am betting it is standard protocol to ask this question to everyone as part of the non-hostile interrogation they do to figure out what happened when there is an accident. I'm guessing their followup question if you say "yes" is that they'll ask "did this accident happen while driving on Uber or Lyft?"
So if they ask you, what do you do? Lie?

Secondarily, a friend of mine WAS in at-fault an accident a few years ago where it sounds like he was in Stage 1 (app on, trolling for rides; but not on active dispatch) without ridedshare gap on the car and his personal insurance denied handling the claim on the basis he didn't disclose his rideshare work. Lyft is a party to the lawsuit associated with the crash, but I think they'll be able to excuse themselves out and say their protocol is that since there was no active dispatch this falls on the personal insurer (which has said you're on your own).
I probably shouldn't say more but he showed me the court case paperwork associated with the plaintiff's lawsuit over this fender bender that is being played up as a tort claim. One ploy he said the attorneys used was to ask for personal info with an interesting method of questioning ("so, what is your wife's name again and where does she work?" for example.)
P.S. - the civil case lawsuit filing says he was an employee of Lyft at the time of the accident, which suggests a misunderstanding on IC versus employee status at best or a gross simplification at worst.


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## Jenga (Dec 10, 2018)

Dammit Mazzacane This is exactly what happened to me. They asked if I drove for a rideshare service, and if I was driving at the time of the accident. I said yes to both. Since the other driver admitted fault, their company paid. Turns out I never even needed to report it to my company, but they subsequently pulled my insurance unilaterally - no further questions asked, nor opportunity to pay for additional insurance to cover RS. Even though you are not under oath when you answer their questions, I would not suggest you lie when they question you about an accident. If they find out later, you may either get no payment OR they may sue for a return of payments made on the basis of making a fraudulent claim. And who knows, if I had been responsible for the accident, maybe they wouldn't have paid. Geico, BTW.

So, I've revised my thinking. This may be a reason to disclose and obtain RS insurance PRIOR to having to collect on a claim. However, if the accident occurs when not on a ride (they would not likely be able to prove if you were "available", so I would never disclose that), then they should be liable to pay. But after listening to a lawyer on YouTube discuss MIchigan law, I have no idea what would happen in your state. In MI, insurance co's routinely deny claims, force the claimant to sue, and even if the insurer loses, they still only have to pay the insured values - NO penalties, NO attorney's fees (except their own). So they have every reason to deny a claim - every time!

Uber gives us basic insurance while trolling for rides, and bumps us up to a million when riders are in the vehicle. I assume Lyft does the same. So your friend is covered during "Phase I" by Uber, even if his own company balks.

We all know that the insurance business is a complete scam, so personally, I don't want to pay extra to give them more of their mafioso payola. However, if anyone has any doubt about whether to get RS insurance or not, then probably best to get it (yeah, not what I said before). Talk to an attorney in your state if you want to be sure.

Here's the video on insurance in MI. Not involving rideshare at all, but interesting to know more about the sleazy insurance cos:


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## familydriver (Sep 1, 2018)

State Farm, $15/month, $1000 deductible, XL, CA


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## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

My rideshare endorsement cost me $230.00 per year in South Florida. I feel this is reasonable. It lowers my deductible to $500 as well.


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## touberornottouber (Aug 12, 2016)

FLKeys said:


> My rideshare endorsement cost me $230.00 per year in South Florida. I feel this is reasonable. It lowers my deductible to $500 as well.


Hello, which company and how many miles did you tell them you drive in a year? I'm looking in Florida too and would be interested to know because I would definitely be glad to pay that.


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## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

touberornottouber said:


> Hello, which company and how many miles did you tell them you drive in a year? I'm looking in Florida too and would be interested to know because I would definitely be glad to pay that.


$230 was a typo it is $260 sorry.


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## peteyvavs (Nov 18, 2015)

2Cents said:


> They don't charge anywhere near close to the same as full taxi insurance. Full commercial insurance is much much more in Florida.


It cost 60 dollars per month with USAA here in Florida


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## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

So I called Geico, Ive been a Geico customer off and on since I first got my drivers license over 50 years ago.. (on my fathers policy) so I called them about rideshare insurance, One of the questions they asked was do I intend to do cash rides.. They let me know in no uncertain terms that thet wasnt allowed, not only wouldnt they cover cash rides, they would cancel me if they learned I was doing them I asked about commercial insurance and was told they dont do that in Florida. 

Well, I want to do cash rides, so I found a broker that sold commercial insurance (that search wasnt as easy as I thought it would be) , The agent presented me with quotes from two companies, one was significantly cheaper than the other, but it didnt allow me to drive for Uber and Lyft, so I went with Progressive. I had an at fault fender-bender a year ago so my rate was $1000 higher than it would be otherwise.So I signed the application today and a debit card authorization for .$5400, If I had done monthly payments it would have been $850 today and $550 a month. 

I still have to get a permit from the county and another one for the airport, and get my car inspected, but pretty soon Ill be able to do cash rides


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## FLKeys (Dec 27, 2018)

oldfart said:


> So I called Geico, Ive been a Geico customer off and on since I first got my drivers license over 50 years ago.. (on my fathers policy) so I called them about rideshare insurance, One of the questions they asked was do I intend to do cash rides.. They let me know in no uncertain terms that thet wasnt allowed, not only wouldnt they cover cash rides, they would cancel me if they learned I was doing them I asked about commercial insurance and was told they dont do that in Florida.
> 
> Well, I want to do cash rides, so I found a broker that sold commercial insurance (that search wasnt as easy as I thought it would be) , The agent presented me with quotes from two companies, one was significantly cheaper than the other, but it didnt allow me to drive for Uber and Lyft, so I went with Progressive. I had an at fault fender-bender a year ago so my rate was $1000 higher than it would be otherwise.So I signed the application today and a debit card authorization for .$5400, If I had done monthly payments it would have been $850 today and $550 a month.
> 
> I still have to get a permit from the county and another one for the airport, and get my car inspected, but pretty soon Ill be able to do cash rides


Do you have to or a ready have a chauffeur license?


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## oldfart (Dec 22, 2017)

FLKeys said:


> Do you have to or a ready have a chauffeur license?


If I want to do cash rides in Lee County Fl. (And I do) I need what's called a "vehicle for hire" permit. And that permit requires a $300000 commercial liability insurance policy

I have the application for the permit on my desk and expect to get it to the county later this week


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## Dan2miletripguy (Nov 3, 2018)

I have the rideshare rider with Progressive for around 14 bucks a month


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