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People who drive their personal vehicle as a contractor for Uber, GrubHub and other similar networks might not be covered by personal insurance while working on the road. A new law aims to ensure fuller coverage.
Depending on the insurance policy or provider, drivers’ personal coverage may not kick in if they get in an accident while working for a gig-based delivery or transportation company.
Typically, drivers who use their own vehicle or a company vehicle to make deliveries or transport people as an employee are covered by their employer’s insurance policy for any driving they do on the clock. This would include, for example, a driver who is employed by an individual restaurant part-time to deliver pizzas. When that driver is not working, they’re covered by their personal car insurance policy.
Drivers who do similar work for apps like Uber, GrubHub and Instacart face a much more complicated insurance system because they’re contractors, not employees.
Some insurance companies do offer policies that cover drivers while they work a gig, but many explicitly won’t cover drivers using the vehicle to make money as a contractor.
Insurance agent and state Rep. Matt Lehman (R-Berne) said companies often already insure contracted drivers while the customer or product is actively in the car. That’s true for Postmates and Uber, which actually goes beyond that.
