Uber to offer 'per mile' insurance for drivers. Enough coverage?
Uber is teaming with Metromile, which offers pay-per-mile insurance usually marketed to people who don鈥檛 drive long distances. Uber drivers plug in a Metromile tracking device when they accept a trip, letting the insurer distinguish between miles drivers travel on calls and their personal travel.
Smart phones displaying Uber car availability in New York. Uber will partner with an insurance startup to offer 'per-mile' insurance to drivers in select cities, the ride share company announced this week.
Julio Cortez/AP/File
Uber, the increasingly popular (if consistently聽)聽ridesharing service, has struck a deal to make insurance available for at least some of the drivers who use its platform.
The company is teaming with fellow startup聽, which offers pay-per-mile insurance usually marketed to people who don鈥檛 drive long distances.聽Under the deal, drivers would plug in a Metromile tracking device when they accept a trip. Doing so would let the insurer distinguish between miles drivers travel on calls and their personal travel.
Drivers will get $1 million in primary commercial auto liability coverage through the plan, according to a news release. It was unclear from the release whether Uber will help drivers pay for the insurance.
鈥淢etromile has created an innovative product that responds to the needs of the insurance marketplace,鈥� Andrew Macdonald, Uber鈥檚 regional general manager, said in the release. 鈥淒river partners using Uber鈥檚 TNC (transportation network company) platform will soon have a new flexible insurance option that is designed specifically for their needs.鈥�
Starting next month, insurance through Metromile will be available to Uber driver partners in California, Illinois and Washington.
A murky issue
Regulation of, and聽聽for, its drivers 鈥� which are technically partners, not employees 鈥� has been a sticking point for Uber as it has sought to expand its business.
Because ridesharing services such as Uber and Lyft are so new, the issue of聽聽has been murky. Laws regulating ridesharing services vary from state to state and city to city.
Most auto insurers frown upon customers with personal insurance using their vehicles commercially. In November, the聽听耻苍肠辞惫别谤别诲 Geico training documents that detailed consequences for customers who drive for ridesharing companies 鈥� including nonrenewal and referral to Geico鈥檚 fraud unit.
Allstate and State Farm have said their policies do not cover ridesharing, as have many smaller insurers.
Late last year,聽聽to help create insurance products to cover ridesharing drivers.