Rideshare insurance for the time the app is on.
A rideshare endorsement or policy for drivers who use their own car on Uber or Lyft, shopped to cover the time your personal policy leaves out once you log on.
By Sam Alishahi · CA Insurance License #4348151 · Reviewed November 2026 · How this page is researched
Three periods, three sets of rules
Regulators split rideshare driving into three periods: the app is open and you’re waiting for a match (period 1), you’ve accepted a ride and are on your way to the passenger (period 2), and the passenger is in the car until they get out (period 3). Once the app is on, most personal policies don’t cover rideshare driving in their standard form, and in California the law says your personal policy provides no coverage from the moment you log on until you log off or the passenger gets out, whichever is later, unless the policy expressly covers that time or carries an endorsement for it.
California’s required limits are highest once a ride is accepted. In period 1 they’re much lower, and nothing in the law requires the company to pay for damage to your own car in any period. That’s the gap a rideshare endorsement is built for: insurers often offer it on a personal auto policy for an additional premium. I check what your current policy says about app time, then shop endorsements and policies that cover it.
- Period 1: app on, waiting or between ridesPrimary liability of at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident for death and injury and $30,000 for property damage, carried by you, the company or both (the company’s applies if you don’t carry it), plus at least $200,000 per occurrence in excess coverage the company maintains.
- Periods 2 and 3: ride accepted to drop-off$1,000,000 in primary liability for death, personal injury and property damage, which the company, the driver or both can carry.
- Passenger in the carUninsured and underinsured motorist coverage of $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident, carried by the company alone (since January 1, 2026).
- Your own carNot required. The company must tell you in writing that your personal policy won’t provide collision or comprehensive while you’re logged on.
What underwriters will ask
Having these ready means I can go to market on the first call. The quote form asks for the same things, and anything you don’t know yet can wait.
- Drivers: everyone in your household who drives, with dates of birth.
- Vehicles: year, make, model and VIN of the car you drive for the app, and whether it’s owned, financed or leased.
- Apps: which ones you drive for, rideshare, delivery or both.
- Hours: roughly how many hours a week you’re logged on.
- Current policy: your auto declarations page.
- Record: accidents or tickets in the last five years, and the date you want coverage to start.
If you get hurt while the app is on
In California, injuries to drivers are addressed by Proposition 22, which added Business and Professions Code 7455. A network company may not operate in the state for more than 90 days unless it carries, provides or otherwise makes available occupational accident insurance for injuries a driver suffers while online. The statute sets these minimum requirements:
- Medical expenses: coverage for medical expenses incurred, up to at least $1,000,000.
- Lost income: disability payments equal to 66 percent of your average weekly earnings from all network companies, with minimum and maximum weekly rates set by Labor Code 4453(a), for up to the first 104 weeks after the injury. Average weekly earnings are your total earnings from all network companies in the 28 days before the accident, divided by four.
- Death: accidental death insurance for the benefit of spouses, children or other dependents, with burial expenses and death benefits determined under Labor Code 4701 and 4702.
"Online" means you are able to receive requests on the app, or are in engaged time. The statute does not require this coverage for an accident that happens while you are online but outside of engaged time if you are engaged on another company's app or in personal activities. If more than one company carries coverage for the same accident, the insurer of the company the claim is filed against may seek contribution for the other companies' pro-rata share.
These benefits sit alongside Business and Professions Code 7451, which treats you as an independent contractor when four conditions are met, including no set hours and freedom to drive for other apps. On July 25, 2024, the California Supreme Court unanimously held in Castellanos v. State of California that section 7451 does not conflict with the Legislature's constitutional power over workers' compensation. Outside California, driver injury rules vary by state. Send me your declarations page and I'll review how your own health, disability and auto medical coverage sit next to these benefits.
Your driving record after you sign up
Getting approved to drive is not a one-time check. California requires rideshare companies to keep reviewing their drivers' records, and the same tickets and accidents are what an auto insurer asks about.
Ongoing DMV record checks
Public Utilities Code 5444 requires every rideshare company to participate in the DMV pull-notice system under Vehicle Code 1808.1 to regularly check the driving records of its drivers, whether they are employees or independent contractors. The CPUC explains that the DMV's Employer Pull Notice program gives timely notice when a conviction, accident, failure to appear, license suspension or revocation, or other action against driving privileges is added to a driver's record.
The CPUC says rideshare companies must ensure their drivers have:
- No more than 3 points in the preceding 3 years.
- No reckless driving, hit and run, or driving with a suspended license conviction in the preceding 3 years.
- No driving-under-the-influence conviction in the past 7 years.
Criminal background checks
Public Utilities Code 5445.2 requires a local and national criminal background check, including a search of the U.S. Department of Justice National Sex Offender Public Website. A company may not contract with, employ or retain a driver convicted within the previous seven years of misdemeanor assault or battery, a domestic violence offense, or driving under the influence, among other listed offenses, or a driver who is registered on that website or has been convicted of a violent felony. Convictions from another state count when the offense includes all the elements of a listed California offense, and companies may impose additional standards.
If a ticket or accident lands on your record, the pull-notice system is how the company hears about it. Review your own auto policy at the same time, and see auto insurance after a DUI in California if that applies. For delivery driving, see the California rideshare and delivery driver guide.
Rideshare insurance, answered
What is period 1 in rideshare insurance?
Period 1 is the time the app is open and you’re waiting for a match, or between rides. In California the app company’s required limits are lowest then, $50,000/$100,000/$30,000 primary plus a $200,000 excess layer, and your personal policy covers nothing unless it expressly includes app time or is endorsed for it.
Do I need to tell my insurance company I drive for Uber or Lyft?
Yes. Most personal auto policies don’t cover rideshare driving in their standard form, though insurers often make it available for an additional premium. The Texas Department of Insurance warns that if you don’t tell your insurer about business driving, it could deny your claims.
Does Uber’s or Lyft’s insurance pay to fix my car?
California’s rideshare law doesn’t require the company to provide collision or comprehensive, and the company must tell you in writing that your personal policy won’t cover damage to your car while you’re logged on. Some rideshare products keep collision and comprehensive in force during period 1, so ask before you buy.
Does a rideshare endorsement cover DoorDash or Uber Eats?
Only if it says so. In California, delivery apps fall under Proposition 22, which requires the delivery company to maintain at least $1,000,000 per occurrence in auto liability for injuries or losses to others from accepting a delivery to completing it, and only when your car isn’t otherwise covered by a qualifying auto policy. It doesn’t pay for damage to your own car. Ask whether your endorsement names delivery as well as rideshare.
How much insurance does California require during a ride?
$1,000,000 in primary liability from the moment you accept a ride until it’s complete, which the company, you or both can carry. Since January 1, 2026, the company alone must also provide uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage of $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident while the passenger is in the car.
Do you offer rideshare insurance outside California?
Yes. Clients across the country send the same quote form. Sam Alishahi is licensed in all 50 states and Washington, DC and places policies there directly. The shopping across carriers works the same way. Rules, minimums and markets differ by state — see insurance requirements by state.
Official sources
- California Public Utilities Code 5433: transportation network company insurance (as amended by SB 371, effective January 1, 2026)
- California Public Utilities Code 5434: personal auto policies while the app is on
- California Public Utilities Code 5432: required disclosures to drivers
- California Public Utilities Code 5431: definitions (personal vehicle, not a taxicab or limousine)
- California Public Utilities Code 5442: proof of insurance while driving
- California Public Utilities Code 5391: charter-party carrier (black car) liability insurance
- California SB 371 (2025), Chapter 314: transportation network company uninsured motorist coverage
- California Business and Professions Code 7455 (Proposition 22): delivery company liability insurance
- California Business and Professions Code 7463 (Proposition 22): engaged time
- California Public Utilities Commission: TNC insurance requirements (period definitions)
- California Department of Insurance: notice to transportation network company drivers
- California Department of Insurance: ride-share insurance law takes effect (July 1, 2015)
- California Department of Insurance: period 1 rideshare product approved (January 19, 2016)
- California Department of Insurance: rideshare product keeping optional coverages in period 1 (January 21, 2016)
- Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance: ridesharing drivers should check insurance coverage for gap
- Texas Department of Insurance: delivering packages, what to know about auto insurance
- North Dakota Insurance Department: delivery drivers urged to review auto insurance
- NAIC: Sharing a ride is not sharing insurance
- California Business and Professions Code 7455 (Proposition 22): loss and liability protection
- California Business and Professions Code 7451 (Proposition 22): independent contractor conditions
- Supreme Court of California: Castellanos v. State of California, S279622 (July 25, 2024) opinion
- California Public Utilities Code 5433: TNC insurance requirements
- California Public Utilities Code 5434: personal auto policies during TNC use
- California Public Utilities Code 5435: claims information exchange
- California Public Utilities Code 5444: DMV pull-notice participation
- California Public Utilities Code 5445.2: driver background checks
- CPUC: TNC DMV records check requirements
Send your declarations page. I’ll check your app time.
Your drivers, the car you drive for the app and which apps you use are enough to start.
Alishahi Insurance · Saman Alishahi, independent insurance broker, California License #4348151. General information, not a quote or a promise of coverage; coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.
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