How does driving for Lyft affect my insurance?
Times and transportation methods continue to change constantly. Especially in bigger cities, it is more and more common for an individual to not own a car and to rely on public transportation for transportation needs. The trend has led to ride-sharing programs such as Lyft and Uber. These programs allow drivers to pick up customers in their personal vehicles and take them to where they need to go, all by using the convenience of a smartphone application. While the concept and convenience of these companies are beneficial, it can create problems and gaps in coverage for the driver's personal auto policies. In every standard auto policy, there is an exclusion for any coverage for public livery (transporting goods or people for hire). This means that a personal auto policy would not provide any coverage while someone is transporting another person as a Lyft or Uber driver. While there may be some coverage provided by Uber or Lyft, there is a lot of gray area as to when coverage begins and stops. If you are considering or are already driving for Uber or Lyft, please give us a call so we can make sure that you are properly covered. You can reach us at any of our three convenient locations, Wintersville, Bergholz and Carrollton.