The Best Auto Insurance for Rideshares

The most popular auto insurance provider in the country, State Farm has expanded its rideshare coverage to most states. With affordable rates and strong customer service, it’s a great choice for rideshare drivers.

Wide Availability

With any auto insurance company, available coverages vary by state. For example, a provider might sell policies in a state but not offer specific coverages, such as rideshare coverage.

State Farm offers rideshare insurance in 43 states and Washington, D.C., making it one of the most widely available options for drivers. Typically, adding rideshare coverage to your State Farm policy will increase your premiums by 15 to 20 percent.

Purchasing rideshare coverage extends the protections of your personal policy, including the limits and deductibles, to times when the app is on. Once you’ve matched with a rider, all coverages apply, except liability to others.

The extra liability coverage in the first period is important. Uber and Lyft’s first-period limits are $50,000 in bodily injury per person, $100,000 in bodily injury per accident, and $25,000 in property damage per accident, which are lower than most auto insurance experts’ recommendations of $100,000, $300,000, and $100,000, respectively. Once you’ve matched with a rider, Uber and Lyft’s liability limits go up to $1 million total. With State Farm, you can increase your liability limits, or lessen your financial responsibilities after a collision.

Choose Your Deductible

If you carry comprehensive and collision coverage, Uber and Lyft maintain that coverage on your behalf once you’ve matched with a passenger. In the event of a covered incident, they will pay for damages up to your car’s actual cash value. However, Uber and Lyft have higher deductibles than most personal auto insurance policies.

With State Farm’s rideshare coverage, in the event of a claim, you will pay your State Farm deductible rather than the costlier rideshare company deductible. When you add rideshare coverage to your policy, any deductibles you have for collision and comprehensive coverage will not increase.

Customer Service

Some auto insurance companies offer rideshare insurance through a partner company rather than underwriting the policies themselves. State Farm keeps rideshare coverage in-house. If you have to file a claim for a rideshare-related incident, you will work with State Farm directly rather than with a partner company.

State Farm is known for strong customer service and backs up its reputation with above-average customer satisfaction ratings from J.D. Power.³ Additionally, State Farm holds an A++ financial strength rating from AM Best, so you can count on its ability to pay for a claim.

Owned by Allstate, Esurance offers rideshare coverage through a program it calls ShareSmart. It offers protection across all three rideshare periods, without restriction.

ShareSmart Rideshare Coverage

Esurance’s rideshare coverage, known as ShareSmart, extends the protections of your personal policy to all three periods (waiting for a ride, matching with a passenger, and transporting the passenger) across all coverage types, including the following:

• Liability insurance coverage up to your personal limits
• Comprehensive and collision
• Medical payments and personal injury protection
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist
• Emergency road service
• Rental reimbursement

Note that to purchase rideshare coverage from Esurance, you must carry collision and comprehensive coverages. You can add rideshare coverage at your next renewal. Esurance offers rideshare coverage only in California, Illinois, and New Jersey, though it plans to expand coverage to additional states soon.

Lower Deductibles

If your car sustains damage while you’re driving for a rideshare company, Esurance will cover the difference between your deductible and the rideshare company’s deductible. You’ll pay the lowest deductible between your personal policy and the rideshare insurance policy, and Esurance will take care of the rest. That way, you’re not on the hook for steep rideshare deductibles, which are often up to $2,500.

Digital Tools

For drivers who want to manage their policies via a mobile app, Esurance is a solid choice. The company was one of the first to sell policies online and maintains a good reputation for digital tools.

Esurance’s mobile app holds a 4.4-star rating in the Google Play store and a 4.8-star rating in the App Store. You can use it to manage most of your policy needs, including these tasks:

• Updating your contact info
• Adding a new vehicle to your policy
• Viewing your ID card and adding it to a digital wallet
• Filing claims
• Calling for roadside assistance
• Paying your bill
• Updating your payment method and due date

With over 20 million policies in force, Progressive is the third-largest auto insurer in the U.S.⁴ It’s a good choice for rideshare drivers, in particular those who want to do food delivery in addition to rideshare driving.

Protection for Food Delivery Drivers

More than half of rideshare drivers also work for delivery services such as Instacart, Grubhub, and DoorDash.⁵ Maybe you feel safer driving without passengers or simply appreciate the solitude. Even if you’re alone in your car, you’re still working if the app is turned on, meaning you need coverage beyond your personal policy.

You can work with multiple apps on, and food delivery apps don’t penalize you for declining (with the exception of special promotions). That said, if you accept an order on one app, it’s wise to pause the other app while you complete the order. If you don’t, you may end up juggling more orders than you can deliver in time.

Progressive allows you to customize your plan, depending on whether you expect to drive solely for delivery services or for both delivery and rideshare. If rideshare coverage isn’t available in your state, Progressive also offers for-livery hire insurance, which offers similar benefits (though at a slightly higher cost than rideshare coverage).

Deductible Reimbursement

Progressive will reimburse you for the difference between the deductible on your personal policy and the rideshare company’s deductible. For example, if the rideshare company has a $2,500 deductible and you have a $500 deductible, Progressive will pay you $2,000. That way, you don’t have to worry about a big, unexpected expense at an already stressful time.

Many Discount Possibilities

Over 60 percent of rideshare drivers regularly put in more than 35 hours behind the wheel each week, and three-quarters of drivers keep close track of their earnings and financial goals. If you’re working toward a savings goal, you want to make sure each dollar you spend is worth it.

Progressive offers a substantial number of discounts that can help you keep insurance costs low, including the following:

A subsidiary of Farmers, Bristol West specializes in selling insurance (including rideshare insurance) to high-risk drivers whom other insurers might turn away. It covers the first period, when the app is on and you’re waiting to match with a passenger.

Coverage for High-Risk Drivers

Bristol West sells insurance to high-risk drivers. Note that Uber, Lyft, and similar platforms conduct a background check when you apply and annually thereafter. Some high-risk designations may disqualify you. For example, Uber and Lyft have the following requirements for drivers:

• No DUIs, DWIs, driving-related felonies, or reckless-driving violations in the past seven years, or 10 years in California
• No more than three traffic violations in the past three years
• No speeding violations 20 miles per hour or more over the limit in the past three years
• Depending on the state, at least one year of licensed driving experience

At the same time, being “high-risk” doesn’t mean you’re a bad driver or automatically disqualified from driving for a rideshare company. You might have trouble finding insurance if:

• You have low credit or have missed insurance payments.
• You have a gap in your insurance history.
• You have a history of multiple traffic violations or at-fault accidents.

Bristol West offers rideshare coverage to high-risk drivers, including for delivery services such as Uber Eats. The following coverages are available:

• Bodily injury liability
• Property damage liability
• Collision and comprehensive
• Uninsured/underinsured motorists
• Medical payments
• Towing and roadside service
• Rental car reimbursement

Discounts

High-risk auto insurance tends to cost more than regular auto insurance, and some high-risk insurers skimp when it comes to discounts. However, Bristol West offers you several ways to save. You’ll earn discounts for:

• Insuring multiple vehicles.
• Bundling different policies (including with Farmers or Foremost, another subsidiary).
• Setting up automatic payments.
• Going paperless.
• Maintaining a good driving record.
• Owning a home.
• Buying a policy at least two days in advance of its effective date with no lapse in coverage.

Financial Strength

A company’s financial strength can affect its ability to pay for a claim and how long it takes to get your payment. Sometimes, smaller providers like Bristol West lack the financial strength of big companies. However, because Farmers owns and operates Bristol West, it benefits from the financial power of a larger company. Bristol West has an A rating from AM Best, so you can depend on this insurer to pay for a claim, which is especially important if your car provides your main source of income.

Founded in 1927, American Family Insurance (or AmFam) offers an array of insurance offerings, including rideshare coverage. The company holds an above-average customer satisfaction rating from J.D. Power and stands out for its accident forgiveness coverage.

Accident Forgiveness

Accidents happen to anyone, even the most experienced drivers, and extra miles on the road can increase your risk.

Typically, your insurance rates will rise by 40 to 50 percent after an at-fault accident. However, if you purchase accident forgiveness, your premiums won’t go up — and you won’t lose your good driving discount, either.

American Family offers two options for accident forgiveness:

• Purchased: You can buy coverage if your household has had no at-fault accidents in the past year and no more than one at-fault accident in the past three years.
• Earned: You earn coverage if you remain claim-free for five years.

If you purchased accident forgiveness and hit five years without a claim, American Family will swap purchased for earned coverage so you no longer pay for it.

Extend Your Personal Coverage

American Family offers rideshare insurance coverage that protects you from the time you turn on the app until you match with a customer. The coverage extends the protections that you purchase on your personal policy, including the following:

• Bodily injury liability
• Property damage liability
• Collision and comprehensive
• Medical payments
• Personal injury protection
• Uninsured/underinsured motorist

Wondering how much rideshare coverage will cost you each month? American Family offers a transparent online tool that lets you estimate the added cost of rideshare insurance based on your ZIP code and current monthly premiums.

Gap and Loan/Lease Insurance

Nearly one in five rideshare drivers lease their vehicles, and more than half of drivers purchased their vehicles because they wanted to start rideshare driving. If you recently bought your vehicle for rideshare purposes, you might still have a significant portion of your loan to pay off and even be “underwater” (owe more on the car than it’s worth).

In general, it’s a good idea to consider gap coverage if you leased your vehicle, put less than 20 percent down when you bought it, or financed it for five years or longer. Sometimes, your lender may even require you purchase the coverage. Without gap insurance, if you experience a total loss, you could be on the hook for more money than the car is worth.

It’s more expensive to purchase gap coverage from the dealership, but not all insurance companies offer it. American Family offers gap coverage, and typically, it adds only a few dollars to your monthly premiums. In the event of a total loss, if you owe more on your vehicle than it’s worth, American Family will pay the difference.