Atlanta Injury Attorney Blog
The new Georgia insurance law regarding ride services became law on July 1, 2015 and it has big implications for you if you are thinking about driving for Uber or Lyft.
1. Your regular personal insurance policy likely excludes insurance coverage if you have a crash while working for these companies.
2. Georgia law now requires Uber and the like to provide $100,000 in injury and $50,000 in property damage insurance when a driver has the app activated and is available to take a rider.
3. Georgia law now requires the company to provide $1,000,000 in liability insurance once the driver driver accepts a ride request on the transportation network company’s digital network until the driver completes the transaction or the ride is complete, whichever is later…”
Uber will likely be providing the policies in situations 2 and 3 and charging premiums to the drivers, which means the consumer will ultimately pay.
What is scary for the drivers and is still unclear is what kind of coverage there is for the driver themselves in the way of uninsured motorist insurance (protection for the driver against being badly hurt by low or uninsured other drivers) and property damage coverage if the Uber driver causes the crash themselves. Remember that in situation 2 and 3, your own car insurance policy won’t apply.
Governor Deal signs the “Uber” BillBEST PRACTICES
If you are going to drive for Uber or Lyft, you need to call your insurance company and tell them you are considering doing this and ask what products or endorsements you can buy that will provide you with UM and property damage coverage in scenarios 2 and 3. It will raise your rates but given that you might as well have no insurance at all when the app is on, you are crazy to go without it. See HB 190 and HB 225