Car insurance loophole affects Uber drivers

Uber, the ride sharing service, is expanding into Napa and actively recruiting drivers. I attended anUber "onboarding" open house in the city recently. I left with unanswered questions about liabilityinsurance.

What I learned by speaking with several different insurance agents is what I had already thought.Commercial use of your personal vehicle voids the insurance policy. What this means is that whileyou are working as an Uber driver, your personal vehicle is uninsured.

Uber does not care about this. Technically, they are off the hook in an accident, while the driver isliable 100 percent for any and all damages to person(s) or property as a result of not havingcommercial insurance coverage.

Essentially, Uber drivers are uninsured vehicles as the driver can not prove coverage under theterms of the policy. The policy is void by the commercial use.

Jeff Boyd

Napa