Rideshare car insurance

If you drive for or are considering driving for ridesharing platforms like Uber or Didi, you can often extend your private, personal-use car insurance policy to cover your business-related activities. In this guide, we'll explain how this works, along with the insurance options available to you. 

Let’s jump in!

Rideshare insurance is car insurance that is designed to cover rideshare drivers for damages they cause while driving for Uber, Didi, Ola or other rideshare service in Australia. 

It can be considered a type of business (or commercial) car insurance. 

Given how widespread rideshare services are these days, and how you might be using the exact same car for business purposes one minute and personal reasons the next - a growing number of car insurance companies are covering both types of use cases under one policy.

It all boils down to business vs. personal use. If an insurance company offers a rideshare insurance policy, that policy will cover you for both use-cases, and there are typically three main ways they handle it. 

In all cases, you should expect to pay a higher premium due to the extra driving you’ll be doing and unique risks associated with rideshare driving.

In the table below, you’ll find how car insurance companies handle ridesharing policies as a category of cover. The section that follows will describe the levels of cover you can get.

Option 1: Extension of your personal policy

Some insurers offer an add-on or extension to your existing personal car insurance to cover your rideshare activities. This option usually requires notifying your insurer about your rideshare usage.

Benefits

• Extends a policy you’re already familiar with.
• Convenient if ridesharing is is just a side gig for you or you’re just testing the waters.
• Can be cheaper due to possible restrictions on how much you can use your car for ridesharing purposes.
• Covers business and personal use.

Drawbacks

• Possible restrictions on how much you can use your car for ridesharing purposes.
• The policy is usually written with personal use in mind, so it might take some extra effort to figure out how it covers ridesharing, though this doesn't change the actual coverage you get.
• Some only offer this on their comprehensive level of cover, even though this is more than rideshare companies typically require.

Option 2: Specific rideshare insurance policy

These are policies designed specifically for rideshare needs, while also covering you for personal use, often offered by newer companies.

Benefits

• Policy wording attuned to ridesharing (without much noticeable difference in coverage).
• Potentially more flexibility in business vs. personal use.

Drawbacks

• Lesser-known brands with shorter track records of reliability and customer service.
• You’ll have to ditch any existing personal policy, since this one covers personal use too.

Option 3: Business car insurance

Some insurance companies advertise that they offer rideshare insurance, but simply put you onto one of their business car insurance policies. Others that offer extensions to your personal policy (as in option 1) may steer you toward their business car insurance if your ridesharing activities reach a certain threshold.  

Benefits

• Convenient if ridesharing is your full-time job.
• May offer perks like cover for business-related equipment.
• Offered by familiar brands.

Drawbacks

• Potentially more expensive due to a business-first focus.
• The policy is usually written with business use in mind, so it might take some extra effort to figure out how it covers personal use, though this doesn't change the actual coverage you get.
• You might have to ditch any existing personal policy, since this one covers personal use too.

Depending on your specific circumstances, there are a few levels and types of car insurance that are required by either the government, the rideshare company or whoever lent the money or provided the lease for your car.

You may notice these levels of cover are identical to the levels of cover for private, personal-use policies. That’s because the basic structure is the same for private, commercial and rideshare insurance. 

Compulsory Third Party insurance (CTP) - required by law

Compulsory third-party car insurance, also called your green slip, is mandatory in all states (whether you’re a rideshare driver or not) and covers injuries you cause to yourself, your passengers, pedestrians, plus drivers and passengers of other cars. 

Third-party property insurance (TPP) - required by the rideshare companies

All three major rideshare platforms - Uber, DiDi and Ola - require you to add this level of cover, as a minimum, to your CTP. 

TPP insurance is the minimum level of property-related insurance, covering you for damages you cause to other peoples’ property, including their car, personal items, animals and any stationary items along the road (like someone’s fence or a public lamppost). It also protects you from financial liability if the injured parties suffer financial damage.

It does not cover you for damages to your car, unless you add the token ‘fire and theft’ cover to it, which will cover your car in those very specific circumstances (note: the added fire and theft cover is not required by rideshare companies).

Comprehensive car insurance - required by your lender or lessor

Comprehensive car insurance covers everything TPP does, plus damage to your car from things like accidents you cause, bad weather, uninsured drivers and more. 

If you owe money on your car or are leasing it from a rideshare car leasing company, they may require you to have comprehensive car insurance to protect the asset until you’ve paid it off or returned it.

Rideshare companies usually offer a token amount of insurance that complements your own personal car insurance policy, but it doesn’t replace the insurance you’re required to purchase yourself.   

Let’s look at Uber as an example. Their driver insurance covers you for a range of injuries and financial damages if you get into an accident while working. It doesn’t cover your car or others’ property, but it does offer financial support for things like hospitalisation, disability, assault and funeral expenses.

There might be some coverage overlap between Uber’s basic policy and your CTP, TPP and/or comprehensive cover. For dual claims covering the same types of damages, the two insurance companies will work together to who covers what and for how much.

Didi and Ola don’t publish their insurance information online, so for any questions, contact the rideshare company directly.

Other car insurance policies that may offer rideshare insurance include:

• AAMI Comprehensive Car Insurance
• ANZ Comprehensive Plus Car Insurance
• Australian Unity Comprehensive Cover
• Beyond Bank Comprehensive Car Insurance
• Bingle Comprehensive Car Insurance review
• Carpeesh Comprehensive Car Insurance review
• Hume Bank Car Insurance
• National Seniors Comprehensive Car Insurance
• Over 50 Insurance Comprehensive Cover 
• RAA Premium Comprehensive Car Insurance
• RAC Comprehensive Car Insurance
• RACQ Comprehensive Car Insurance
• RACT Comprehensive Car Insurance
• St.George Comprehensive Insurance
• Suncorp Insurance Comprehensive Advantages Car Insurance
• Suncorp Insurance Comprehensive Car Insurance
• Suncorp Insurance Comprehensive Extras Car Insurance
• TIO Comprehensive Car Insurance
• Westpac Comprehensive Insurance