Other rideshare services have insurance arrangements with their drivers. Curb, for instance, is not really a rideshare service. It provides passengers with an app they can use to hail a taxicab. Their drivers must have a taxi driver’s license, and Curb provides its drivers with whatever insurance is required by state and local regulations for taxis. Wingz does not purchase insurance for its drivers. Instead, Wingz has a deal with an insurance company to write commercial use riders for its drivers’ personal insurance policies.
Such riders are not very expensive, and Wingz does not pay for the insurance riders for its drivers. Also, the insurance rider from the contracted insurance company is not available everywhere Wingz has drivers, so Wingz drivers in some areas must purchase their own commercial use riders.
If they don’t have a commercial use rider for their personal automobile insurance, their insurer is likely to deny claims for any accidents that occur while the driver is using a personal vehicle for a commercial purpose, including transporting ridesharing passengers. Further, Wingz’s driver requirements apparently require them to have only a personal insurance policy. Via only operates in a few cities and is a multi-passenger service only. It requires its drivers to have liability insurance that satisfies local regulations. Sidecar covers its drivers under a liability policy with a $1 million limit, much like Uber and Lyft. For services other than Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar, better safe than sorry—ask the driver about insurance coverage.
