Does Uber Insurance Cover My Car? Periods 2 and 3 in NJ From Ride Accepted to Drop-Off, the Big Limits Are for Everyone Else
Does Uber insurance cover my car once I accept a ride? Partly, and only on its terms: up to the car's actual cash value, after a $2,500 deductible, and only if you already carry collision and comprehensive. The $1.5 million everyone talks about is for the people you might hurt.
Figures from Uber's and Lyft's current New Jersey certificates and the statute.
Your car, two kinds of endorsement
Generic example- App off
- Period 1
- Period 2
- Period 3
01 · What the law requires
What New Jersey Requires From the Moment You Accept a Ride
N.J.S.A. 39:5H-10(c) applies while you're "providing a prearranged ride." The industry splits that into Period 2, driving to the pickup, and Period 3, passenger aboard. The law treats them the same.
| Coverage | Required minimum | Who it protects |
|---|---|---|
| LiabilityDeath, injury, property damage | At least $1,500,000 | People you injure and property you damage. Not you, and not your car. |
| Medical paymentsYour own injuries | At least $10,000 per person per incident | Only the driver, in the statute's own words. |
| UM/UIMUninsured or underinsured driver | At least $1,500,000 | You, when another driver is at fault and can't pay. |
| Your own carComprehensive and collision | Nothing | Whatever the app pays is its own choice. |
| Who carries itSection 10(a) and (d) | The driver, the app company or both. If the driver's coverage lapses, the company's insurance pays from the first dollar. | |
When Does Period 2 Start?
At acceptance, not at pickup. New Jersey says a prearranged ride begins "when a driver accepts a ride requested by a rider," continues while you carry the rider, and ends "when the last requesting rider departs from the personal vehicle."
So the drive to the pickup is already in the $1.5 million tier, and so is the moment your personal insurer's exclusion can apply. After the last rider gets out, if the app is still on, you're back in Period 1.
Source: N.J.S.A. 39:5H-2.
02 · Where drivers get hurt
Big Numbers for Everyone but You
$1,500,000 is a real number. It's liability: it pays the people you hurt and the property you damage. It does nothing for your own injuries or your own car. Here's what's left for you.
Your Injuries Depend on Who Caused the Crash
If another driver is at fault and doesn't carry enough insurance, the law requires $1.5 million of UM/UIM for you. If no one else is at fault, the law requires only $10,000 of medical payments for you. That $10,000 is the entire required amount.
A pending bill, A1507, would cut that $1.5 million UM/UIM to New Jersey's personal minimum. It is not law. We track it on our New Jersey rideshare law page.
Your Car Is Covered Only on the App's Terms
Uber describes its car coverage as "Insurance that covers the cost to repair your car, up to the actual cash value, with a $2,500 deductible, contingent on your personal insurance including comprehensive and collision coverage." And it's blunt about the condition: "If you only maintain liability insurance on your personal vehicle, you will not be eligible." Lyft says the same kind of thing: contingent coverage up to actual cash value, with a $2,500 deductible, if you carry comprehensive and collision yourself. Both New Jersey certificates show the $2,500 deductible. Uber says it may be $1,000 for a car obtained through its Vehicle Marketplace.
Sources: Uber insurance page · Lyft insurance page · Uber NJ certificate · Lyft NJ certificate.
None of this is required by law. New Jersey's statute doesn't require anyone to cover your car in any stage, so the app's car coverage is the company's choice and could change without any change in the law. If the car is financed, the law does say where the money goes: when the app company's insurer pays for damage to a car with a lien on it, the payment goes to the repair shop or jointly to you and your primary lienholder.
Source: N.J.S.A. 39:5H-10(i).
No Rental Car From Uber
Uber's own FAQ asks whether its insurance will cover a rental car after an accident, and answers: "No, it won't." If the car is your income, the days it sits in the shop are a cost too.
Your Personal Policy Can Step Out at Acceptance
New Jersey lets your personal insurer exclude any and all coverage while you're "providing a prearranged ride," and that starts the moment you accept, not when the passenger gets in. Whether your policy uses that permission depends on its wording. See the rideshare exclusion.
Source: N.J.S.A. 39:5H-12.
The Timestamp Decides the Claim
On request, you must tell the people involved, insurers and police whether you were logged on or on a ride. The app company must give the precise log-on and log-off times for the 12 hours before and after the accident. A few seconds either side of an acceptance can move a claim from one tier to another. Our guide to what to do after a rideshare accident covers the first calls.
Sources: N.J.S.A. 39:5H-10(h) · N.J.S.A. 39:5H-12(c).
This is general information about New Jersey law, not legal advice. For your own situation, including any injury claim, talk to your own attorney.
Who the Money Is For
Periods 2 and 3, with a personal policy that has no rideshare option. Generic example.
- People you hurt
- $1,500,000 liability
- You, hit by an underinsured driver
- $1,500,000 UM/UIM
- You, when no one else is at fault
- $10,000 medical payments
- Your car
- Contingent, $2,500 deductible
- A rental while it's fixed
- Uber: "No, it won't."
The Deductible Gap, in Numbers
Generic example, not a client.
Say your own collision deductible is $1,000. You accept a ride, and on the way to the pickup you slide into a guardrail. No one else is involved. If the repair goes through the app's car coverage, its $2,500 deductible applies. That's $1,500 more out of your pocket than the same accident with the app off.
That $1,500 difference is exactly what an enhanced-style endorsement is designed to pay.
03 · What fills the gap
What Pays the Deductible Gap After You Accept
Periods 2 and 3 are the real test of a rideshare endorsement. The way these are usually written:
- A Period-1-only ("limited") design stops when you accept a ride. Your car falls back to the app's contingent coverage and its $2,500 deductible, and your own injuries fall back to what the app's policy carries.
- An all-periods ("enhanced") design keeps going. It adds coverage excess over the app's after you accept, and pays the difference between the app's deductible and your personal one. Some also continue your medical coverage, rental and towing, usually only if you carry them on the base policy. Riders are usually excluded.
Either way, endorsements usually sit on top of the app's insurance rather than replacing it, so in a serious crash during a ride the app's policy still goes first. New Jersey law expressly allows insurers to write this coverage "by contract or endorsement," primary or excess.
Source: N.J.S.A. 39:5H-12. How endorsements compare: rideshare endorsements explained.
Endorsement terms vary by insurance company, coverage depends on the policy's actual forms and endorsements, and the wording governs. Ask to see the form, not the brochure.
Your Own Car, Period by Period
Damage to the car you drive for the app, under each design.
Thin means the app's contingent coverage with its $2,500 deductible, if you carry comp and collision. The way these are usually written; the endorsement form governs.
04 · Questions to ask
Questions to Ask Before You Count on the App's Policy
- If my car is damaged on a trip, what deductible do I pay, and does your endorsement pay the difference?
- Does your endorsement continue after I accept a ride, or stop at acceptance?
- Does it extend my own medical coverage to me in Periods 2 and 3?
- Does it include rental and towing while I'm on a ride?
- Do I carry collision and comprehensive on my own policy, so the app's car coverage can apply at all?
FAQ
Periods 2 and 3 Questions from New Jersey Drivers
Straight answers. If yours isn't here, call and ask.
Does Uber insurance cover my car?
Only after you accept a trip, and only if your own policy carries collision and comprehensive. Uber says it then covers repairs up to the car's actual cash value with a $2,500 deductible. While you're online without a trip, Uber maintains no collision or comprehensive coverage for your car.
What is Uber's deductible for damage to my car?
$2,500 for comprehensive and collision, per Uber's New Jersey certificate of insurance. Uber's page says it may be $1,000 for a car obtained through the Uber Vehicle Marketplace. Lyft's New Jersey certificate also shows a $2,500 deductible.
What is contingent collision coverage?
It's car damage coverage that applies only if your own policy already carries collision and comprehensive. Uber and Lyft both describe their car coverage this way. If you carry only liability on your personal policy, Uber says you aren't eligible.
When does Period 2 start?
When you accept the ride request. New Jersey law says a prearranged ride begins when the driver accepts it and ends when the last rider leaves the car, so the drive to the pickup already falls in the $1.5 million tier.
Read next
Where to Go From Here
| Page | Why read it |
|---|---|
| Period 1App on, waiting | The stretch before acceptance, where the app pays nothing toward your car. |
| Rideshare endorsementsLimited vs enhanced | Which designs continue into rides and pay the deductible difference. |
| After an accidentWhich period were you in? | Who to call first, and how the period gets proved. |
Free review · about 10 minutes
Know Your Deductible Before a Trip Goes Wrong
Send your declarations page and tell us which apps you drive for. We'll show you what you'd pay on your car in Periods 2 and 3 today, and what an endorsement would change. No cost. No pressure.
Prefer to talk? Call (908) 730-6443. You'll reach a rideshare specialist, not a call center.