Instacart, Amazon Flex and Grubhub Insurance in New Jersey Three Apps, Three Very Different Answers
Instacart insurance, Amazon Flex coverage and Grubhub's rules have almost nothing in common. One app publishes a commercial auto policy, one puts the insurance on you by contract, and one doesn't say.
From each company's own pages, checked November 2026. We're not affiliated with any of them.
What each app says it carries
As of Nov 2026- Amazon Flex
- $1,000,000, if you carry personal insurance
- Grubhub
- On you, by contract
- Instacart
- No page found
- Amazon Flex
- Contingent, deductible not stated
- Grubhub
- Your own policy
- Instacart
- No page found
01 · Amazon Flex
Amazon Flex Insurance: The Most on Paper, With Conditions
Amazon publishes the clearest promise of the three. Read the conditions as closely as the dollar figure.
Amazon's Flex safety page says that if you maintain personal auto insurance, you're protected under Amazon's commercial auto policy while you're actively driving and delivering. Per Amazon, that policy includes $1,000,000 of auto liability, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, and contingent comprehensive and collision coverage, at no cost to you. Passengers are not covered.
Source: Amazon Flex, safety, November 2026.
Three conditions are built into that promise. You have to carry personal auto insurance. You have to be actively driving and delivering. And the car coverage is contingent, a word Amazon's page doesn't define.
For comparison, Uber's contingent car coverage on rides applies only if your own policy carries comprehensive and collision, and it comes with a $2,500 deductible. Amazon's terms may be different. Its page doesn't say what triggers its contingent coverage or what the deductible is, so ask before you count on it.
Source: Uber, rideshare insurance.
Packages aren't passengers. Malzberg v. Josey ruled on food, but its reasoning, that New Jersey's rideshare law is built around human riders, would apply to a car full of Amazon boxes too. Amazon's coverage is Amazon's choice, not a New Jersey requirement. This is general information about New Jersey law, not legal advice; for your own situation, talk with your own attorney.
Ask Before You Rely on It
Amazon's page leaves these open. Get the answers in writing, from Amazon or from the policy itself.
- The deductible on the contingent car coverage
- The UM/UIM limit Amazon names the coverage, not the amount
- What, if anything, covers you outside active delivery
- What your own policy must carry for the contingent coverage to apply
02 · Grubhub
Grubhub Insurance: The Agreement Puts It on You
Grubhub's own documents describe accident benefits for drivers. They don't describe auto coverage for the car or for the people you might hit.
Grubhub's Delivery Partner Agreement says that if you deliver by car, you'll keep vehicle insurance on every vehicle you use, that it must cover all activities connected with your deliveries, and that it must meet state and local requirements, including minimum amounts.
The same agreement warns that your personal auto policy "may not afford" coverage while you deliver, and lists liability, comprehensive, collision, medical payments, PIP and uninsured and underinsured motorist among the coverages at risk.
Put those two clauses side by side and the gap is plain. Grubhub asks you to carry insurance that covers delivery, while telling you a personal policy may not. That's the question to settle with your insurer before your first order.
What Grubhub does describe is occupational accident insurance, which it says covers medical expenses and lost income from injuries suffered while you're making deliveries. That's accident coverage for you. We found no Grubhub auto liability policy on Grubhub's own pages.
Sources: Grubhub Delivery Partner Agreement · Grubhub, occupational accident insurance, November 2026.
- Your car
- You must insure every vehicle you deliver with, for all delivery activity
- Your policy
- "May not afford" coverage while delivering, in Grubhub's own words
- Grubhub provides
- Occupational accident insurance for medical expenses and lost income
- Auto liability
- None found on Grubhub's pages
- Minimum age
- 18, with a valid driver's license for at least 2 years, per the agreement
03 · Instacart
Instacart Insurance: What We Could and Couldn't Find
If you shop and deliver for Instacart, this is the shortest section on the page. That's the point.
As of November 2026, we haven't found an Instacart page that says Instacart provides auto liability coverage, or any coverage for your car, while you shop and deliver. We won't fill that gap with a guess, and you shouldn't either.
Until you've seen Instacart's current terms in writing, plan as if your own auto policy is the only coverage behind you on a batch. That makes your policy's wording the whole question: does it exclude delivery, and does it say anything about carrying property for a charge?
New Jersey's rideshare law is about carrying riders. Malzberg held it doesn't reach food delivery, and its reasoning would apply to a grocery order just as well.
Send Us Instacart's Terms
Find the current terms in your shopper account and send them to us with your declarations page. We'll read both side by side and tell you where you stand.
Same goes for any app not on this page.
04 · Side by side
Instacart, Amazon Flex and Grubhub Compared
Company words only. Where a company doesn't say, we say so instead of guessing. New Jersey sets no insurance minimums for delivery apps.
| App | While waiting | During a delivery | Your car | Your injuries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon FlexDelivery blocks | Not stated | $1,000,000 liability, UM/UIM and contingent comp and collision, if you carry personal auto insurance | Contingent. Deductible not stated | UM/UIM. Nothing else stated |
| GrubhubDelivery partners | Your own insurance, per the agreement | Your own insurance, per the agreement | Your own insurance | Occupational accident insurance |
| InstacartShoppers who drive | Not found | Not found | Not found | Not found |
05 · Your own policy
Before Your First Block, Batch or Order
With all three apps, your personal policy carries more of the load than you might expect, and newer standard forms can add a delivery exclusion: in 2022, ISO, which writes the forms many insurers adapt, announced a delivery-network exclusion for personal auto policies, with an optional buy-back, effective January 1, 2023.
Source: Verisk, January 26, 2022.
Whether your policy has that exclusion, a buy-back, or neither depends on your insurance company and its form. Tell your insurer which app you use; if it finds out after a claim, you can be left paying, and it may decline to renew your policy. If delivery is your full-time job, read our guide for full-time drivers.
Coverage depends on the policy's actual forms and endorsements. Endorsement terms vary by insurance company, and the policy wording governs.
- Read the app's current terms
Save a copy. Company pages change without notice.
- Find your policy's exclusions
Look for wording about delivery, carrying property for a charge, or a "transportation network."
- Tell your insurer which app
Name the app and what you carry: packages, groceries or restaurant food. Get the answer in writing.
- Send us both
Your declarations page and the app's terms. We'll tell you whether a delivery option, an endorsement that names the app, or commercial auto fits.
FAQ
Instacart, Amazon Flex and Grubhub Insurance Questions
If your app or your question isn't here, call and ask.
Does Instacart provide car insurance for shoppers?
As of November 2026, we haven't found an Instacart page saying it provides auto liability or car coverage for shoppers who drive. Read the current terms in your shopper account, and plan on your own auto policy being the coverage that responds, if its wording allows delivery.
Does Amazon Flex insurance cover my car?
Partly, and only under conditions. Amazon says its commercial auto policy includes contingent comprehensive and collision coverage while you're actively delivering, if you maintain personal auto insurance. Its page doesn't state the deductible or what triggers the contingent coverage, so ask before you rely on it.
Do Grubhub drivers need their own insurance?
Yes. Grubhub's Delivery Partner Agreement says you must insure every vehicle you deliver with, covering all delivery activity and meeting state minimums. It also warns that your personal auto policy may not cover delivery, so confirm that yours does.
Do I need commercial insurance for Amazon Flex?
Not necessarily. Amazon says its commercial auto policy protects you while you're actively delivering, as long as you maintain personal auto insurance. Whether your personal policy also needs a delivery option depends on its wording. If delivery is your full-time job, commercial auto may be the better fit.
Read next
More for New Jersey Delivery Drivers
| Page | Why read it |
|---|---|
| DoorDash insurance in NJDashers | Liability for others during a delivery, nothing while you wait, nothing for your car |
| Uber Eats insurance in NJRides, Eats or both | Why New Jersey's $1.5 million rideshare protection stops at a food order |
| Delivery driver insuranceThe overview | What coverage built for delivery looks like, and mixing rides with deliveries |
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Bring Us the App's Terms and Your Dec Page
Whichever app you deliver for, send us your declarations page and tell us what you carry. We'll show you what the app says it pays, what your policy does, and what's left in between. No cost. No pressure.
Prefer to talk? Call (908) 730-6443. You'll reach a rideshare specialist, not a call center.