Law · N.J.S.A. 39:5H · As of November 2026 New Jersey Rideshare Law, Explained for the Driver

What the Act Is

New Jersey regulates Uber and Lyft under the Transportation Network Company Safety and Regulatory Act, P.L.2017, c.26, codified at N.J.S.A. 39:5H-1 and the sections after it. In the statute, Uber and Lyft are "transportation network companies," or TNCs. That's why you'll hear "TNC insurance" or "transportation network company insurance": it means the coverage this Act requires.

Source: N.J.S.A. 39:5H-1.

One word trap. New Jersey law uses "ridesharing" for carpooling, and the Act says a prearranged ride does not include it. When this site says rideshare, it means what the law calls a TNC.

The Definitions That Decide Your Coverage

• Prearranged ride. It begins "when a driver accepts a ride requested by a rider," continues while the driver transports the rider, and ends "when the last requesting rider departs from the personal vehicle."
• Rider. Someone who uses the company's digital network to connect with a driver "to receive a prearranged ride from the driver using the driver's personal vehicle."
• Driver. Someone who gets connections to "potential riders" through the company and uses a personal vehicle to give prearranged rides for pay.
• Personal vehicle. Not a taxi, limousine or other for-hire vehicle, and you don't have to register it as commercial.

Sources: N.J.S.A. 39:5H-2 · N.J.S.A. 39:5H-3.

Notice what every definition is built around: a human rider. That's why a New Jersey appeals court held the Act doesn't reach food delivery, in Malzberg v. Josey.

Where "Period 1, 2 and 3" Come From

The statute never says period. It describes two stages: logged on and available but not on a ride, and providing a prearranged ride. The industry splits the second stage at the pickup, so Period 1 is the first stage and Periods 2 and 3 together are the second. Uber's own page says online, en route and on trip; Lyft's New Jersey certificate says Period 1 and Period 2/3. Same moments, different labels.

What N.J.S.A. 39:5H-10 Requires

Section 10 says the driver, the company, "or any combination of the two" must keep "primary automobile insurance" that recognizes the driver is a TNC driver and covers both stages.

For comparison, New Jersey's standard minimum for an ordinary policy is 35/70/25 for policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2026, and our sister site explains why New Jersey's minimum liability limits are a legal floor, not a safety net.

Sources: N.J.S.A. 39:6A-3 · DOBI Bulletin 25-06.

So the rideshare-specific number in Period 1 is the liability, which sits above the personal minimum. Its UM/UIM simply borrows the personal minimum. During a ride, all three figures are rideshare-specific.

The Rules in Section 10 That Matter After a Crash

• Primary. Every required coverage is "primary" insurance.
• First dollar. If the driver's coverage "has lapsed or does not provide the required coverage," the company's insurance pays "beginning with the first dollar of a claim," and the company must defend the claim.
• No waiting on a denial. The company's coverage "shall not be dependent upon a private passenger automobile insurer first denying a claim."
• Who can write it. A New Jersey-licensed insurer or an eligible surplus lines insurer, and the coverage satisfies New Jersey's financial responsibility laws.
• Proof and disclosure. You must carry proof of the coverage, paper or electronic, whenever you're using the car with the app. On request, you must tell the parties, insurers and police whether you were logged on or on a ride at the time of an accident.
• Financed cars. When the company's insurer pays for damage to a car with a lien, the payment goes to the repair shop or jointly to the owner and the primary lienholder.
• No verbal-threshold defense. In a lawsuit arising from a prearranged ride, neither the company nor the driver may assert the "limitation on lawsuit" option. If you cause a crash during a ride, you can't lean on the injured person's limited right to sue to block a pain-and-suffering claim, which raises the stakes on your liability coverage.
• Nothing for your car. Section 10 never mentions comprehensive or collision. Whatever Uber or Lyft pays toward your own car is the company's choice.

Source: N.J.S.A. 39:5H-10(a) through (j). Period by period: Period 1 · Periods 2 and 3.

What N.J.S.A. 39:5H-11 Makes the App Tell You

Before you can accept a ride, the company must disclose in writing "the insurance coverage, including the types and limits of coverage," that it provides while you use your car on its app. It must also tell you that your own personal auto policy "may or may not provide any coverage" while you're logged on or on a ride.

The duty is the company's, not your personal insurer's. Uber shows its certificates of insurance in the Driver app: from the menu, choose Account, then Insurance.

Sources: N.J.S.A. 39:5H-11 · Uber insurance page.

What N.J.S.A. 39:5H-12 Lets Your Insurer Exclude

"May exclude any and all coverage."

Section 12 lets a New Jersey insurer exclude any and all coverage under a personal auto policy for a loss that happens while the car is used by a TNC driver who "is logged on" to the app "or is providing a prearranged ride." It names six coverages the exclusion may reach: liability, PIP, UM/UIM, medical payments, comprehensive and collision.

Three points drivers miss:

• It's permission. The word is "may." Whether your policy actually excludes everything depends on its wording.
• No special wording or warning is required. The insurer doesn't need "any particular policy language" or a reference to the statute, and nothing in the section requires it to notify you.
• It starts at log-on. The trigger is being logged on, or being on a ride from the moment you accept. A passenger in the back seat isn't required.

The same section opens the door to the fix. Nothing in it stops an insurer from "providing primary or excess coverage by contract or endorsement" for logged-on and ride time. That's the rideshare endorsement.

The rest of section 12 settles who fights with whom after a claim. An insurer that excludes a claim this way has "no duty to defend or indemnify" it. Older exclusions for cars used "to carry persons or property for a charge" still stand. An insurer that pays a claim its policy excluded can seek contribution from the insurers providing the section 10 coverage. And in a claims investigation, the app company must immediately provide "the precise times" the driver logged on and off in the 12 hours before and after the accident.

Source: N.J.S.A. 39:5H-12(a) through (c). How it shows up in a policy: the rideshare exclusion.

Other Sections Drivers Run Into

The Motor Vehicle Commission's FAQ adds four practical answers: you need no special MVC permit or license endorsement, a car registered in another state can be used, a car with for-hire plates can't, and no town or county may require its own license for you or your car.

Source: NJ MVC TNC Act FAQ (undated; the statute controls).

What the Act Doesn't Cover

• Your car. No stage requires comprehensive or collision for the driver's own vehicle.
• Food delivery. The Appellate Division held in 2022 that the Act applies "only to the prearranged transport of persons and not to the delivery of food." No New Jersey statute sets insurance minimums for delivery apps. See Malzberg v. Josey and our guide for delivery drivers.
• A promise from your own insurer. Section 12 says nothing in it "shall imply or require" that a personal policy cover logged-on or ride time.

Sources: Malzberg v. Josey, 473 N.J. Super. 537 (App. Div. 2022) · N.J.S.A. 39:5H-12.

What a 2026 State Exam Found About Cancellations

The Act doesn't say what happens to your personal policy if your insurer learns you drive for an app. A New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance market conduct examination of one auto insurer, adopted October 20, 2026 (Order No. E26-103), shows how the state has applied its cancellation rules.

Examiners found policies that were "improperly terminated" because the car was used for "ridesharing purposes," calling that "an improper midterm cancellation reason as it is not explicitly allowed by N.J.A.C. 11:3-8.10(a)." In all, six policies were cancelled midterm for rideshare use and three for food or goods delivery, and the exam treated those cancellations as improper. The insurer said the six rideshare cancellations should have been processed as nonrenewals.

The allowed midterm reasons the exam quotes include nonpayment, a suspended license or registration, knowingly giving "materially false or misleading information" on an application, renewal or claim, and failing the insurer's acceptance rules within 60 days of a new policy.

What that means for you: if your insurer learns you drive for an app, it may decline to renew your policy, and if you gave false information on an application or a claim, it may have grounds to cancel. Telling your insurer and adding rideshare coverage is the clean way through.

Source: NJ DOBI, Order No. E26-103, adopted October 20, 2026; review period June 1, 2023 to May 31, 2024.

Pending: Bill A1507

Pending, not law. As of November 2026, Assembly Bill A1507 and its identical Senate bill, S472, sit in committee. Both were introduced and referred on January 13, 2026: A1507 to the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee, S472 to the Senate Commerce Committee. A similar pair, A6147 and S4898, did not pass in the 2024 to 2025 session.

The bill would change one number. During a prearranged ride, the UM/UIM requirement would drop from "at least $1,500,000" to whatever N.J.S.A. 17:28-1.1 requires of a personal policy: $35,000 per person, $70,000 per accident and $25,000 for property damage for policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2026. It would take effect immediately if enacted.

Why a driver should care: the $1.5 million UM/UIM is what protects you when an underinsured driver hits you during a ride. If A1507 passed, that protection would drop sharply, and your own UIM limits, plus an endorsement that follows you into rides, would matter more. We'll update this page if the bill moves.

Delivery drivers have their own pending bills. S3139 and A3568 would require delivery companies to carry certain auto insurance. Both were introduced on January 13, 2026, and both remain in committee.

Sources: S3139 · A3568.