Although Uber has recently secured blanket insurance coverage from
Intact Financial Corporation, the transportation network company (TNC) is not out of the woods yet—Uber will need to address the loopholes its current policy has.
Previously, drivers associated with the TNC would have to purchase a liability add-on from
Aviva to allow their personal auto policy to cover for their commercial driving activities.
Aviva introduced this product not too long ago, in May.
Since then, Uber has acquired a blanket policy from Intact Financial Corporation, which automatically covers the TNC’s drivers the moment a ride is arranged through the Uber app until the trip is completed.
Although incredibly convenient for drivers, Uber’s blanket insurance policy does have its weak points, which become especially glaring if drivers do not have personal auto insurance coverage from Intact.
“The edict from Intact is that if the client is insured outside of the Intact family (Belair, Novex, Jevco), they must advise their personal automobile insurer that the vehicle is used for Uber, and Intact is picking up the usage as soon as the driver accesses the Uber app,” explained Sound Insurance broker Debbie Arnold in an opinion piece on
driving.ca. “The problem is that this is new to the industry and we don’t know how the courts will react in the event of a serious claim.”
“However, Intact says that the liability limit is $2,000,000 once the passenger is picked up, the deductible is $1,000, but they are only providing standard accident benefit coverage,” underscored Arnold.
“There are going to be gaps in coverage here even when the driver informs their personal carrier because there are loopholes.”
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