To deliver for Uber Eats, you need your own auto insurance policy plus, in most cases, a rideshare or delivery endorsement added to it. Uber provides commercial liability coverage while you’re actively on a delivery, but that coverage has significant gaps, and your standard personal auto policy will likely deny any claim that happens while you’re using your car for delivery work.
Why Personal Auto Insurance Isn’t Enough
Standard personal auto policies exclude coverage when you’re using your vehicle for business purposes. That exclusion applies to food delivery. If you get into an accident while carrying someone’s lunch order and file a claim on your personal policy, your insurer can deny it outright. Worse, if your insurer discovers you’ve been doing regular delivery work without disclosing it, they could cancel your policy entirely, leaving you uninsured for everything, not just deliveries.
This matters even for medical payments coverage. Insurers typically won’t cover your medical expenses or a passenger’s if you were driving your own car for business use at the time of the accident.
What Uber Provides (and When It Kicks In)
Uber’s insurance for delivery drivers works on a tiered system based on what you’re doing at any given moment. The coverage changes depending on whether you’re just waiting for an order, actively picking one up, or logged off entirely.
When you’re offline: Uber provides nothing. Your personal auto insurance is your only coverage.
When you’re online but waiting for a delivery request: Uber carries third-party liability insurance that covers injuries and property damage if you’re at fault, but at relatively low limits: $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident for injuries, plus $25,000 in property damage. These amounts may not come close to covering a serious accident, especially one involving injuries or an expensive vehicle.
When you’ve accepted a delivery and are en route or completing it: Uber’s coverage jumps significantly. The company maintains at least $1,000,000 in liability coverage for property damage and injuries to third parties. It also covers repairs to your own car up to your vehicle’s actual cash value, but with a $2,500 deductible. That vehicle damage coverage is contingent, meaning it only applies if your personal policy already includes comprehensive and collision coverage.
The key gap here is that “online but waiting” period. You could spend a significant chunk of your shift with the app open, parked or driving around hoping for an order, covered only by those lower liability limits. And your personal policy likely won’t cover you during that time either, since you’re logged into a delivery platform for commercial purposes.
The Endorsement That Fills the Gap
A rideshare or delivery endorsement is an add-on to your existing personal auto policy that extends your coverage to periods when you’re using your car for gig work. It bridges the gap between your personal policy (which excludes delivery driving) and Uber’s commercial coverage (which only reaches full strength once you’ve accepted an order).
This endorsement typically adds 10% to 15% to your premium. Some insurers price it even lower. Mercury Insurance, for example, offers ridesharing coverage for as little as 90 cents a day depending on your policy and location. Progressive and Allstate also offer endorsements, and Progressive’s rates tend to be among the more affordable options.
One practical benefit of these endorsements: they can reimburse you for the gap between Uber’s $2,500 deductible on vehicle damage and your own policy’s deductible, which is probably much lower. If your personal deductible is $500, the endorsement can save you $2,000 on a collision claim during a delivery. Allstate’s Ride For Hire endorsement works this way, letting you pay your own chosen deductible rather than Uber’s.
State Farm is frequently recommended specifically for food delivery drivers. Not every insurer offers a delivery-friendly endorsement, so check with your current provider before assuming you’re covered. If they don’t offer one, you may need to switch to a company that does.
When You Need Commercial Auto Insurance
A rideshare endorsement works for most Uber Eats drivers, but if you’re delivering full-time or using a vehicle primarily for commercial purposes, some insurers may require a full commercial auto policy instead. Commercial policies cost more, often two to three times a personal policy, but they cover business use without restrictions.
You’re more likely to need commercial coverage if you deliver for multiple platforms simultaneously, drive a vehicle registered to a business, or spend the majority of your driving hours on deliveries rather than personal trips. For someone doing a few hours of Uber Eats on weekends, the endorsement is almost always sufficient and far more affordable.
Delivering by Bike, E-Bike, or Scooter
If you deliver on a scooter, Uber requires you to have valid vehicle insurance, a driver’s license, and scooter registration. Your insurance documents must match the name on your Uber profile, and the VIN on your insurance has to match your registration. You need to upload these documents in the Uber Driver app within 14 days of your first delivery, or you’ll be locked out of going online.
Bicycle couriers generally face fewer insurance requirements since most jurisdictions don’t mandate insurance for bikes. However, you’re still personally liable if you cause an accident or injure a pedestrian. A personal liability policy or umbrella policy can protect you in those situations, and they’re relatively inexpensive.
How to Set Up the Right Coverage
Start by calling your current auto insurer and telling them you plan to do food delivery through Uber Eats. Ask specifically whether they offer a rideshare or delivery endorsement and what it costs. Some insurers will add it to your existing policy in minutes. Others don’t offer one at all, and a few will flag your account or raise your rates just for asking, though this is uncommon.
If your insurer doesn’t offer an endorsement, shop around. Get quotes from providers known for gig-driver-friendly policies. When comparing, pay attention to what each endorsement actually covers: some only fill the gap during the “app on, waiting for a request” period, while others extend more broadly. Make sure the endorsement covers delivery work specifically, not just rideshare passengers, since some older endorsements were designed for Uber rides and may not explicitly include food delivery.
Keep your comprehensive and collision coverage active on your personal policy. Without it, Uber’s contingent coverage for damage to your own vehicle won’t apply, and you’ll be paying out of pocket for any repairs after an at-fault accident during a delivery. That $2,500 deductible on Uber’s coverage stings, but it’s far better than covering the full cost of a totaled car yourself.