Mercury Insurance Launches Ride-Hailing Coverage in Illinois

April 27, 2016

Mercury Insurance is now offering ride-hailing insurance to cover Uber, Lyft and other Transportation Network Company (TNC) drivers in Illinois. This new coverage will provide drivers with insurance that will bridge the gap between their personal auto insurance and the coverage provided by their TNC.

Mercury said its ride-hailing policy will fill the gaps in coverage and provide drivers with high quality insurance that will cover them throughout the entire drive cycle. This means that if drivers get into an accident in any portion of the drive cycle and are liable they will be insured up to the limits of coverage purchased.

The ride-hailing drive cycle is divided into three periods:

  • Period 1: Drivers have turned on the ride-hailing app, but haven’t accepted a fare.
  • Period 2: Drivers have accepted a fare and are on their way to pick up the passenger(s).
  • Period 3: Drivers are transporting passenger(s) to their destinations.

Mercury’s ride-hailing insurance will extend drivers’ personal auto policies from Period 1 through Period 3 of the drive cycle, allowing them to obtain coverage not provided by their ride-hailing companies. This means that if drivers get into an accident during any period of the drive cycle and have Mercury’s ride-hailing insurance, they will have coverage above and beyond the coverage provided by their TNC.

Mercury’s ride-hailing insurance will also fix the insured’s vehicle in a covered loss if those coverages have been purchased from Mercury.

In addition, if the policies provided by both the TNC and Mercury include coverage for the insured’s vehicle, then the Mercury policy will pay for any “gap” between the higher deductible on the TNC policy and the lower deductible on the Mercury policy.

Currently, Mercury’s ride-hailing insurance is also available to Arizona, California, Oklahoma and Nevada ride-hailing drivers.

Source: Mercury Insurance

Topics New Markets Illinois

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