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Will my car insurance cover me while I drive for a ride-hailing or delivery app?

Car insuranceWho paysTexasChecked Nov 6, 2026

From K.Actuary, founded by Sangmin Kwon, ASA · sources checked 2026-11-06 · Source: Texas Department of Insurance View original ↗

In short

  1. Most car policies do not pay when you drive for an app.
  2. Texas lets your insurer drop all cover while the app is on.
  3. Ask both sides in writing what they cover.

What this means

Two policies are in play, and neither one covers the whole day. Your own policy first. TDI says most personal auto policies do not include coverage when you are using your car for ride sharing [1]. Texas law spells out how. An insurer may shut off cover for any loss or injury that happens while the driver is logged on to the app's network. The same goes for a ride the driver has already accepted [2]. The shut-off can reach every part of the policy. The law's own list names liability, personal injury protection, uninsured and underinsured motorist, medical payments, comprehensive and collision [2]. The law does not require a personal policy to cover those periods at all. An insurer may still choose to cover them, in the policy or by endorsement [3]. TDI's list of what most policies do not cover names driving for a ride-hailing service, and delivering food or other items for a fee [4].

The app company's side is set by statute, at two levels. While you are logged on and waiting for a request, the cover must be at least $50,000 for bodily injury or death for each person. It must be at least $100,000 per incident, and $25,000 for damage to the property of others [5]. Once you are on a ride you accepted, the cover must be at least $1 million in total for each incident [6]. If your own policy has lapsed, or falls short of the chapter, the company's cover starts with the first dollar of a claim against you [7].

The gap is usually your own car. TDI says some policies cover only damage to other people and their property. They may leave out damage to you, your family members, or your car [1].

So ask on both sides, in writing. Ask your insurer if it sells a ride-hailing or delivery endorsement, and what it adds to your premium. TDI says the ride-hailing company must tell you about its policy, including the types of cover and the limits [1]. So ask the app company for that policy document too. Then read both for three periods: app off, logged on, and on a ride. One thing the sources do not give: the rules for delivery-only work. The chapter quoted here is written for transportation network companies, and we did not find a delivery rule in it. Don't know yet, and we do not guess.

Your next step

Ask your insurer in writing whether your policy excludes the app periods and whether it sells an endorsement that covers them, and what the endorsement adds to your premium. Ask the app company for its own policy document. The sources give no deadline, but the law lets an insurer exclude every coverage while you are logged on, so settle this before your next shift.

Check it yourself

Read the «Does my policy cover ride sharing?» section of TDI's ride sharing page and the «Most policies don't cover» list in the TDI auto guide, both quoted here. Then read Tex. Ins. Code §1954.052, §1954.053, §1954.054, §1954.151 and §1954.152. In your own policy, the exclusion and any endorsement are the two parts to read side by side.

Where this comes from (7)

  1. [1] Texas Department of Insurance · checked 2026-11-06

    Most personal auto policies do not include coverage when you are using your car for ride sharing. Some insurance companies now offer policies for ride-sharing drivers. These policies may cover only part of the time you are driving, such as the time before you pick up a passenger. Some policies cover only damage to other people and their property, but not damage to you, your family members, or your car. … Your ride-sh…

  2. [2] Texas Insurance Code · Tex. Ins. Code ch. 1954 · § 1954.151 «Authorized exclusions from coverage» (a), (b) · checked 2026-11-06

    An insurer may exclude from coverage under a personal automobile insurance policy issued to an owner or operator of a personal vehicle any loss or injury that occurs while a transportation network company driver using the personal vehicle: (1) is logged on to a transportation network company's digital network; or (2) is engaged in a prearranged ride. … Subsection (a) applies to any coverage included in a personal aut…

  3. [3] Texas Insurance Code · Tex. Ins. Code ch. 1954 · § 1954.152 «Coverage under personal automobile insurance not required» (a), (b) · checked 2026-11-06

    This subchapter does not require a personal automobile insurance policy to cover a transportation network company driver while: (1) the driver is logged on to a transportation network company's digital network; (2) the driver is engaged in a prearranged ride; or (3) the driver otherwise uses a vehicle to transport passengers for compensation. … This section does not prevent an insurer from providing coverage that may…

  4. [4] Texas Department of Insurance · checked 2026-11-06

    Accidents that happen while you're driving for a ride-hailing service or delivering food or other items for a fee

  5. [5] Texas Insurance Code · Tex. Ins. Code ch. 1954 · § 1954.052 «Insurance requirements: between prearranged rides» · checked 2026-11-06

    At the time a transportation network company driver is logged on to the transportation network company's digital network and is available to receive transportation network requests but is not engaged in a prearranged ride, the automobile insurance policy must provide: (1) the following minimum amounts of liability insurance coverage: (A) $50,000 for bodily injury to or death for each person in an incident; (B) $100,0…

  6. [6] Texas Insurance Code · Tex. Ins. Code ch. 1954 · § 1954.053 «Insurance requirements: during prearranged rides» · checked 2026-11-06

    At the time a transportation network company driver is engaged in a prearranged ride, the automobile insurance policy must provide, at a minimum: (1) coverage with a total aggregate limit of liability of $1 million for death, bodily injury, and property damage for each incident

  7. [7] Texas Insurance Code · Tex. Ins. Code ch. 1954 · § 1954.054 «Lapse of or insufficient coverage» · checked 2026-11-06

    If an insurance policy maintained by a transportation network company driver under this subchapter has lapsed or does not provide the coverage required by this subchapter, the transportation network company shall provide the coverage required by this subchapter beginning with the first dollar of a claim against the driver.

How we found this

We matched your question to 7 official sources, quoted the exact lines, and re-checked each quote against its source on 2026-11-06.

What we don’t know yet

Your own plan or notice may say something different. If your letter cites another rule, send it and we will look again.

Every answer is checked against the official rule it quotes.

Information only — not legal advice. Your plan, insurer or agency decides.

This answer quotes the official sources listed above, with the date we checked them. Your own policy, notice and state rules control. We are not your lawyer or your insurer. We don’t file, argue or negotiate claims for you — you send any letter or form yourself.

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