Which insurance covers you depends entirely on what your app was doing at the moment of impact. Nobody explains this at the scene, the answer is not obvious, and the record that proves it lives inside an app you may lose access to. Here is how it actually works in California, what changed on January 1, 2026, and what to screenshot today.
Do this before you finish reading. Open your driver app and screenshot the trip in question: the trip ID, the timestamps, the pickup and dropoff, and your status at the time. Screenshot your earnings screen for that day too. Trip history does not stay accessible forever, and if your account is ever deactivated you may lose it entirely. This is the single piece of evidence that decides which insurance applies, and right now it exists only on a company's server.
Everything turns on your app status. Two crashes on the same corner, ten minutes apart, can be governed by completely different policies.
Your own personal auto policy applies, exactly as it would for anyone else. Nothing about driving for a platform changes this.
This is the thin spot, and it is where most drivers assume they are covered and are not. California requires the platform to carry contingent liability during this window, and the required limits are far lower than during an active trip. Critically, it generally does not include collision coverage for your own vehicle. And because most personal policies exclude commercial use, your own insurer may deny the claim outright the moment they learn the app was on.
The fix is not something we can do for you, but it is worth knowing: a rideshare endorsement added to your personal policy is what closes this gap, and it typically costs a modest amount per month.
Coverage steps up substantially here. The platform's $1 million commercial liability policy is in play.
The $1 million third-party liability policy continues to apply. This is also the period that changed this year.
What changed on January 1, 2026. California Senate Bill 371 amended the Public Utilities Code and sharply reduced the uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage that Uber and Lyft are required to carry during the on-trip period. That protection, which is what responds when the at-fault driver has no insurance, has too little insurance, or flees the scene, dropped from $1 million per person to the state minimum.
The $1 million liability policy that responds when the rideshare driver is at fault was not changed. Only the uninsured motorist piece was cut.
Why this matters to you practically: in a hit-and-run or an uninsured-driver crash, there is now far less coverage sitting behind you than there was last year. That does not change how we treat you. It does mean that a thorough, dated, contemporaneous medical record is doing more work than it used to, because there is less room for anything to be assumed.
If you were sitting in the back of an Uber or Lyft when it happened, you were in the highest-coverage period, and you are also the person most affected by this year's change. Everything on this page applies to you, including the instruction to screenshot the trip. Your own ride receipt is your proof of when and where.
Delivery platforms run their own period-based structures, and they are not identical to the rideshare ones. Coverage varies meaningfully by platform, and some provide considerably less than a TNC does. Check your specific platform's help center for its current coverage terms rather than assuming it works like Uber's.
What is the same across all of them: your app status at the moment of impact is the deciding fact, the record of it lives inside the app, and your personal policy probably excludes commercial use unless you added an endorsement.
This is the difference between your situation and a commuter's. A stiff neck is an inconvenience for someone with a desk job. For you it is your income, because checking a blind spot, turning to talk to a passenger, and sitting for eight to twelve hours are the job.
Three things we do that matter specifically for drivers:
What we do not do: tell you what your claim is worth. We are your treating doctor, not an expert witness, and we do not put a number on anyone's case.
This page is general information about how insurance is structured in California. It is not legal advice, and how any of it applies to your specific situation is a question for a lawyer. We do not recommend a particular firm and accept no fee or consideration from any of them. If you want counsel, the Alameda County Bar Association runs a State Bar–certified referral service.
Same-day appointments, seven days a week, downtown Oakland at 8th and Broadway. Dr. Ben Glass sees you himself, in English or Spanish. We verify your coverage first and tell you in writing what you will owe, if anything.