Is it safe to drive with Uber?

Is Uber about to get safer?

By David Hodges on October 16, 2015
Estimated reading time: 1 minute

The firm's planning to upgrade its current insurance policy

This article is 9 years old. Some details may be outdated.

Fans of Uber, the app-based service that connects passengers with amateur drivers who charge cheap rates, may have been surprised to hear the firm’s working with Intact Financial to develop a new insurance plan for ride-sharing in Canada. Its aim is to ensure that, in the event of an accident, Uber customers will be protected if they’re riding with a driver who doesn’t have commercial auto insurance (a licensing requirement for taxis). Right now, Uber claims riders on the uberX platform in Canada are backed by $5,000,000 of contingent auto liability insurance—but as insurance broker Adam Mitchell notes, that coverage is only designed to protect Uber in a lawsuit (not you). As for the new Intact policy, Mitchell doesn’t expect it to come out for at least six months to a year.