March 25, 2015
Habig & Magoon Insurance Agency has been helping people and companies in southern New England … and beyond … for almost 80 years.
And, during this period, continuously, we have always been family owned – ever since Fred Magoon launched, in 1937, in Brockton, the insurance business that would become Habig & Magoon Insurance Agency.
We have seen a lot of history – and a lot of societal and economic and international ups and downs.
We are still here – and stronger than ever.
Through the years, almost all significant changes in business and the economy, and technology, have had an impact on the insurance sector.
A major disruptive change (and disruptive change can largely be good) ongoing now – one that surely has insurance consequences of which drivers and the public at large should be aware – is ridesharing.
Ridesharing, as defined by Wikipedia, is “a service that arranges one-time shared rides on very short notice. This type of carpooling generally makes use of three recent technological advances.”
A ridesharing company may also be called a transportation network company (TNC).
Among the leading ridesharing enterprises are Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar.
The March 5, 2015 edition of the Massachusetts Agent, a publication of the Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents, included an article on ridesharing.
In the following excerpt from the article, addressed are insurance coverage issues for those owning and operating a car in Massachusetts, and use it for ridesharing, or are are considering doing so:
If you have a Massachusetts personal auto policy, there is NO coverage for anyone injured while occupying your car while it’s being used as a public or livery conveyance. In addition, the coverage will not pay for Property Damage, and coverage under all optional insurance parts – like Optional Body Injury, Medical Payments, Collision, Comprehensive and Underinsured Auto Bodily – is excluded. If driving for a TNC is your ‘job’, you are not eligible for a personal auto policy at all. The only policy which will cover you as a TNC driver is a Taxi/Limo/Car Service policy. As you can imagine, the cost of this type of commercial auto policy is substantially more than your personal auto policy.”
Operating as a rideshare driver can be a good way to make money – for sure.
But, please keep in mind, that while doing so in Massachusetts, your personal auto insurance policy is woefully inadequate.
You need additional and specific insurance offered through the rideshare company for which you are providing a service.
And It is important to check with the company to understand the extent and type of insurance and coverage under which you will be working.
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