State laws on rideshare insurance requirements

The state transportation network company (TNC) statutes compared here follow one pattern: a low required liability tier while a driver is logged on and waiting, a $1,000,000 tier from the moment a driver accepts a ride until the passenger gets out, and rules saying who pays first. The pattern comes from a model act, but the details, including property damage limits, uninsured motorist requirements and who has to cover passengers, differ by state.

Five states whose statutes are public and easy to read make a useful comparison, and one question cuts across all of them: when the driver's personal insurer and the ride company's insurer might both apply, which one pays first? Everything here is as of November 2026, and statutes change.

Where the common structure comes from

The framework most states copied is the National Council of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) Model Act to Regulate Insurance Requirements for Transportation Network Companies and Transportation Network Drivers. NCOIL, an organization of state legislators, adopted it in July 2015. Its page shows the model was re-adopted in September 2020 and several times since, most recently in July 2026 and only until the November 2026 meeting, so legislators keep revisiting it.

The model act's insurance section does five things:

1. It defines a "prearranged ride" as beginning when a driver accepts a rider's request through the app, continuing while the driver carries the rider, and ending when the last rider leaves the car. That definition leaves out shared-expense carpools, taxis, limousines and other hire vehicles.
2. It sets a waiting-period tier. While the driver is logged on and available but has not accepted a ride, primary liability of at least $50,000 per person for death and bodily injury, $100,000 per incident, and $25,000 for property damage.
3. It sets a ride tier. While the driver is engaged in a prearranged ride, primary liability of at least $1,000,000 for death, bodily injury and property damage.
4. It says who may provide the coverage. The driver's policy, the TNC's policy, or any combination of them can satisfy either tier.
5. It sets rules on priority. If the driver's policy has lapsed or does not provide the required coverage, the TNC's insurance must respond "beginning with the first dollar of a claim" and with a duty to defend, and the TNC's coverage cannot depend on a personal insurer first denying the claim.

The model also lets personal insurers exclude coverage for losses during app time, requires the TNC to tell drivers in writing what it covers and that their own policy might not, and makes the TNC hand over the driver's log-on and log-off times in a coverage investigation. Its two-tier shape is why you will see the "three periods" description in consumer material. The Triple-I's ride-sharing Q&A describes three periods drawn from a 2015 National Association of Insurance Commissioners white paper: logged in but unmatched, matched but passenger not yet aboard, and passenger aboard. The model act lumps the second and third into one $1,000,000 tier, though some states treat the third differently, as the table below shows.

Five states compared

The table summarizes the minimums in each state's statute or regulator page, as read in November 2026. Where the statute itself could not be opened, the table relies on the ride company's statement of what it carries "consistent with state requirements" and says so.

The sources behind the table are California Public Utilities Code section 5433 (as published on California.Public.Law, updated January 2026) and the California Public Utilities Commission's summary of TNC insurance requirements; Florida Statutes section 627.748; Texas Insurance Code sections 1954.052 and 1954.053; Washington's RCW 46.72B.180; and the footnotes on Lyft's driver insurance page.

A few things stand out:

• Property damage varies. California and Washington require $30,000 while a driver waits; Florida, Texas and the model act say $25,000.
• California adds an excess layer. The $200,000 excess coverage in the waiting tier is not part of the model act.
• The passenger-period uninsured motorist rules are the most distinctive part. California ($60,000 / $300,000) and Washington ($100,000 / $300,000) tie a specific uninsured or underinsured motorist amount to the time a passenger is in the car. Florida and Texas tie the requirement to their general uninsured motorist statutes instead.
• Arizona and Maryland use lower figures. The Lyft page shows that some states settle for less than $1,000,000 during part of the ride tier. The Arizona and Maryland statutes were not opened for this article, so treat those two figures as Lyft's description of its own policy, not a quotation of the law.

A worked example of the waiting tier

Say a driver in a state that follows the model act's waiting tier has the app on and no ride accepted. She pulls out in front of another car, and the other driver suffers injuries with $85,000 in medical bills. The other car has $31,000 in damage.

• With a $50,000 per-person limit, the liability tier tops out at $50,000 for that driver's injuries, leaving $35,000 of medical bills unpaid by this policy.
• With a $25,000 property damage limit, $6,000 of the car damage is uncovered.
• If she had accepted a ride and was en route, the $1,000,000 tier would have covered the whole loss.

All the figures are hypothetical. The point is that the waiting tier is deliberately thin, and the gap between $50,000 and $1,000,000 is the reason many drivers add a personal-side endorsement. The Rideshare insurance for Uber and Lyft drivers guide covers that choice, and rideshare accident scenarios: who pays in six crashes walks through six crashes.

How a state decides between the personal insurer and the ride company

Every statute reviewed here answers the same question: when two policies might apply, whose pays first? The answers are consistent on the main point and differ on the edges.

• First dollar and duty to defend. The model act, Florida (section 627.748(7)(d)), Texas (section 1954.054) and California (section 5433(e)) all say that if the driver's own coverage lapsed or does not provide the required coverage, the TNC's insurance must step in from the first dollar. California and Florida add that the TNC's insurer has the duty to defend; Washington says the insurers providing the required coverage are "the only insurers having the duty to defend."
• No requirement to be denied first. The model act, Florida (section 627.748(7)(e)), Texas (section 1954.055) and California (section 5433(d)) say coverage under the TNC's policy cannot depend on a personal insurer first denying a claim, and a personal insurer is not required to deny first.
• Whose policy is primary. Under the model act and the California, Florida, Texas and Washington statutes, the required coverage is primary. Primary means it pays first, before any other insurance that might also apply.
• Two apps at once. Washington's subsection (10) divides responsibility when a driver is logged into more than one TNC without a match: liability "must be divided equally among all of the applicable insurance policies that specifically provide coverage for commercial transportation services." Once a driver is matched, the TNC that made the match must provide the coverage.
• A policy that "specifically covers" app driving. California requires the TNC to verify that a driver's policy is "specifically written to cover" the driver's use of a vehicle with the app before the TNC can rely on it to meet the requirement. Washington requires a primary policy that is not a private passenger policy, unless an insurance commissioner approves an endorsement.

What states let personal insurers do

The same statutes that create the requirement also grant personal insurers a right to exclude. Florida's section 627.748(8)(b) lets an insurer exclude "any and all coverage" under an owner's policy for a loss that occurs while the driver is logged on or on a ride, and lists liability, uninsured and underinsured motorist, medical payments, comprehensive, collision and personal injury protection. Texas Insurance Code section 1954.151 lists the same coverages. Washington's subsection (6) is similar, and subsection (13) adds that an insurer may not deny a claim "arising exclusively out of the personal use" of the car solely because the owner also used it for rides.

Florida adds a protection for family members: the exclusions "do not affect or diminish coverage otherwise available for permissive drivers or resident relatives" who are not in the TNC vehicle at the time. In other words, a spouse driving a different car on the same policy is not caught by the driver's app use.

These exclusion provisions explain the pattern in Will my insurer cancel me if I drive for Uber or Lyft?: the law protects the public by requiring the ride company's cover, then leaves the personal insurer free to decline the risk.

Insurer eligibility and the financial responsibility link

Several statutes also set rules about who may write the coverage. The model act allows an admitted insurer or a surplus lines insurer with a rating of at least A- from AM Best (or A from Demotech). Florida requires an insurer authorized in the state that belongs to the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association, or an eligible surplus lines insurer with a superior, excellent, exceptional or equivalent rating. Washington has a comparable provision for licensed insurers and eligible surplus lines carriers.

The statutes also say that the required insurance satisfies the state's financial responsibility law while the driver is on the app. Florida's section 627.748(7)(g), for example, deems the TNC coverage to satisfy both its financial responsibility chapter and the no-fault security requirement for the time the driver is logged on or on a ride.

Disclosure and information sharing

State laws put two kinds of paperwork on the ride company.

Disclosure to drivers. The model act, Florida (section 627.748(8)(a)) and Washington require the TNC to tell drivers in writing what coverage it provides and that their own policy may not cover them while logged on. Washington even prescribes the capitalized text and adds a warning about liens: a driver whose vehicle has a lien must notify the lienholder that the vehicle will be used for commercial transportation services, which "may violate the terms of your contract with the lienholder." Florida adds that the driver must be told that compensated rides that are not prearranged, such as street hails, trigger a different coverage rule and potential criminal penalties.

Sharing records after a crash. The model act and Florida require the TNC to provide, on request, the precise times the driver logged on and off in the 12 hours before and after an accident. Washington requires the TNC or its insurer to produce a copy of that electronic record within ten business days of a request and to retain related records for the applicable limitation period plus two years. California's Public Utilities Code section 5435, per the CPUC, requires cooperation in a coverage investigation.

Rides and cities the model does not reach

State TNC laws cover prearranged rides on a TNC's app in a personal vehicle. They do not cover everything.

• Taxis, limousines and other for-hire cars. The model act and Florida carve these out of the "prearranged ride" definition. Lyft's insurance page says that for rides with New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) drivers originating in the five boroughs and several nearby counties, and for livery and charter-permit drivers nationwide, Lyft does not procure insurance; those drivers carry their own policies under state and local rules. Uber's page similarly says it does not provide comprehensive or collision for commercially insured livery drivers.
• Street hails and cash rides. Florida's definition of a prearranged ride excludes street hails, and its disclosure rule warns drivers that compensated rides outside the app expose them to the for-hire coverage requirements of section 324.032(1).
• Shared-expense carpools. The model act and Florida exclude them from the definition.
• Local licensing. Cities and airports can set their own permits and fees, and a local rule can apply on top of the state statute. No particular city's insurance rule was verified for this article, so check the city or airport authority as well as the state if you drive in a large market.

How to check your own state

1. Start with your state's insurance department or utility regulator; many publish a plain-language TNC page. The state car insurance requirements lookup tool can help you find your state's basic requirements.
2. Search your state's statute for "transportation network company." Look for the sections titled something like insurance requirements, exclusions and disclosures.
3. Read the ride company's own state-by-state pages (Uber's and Lyft's insurance pages list state exceptions).
4. Ask your personal insurer which periods its rideshare product covers and how the deductible works; see contingent collision coverage and the rideshare deductible.
5. If the statute and the company page disagree, the statute controls. For a dispute, a licensed attorney or your state insurance department is the place for specifics.

Common questions

Do all states require $1,000,000 coverage?

No. The $1,000,000 figure comes from the model act and appears in the statutes reviewed for California, Florida, Texas and Washington. But Lyft's page shows $250,000 in Arizona and $125,000 in Maryland while a driver is en route to a pickup, and some states set different splits. Check your state's current text.

Does the state require the ride company to cover my own injuries?

Sometimes. Florida and Washington require PIP in their statutes, and Texas requires it where its general law does. Elsewhere, the ride companies say they "may" maintain uninsured motorist, PIP or medical payments coverage depending on state law. Uber's page says these coverages are not available in every state.

Can my state require my personal insurer to cover rideshare driving?

Not in the statutes covered here. They permit exclusions and say a personal policy need not cover the time on the app. Individual insurers decide whether to sell an endorsement.

Do the rules change often?

Yes. The California statute text reviewed here was updated in January 2026, and NCOIL's model is being re-adopted on short cycles. Date-check anything you rely on.

Key takeaways

• The statutes compared here follow a model act: a $50,000 / $100,000 / $25,000-type tier while a driver waits for a request, and $1,000,000 from acceptance to drop-off, with exceptions such as Lyft's stated Arizona and Maryland figures.
• The biggest differences between states are property damage limits, the uninsured and underinsured motorist amounts tied to a passenger being aboard, and PIP.
• Priority rules are fairly uniform: the TNC's coverage fills in from the first dollar when the driver's policy fails, and does not depend on a personal insurer denying first.
• The same laws let personal insurers exclude app time, so state law leaves the endorsement decision to the insurer.
• Read your state's statute and regulator page, not a national summary, before relying on any figure here.