Do I need commercial auto insurance in Florida when working for a food delivery service?

Are you a gig worker or someone who uses their car for food service delivery purposes? When you use your car to deliver items to households and businesses, you are operating it commercially. Because of this, you may need commercial auto insurance. Let’s take a look at the reasons you’d need commercial auto insurance.

What Is Commercial or Business Use of a Personal Vehicle?

When you think of business-use vehicles, you probably think of cars, trucks, vans, semis, and equipment vehicles that have business logos on them and are driven by employees of those businesses. At night, those vehicles are typically left in the employer’s parking lot until the next workday. However, you may not think of your personal vehicle as being a work vehicle because you initially purchased it to run errands and help ensure you get to work on time, but if you now deliver food from restaurants in your vehicle because you applied to be an independent delivery driver for an app, or you deliver pizzas or other food from restaurants where you are employed as a delivery driver. Your personal vehicle is considered a work vehicle while you are performing job duties.

Why You Need Commercial Car Insurance if You deliver Food

It’s important to understand that your personal car insurance policy may not cover you if you are working when you get into a car accident. This is because insurance companies consider driving for work to be riskier than using your car to run errands or drive yourself to work. The main reason is that people who use their vehicles for work purposes spend more time on the road. The longer hours and increased daily mileage can lead to an increased risk of getting into an accident. This means that if you drive for work, you need a commercial car insurance policy.

Types of Food Delivery Workers that Need Commercial Auto Insurance

Some delivery apps offer their contracted drivers or gig workers some car insurance. However, other apps may not, and it’s important to understand what your app or job covers as far as if you get into an accident or an incident while working. Of course, you may want your own delivery driver insurance policy regardless of whether your company or app provides any insurance.

• Amazon Fresh, Prime, and Flex – Drivers for Amazon Fresh, Prime, and Flex are covered with 1 million in liability insurance, 1 million for under and uninsured drivers, and $50,000 for comprehensive and collision, above what the driver’s insurance covers.
• Caviar – Caviar provides its drivers with substantial insurance that includes 1 million in medical expenses, $100,000 for accidental death and survivor’s benefits, and $500 per week for accidental disability.
• DoorDash – DoorDash has what is known as a commercial excess policy, which is similar to an umbrella policy in that it covers claims that go above the driver’s standard insurance policy. Their policy covers drivers if they have the order in their possession at the time of the accident. It’s also important to note that if the driver does not have a valid insurance policy, DoorDash’s policy doesn’t cover anything.
• GrubHub – GrubHub does not provide any type of car insurance to its drivers.
• Instacart – Instacart does not provide their gig worker drivers with any type of insurance policy. All drivers are required to have their own car insurance.
• Postmates – Postmates has an insurance policy similar to Doordash. The policy goes up to a million dollars, and the driver must have his or her own policy. The policy also covers the excess above what the driver’s insurance policy covers.
• Uber Eats – Uber eats does provide drivers with commercial car insurance, unless they live in New York. Their policy offers liability insurance up to a million dollars.

Of course, it’s important to check with your delivery app or job in order to find out exactly what they do and do not cover if you are in an accident while working.

Getting a Commercial Auto Insurance Policy for Food Delivery

If you aren’t sure if you need a commercial car insurance policy along with your personal car insurance policy, it’s best to call an agent, like those at Fearnow. Even if your delivery app or employer, like Dominoes or Papa John’s, provides some insurance, it may not be enough or cover you when you think it should. For example, if you work for Postmates or DoorDash and get into an accident after dropping off an order but while on your way to pick up another order, you may not be covered. If you work for GrubHub or Instacart, you may not be covered at all unless you have your own commercial policy. Here at Fearnow, our agents don’t want you to be left without a car because you didn’t realize you needed commercial car insurance to be a delivery driver.

To get a quote for commercial insurance for your delivery driving job, give us a call at 813-689-8878.