Liberty Mutual Insurance will present protection for Uber drivers and passengers all through New England, South Carolina and Puerto Rico as a part of the corporate’s 2020 auto insurance coverage applications, which grew to become efficient on Dec. 31, 2019.
The transfer by the Boston-based insurer comes after one other insurer, James River, stated it’s dropping Uber as an account.
Under its program, Liberty Mutual stated it gives particular coverages from the time Uber drivers open the app and are ready for a visit or supply request by way of the completion of the journey or supply. The program is being rolled out in Puerto Rico and chosen states solely: South Carolina and the New England states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
The program was developed by the insurer’s devoted sharing financial system and new mobility dangers unit. The unit, which is targeted on offering customized merchandise and claims service for ride-hailing, vehicle-sharing, automobile subscription, supply companies and autonomous automobile corporations, is headed by Senior Vice President and Chief Underwriting Officer David Blessing. “We drew on our competitive advantage of vast commercial and personal lines expertise, including our best-in-class claims and service organizations, to meet the specific risk management challenges facing the company’s ride-hailing and delivery operations,” Blessing stated.
Uber’s vice chairman of security and insurance coverage, Gus Fuldner, welcomed Liberty Mutual. “At Uber, we want both drivers and riders to have peace of mind during trips, and Liberty Mutual helps fulfill that obligation,” Fuldner was quoted as saying in the insurer’s announcement.
Liberty Mutual additionally seems to be serving to to fill a niche in Uber’s insurance coverage program uncovered in the Oct. 8 announcement by James River Group that it’s dropping Uber, its largest consumer, and cancelling all Uber insurance policies as of Dec. 31.
“This account has not met our expectations for profitability, and we think it best to terminate the underwriting relationship as of year end,” stated J. Adam Abram, James River chairman and chief govt officer.
James River was a pioneer in providing insurance coverage to transportation community corporations together with Uber. The insurer acknowledged that it mispriced insurance policies in its first few years with Uber and in 2017 had to prohibit its writings in Florida, which it stated was a significant contributor to losses.
Abram additionally stated that the insurer believes that California’s new “gig” employee regulation governing contract employees corresponding to ride-hailing drivers “will adversely alter the claims profile for ride-share companies” going ahead. Uber has sued to block the regulation.
After St. James introduced its exit, Uber instructed the Wall Street Journal it anticipated different insurers to substitute James River as a part of its insurance coverage program.
Allstate, Farmers, Progressive and different carriers additionally present protection for Uber drivers. Uber additionally has a captive insurance coverage subsidiary to cowl sure dangers.
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