The Little Rock City Board has approved an regulatory scheme for ride-sharing services such as Uber, in part on assurances that insurance will cover the cars when drivers are on-board and some lesser insurance will cover the cars when they are responding to a call. For other times, drivers must maintain their own lower limit insurance.

But now comes the taxicab lobby with questions about whether major insurers will cover such drivers on personal policies. A news release from the ad hoc lobby, Who’s Driving You?

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A leaked Geico internal sales training document clearly indicates the company will terminate policies of customers found driving for so-called “ridesharing” companies Uber, Lyft and Sidecar.

The document also states customers found driving for “ridesharing” companies may be referred to the company’s fraud department, and be required to prove they no longer drive commercially, if they wish to retain insurance coverage.

A spokesperson for Geico refused to comment on the document, except to agree in concept that personal insurance policies do not cover livery (for-hire) services. According to a report, major insurers Allstate and State Farm also agree that personal policies do not cover driving for so-called “ridesharing” companies, which would include Uber’s service uberX, as well as its competitor, Lyft.

“Major insurance companies may be reticent to publicly denounce ‘ridesharing’ companies, nonetheless this document demonstrates Geico will drop customers who drive for Uber and Lyft,” said Dave Sutton, spokesperson for ‘Who’s Driving You?’ “Geico is referring ‘ridesharing’ drivers to its fraud department—and that should make uberX and Lyft drivers very, very nervous.”

Does the Little Rock City Board care? Probably not. Uber is in a hurry. The City Board has tried to be accommodating. 

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