How much insurance is available after an Arizona Uber or Lyft accident?

Arizona raises the minimum twice after a ride is accepted

The accepted-ride period has two liability floors under the same subsection. At least $250,000 per incident applies while the driver is providing transportation network services. That liability minimum becomes at least $1,000,000 per incident when a passenger to whom the driver is providing those services is occupying the vehicle. Uninsured motorist coverage belongs to that whole transportation-services period. It is not limited to the occupied ride. Arizona Revised Statutes § 28-4038(B).

During the waiting period, coverage may be maintained through any of three options in § 28-4038(A)(1)–(3): a private-passenger policy that expressly covers the logged-in driver, a policy maintained by the transportation network company, or a commercial motor vehicle liability policy — or a combination. Policies required by § 28-4038 may be placed with an insurer authorized to transact business in Arizona or an eligible surplus lines insurer. Arizona Revised Statutes § 28-4038(A), (I).

Uber’s current Arizona certificate, effective March 1, 2026 through March 1, 2027, lists $50,000/$100,000/$25,000 while the driver is logged in and waiting for a request — higher than Arizona’s own statutory floor for that period — and a $1,000,000 combined single limit once a ride has been accepted. The certificate states uninsured motorist coverage is not included during the waiting period, and underinsured motorist coverage applies only to accidents on the premises of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, in the amount of $250,000 combined single limit. Uber Arizona Certificate of Insurance.

Lyft’s current Arizona certificate, dated August 14, 2026, lists policies effective October 1, 2026 through October 1, 2027: $25,000/$50,000/$20,000 for Period 1 — matching Arizona’s statutory minimum for the waiting period exactly — a $250,000 combined single limit for Period 2 and a $1,000,000 combined single limit for Period 3, with uninsured motorist coverage of $25,000 per person / $75,000 per accident on the Period 2/3 policy. Lyft Arizona Certificate of Liability Insurance. Lyft states that its Arizona limit while a driver is en route to pick up a rider is $250,000 combined single limit. Lyft — Insurance coverage while driving with Lyft.

When does Arizona’s higher liability tier begin and end?

Arizona defines “transportation network services” to begin when a driver accepts a request for transportation network services received through the company’s digital network or software application. The period continues while the driver provides the transportation, and ends when the passenger exits the vehicle or when the trip is canceled. Arizona Revised Statutes § 28-9551(6).

Knowing the app status is only the first question in Arizona. Because the accepted-ride period itself carries two different coverage floors, the second question is whether a passenger had actually gotten into the vehicle at the moment of impact.

The practical timeline is:

1. Offline: personal insurance only.
2. Logged in and available, no accepted request: at least $25,000/$50,000/$20,000.
3. Request accepted, en route to pickup: at least $250,000 in liability per incident, plus the transportation-services uninsured motorist floor.
4. Passenger occupying the vehicle: liability of at least $1,000,000 per incident. UM is already required. Occupancy is what raises the liability limit.
5. Passenger exits, or the trip is canceled: the higher tier ends.

If the driver remains logged in afterward, the waiting-period minimum applies again until the next request is accepted or the driver logs off.

Arizona can move through three coverage floors on the same short trip

An Arizona claim can move through three different coverage floors within the same short trip.

An accident seconds before a driver accepts a request falls under the $25,000/$50,000/$20,000 waiting-period minimum. The same accident after acceptance, and before the passenger is in the car, falls under the $250,000 liability minimum and the transportation-services UM requirement. Once that passenger is in the vehicle, the liability floor is $1,000,000. The UM requirement does not wait for that step.

That split matters because an ordinary Arizona personal auto policy does not have to include uninsured motorist coverage. The insurer must offer it, in writing, at limits not less than the policy’s bodily-injury limits, and the named insured can reject it. Arizona Revised Statutes § 20-259.01(A). The rideshare UM floor in § 28-4038(B) is a transportation-services requirement. It is not a general Arizona rule for every personal auto policy.

Are there different city rules?

Arizona declares the regulation and use of transportation network companies and their vehicles to be a matter of statewide concern, and states that they are not subject to further regulation by a county, city, town, or other political subdivision. A public airport operator may still set its own requirements — such as the number of vehicles allowed to conduct business at the airport — for TNC activity at that airport. Arizona Revised Statutes § 28-142. There is no separate Phoenix, Tucson, or Mesa insurance minimum for rideshare accidents; the insurance floors above apply statewide, with the airport-specific UIM entry on Uber’s certificate being a function of that carrier’s own policy rather than a separate city insurance requirement.

Does Arizona UM start at acceptance, or only when a passenger is in the car?

Liability insurance protects against claims made because an insured driver caused an accident. Uninsured motorist coverage addresses injuries caused by a driver with no applicable liability coverage. Underinsured motorist coverage addresses a responsible driver whose available liability insurance is lower than the injured insured’s applicable underinsured-motorist limits.

On an ordinary Arizona personal auto policy, uninsured motorist coverage is optional: the insurer must offer it by written notice, on a form approved by the director, at limits not less than the policy’s bodily injury liability limits. The policy declarations page is the final expression of the named insured’s decision to purchase or reject the coverage and applies to every person insured under the policy. Arizona Revised Statutes § 20-259.01(A). Underinsured motorist coverage is offered the same way under § 20-259.01(B).

Section 28-4038(B) places uninsured motorist coverage in the transportation-services period. That period starts when the driver accepts the request. It does not start only when a passenger sits down. The required primary commercial UM coverage is the greater of $25,000 per person and $75,000 per incident, or the bodily-injury minimums in § 28-4009. Arizona Revised Statutes § 28-4038(B)(2).

Physical occupancy is a different trigger. It is the event that raises liability from at least $250,000 per incident to at least $1,000,000 per incident. A.R.S. § 28-4038(B)(1). The statute does not impose this UM requirement during the earlier waiting period, and it does not set a statewide underinsured-motorist floor for rideshare trips.

Uber

Uber’s current Arizona certificate expressly shows:

• Waiting for a request: $50,000 bodily injury per person / $100,000 per accident / $25,000 property damage. Uninsured motorist coverage is not included in any amount.
• Accepted ride through the passenger period: $1,000,000 combined single limit. Uninsured motorist coverage of $25,000 per person / $75,000 per accident.
• Underinsured motorist coverage: not included in either period, except for accidents on the premises of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, where it is maintained at $250,000 combined single limit.
• Comprehensive/collision: during the accepted-ride period only, subject to a $2,500 deductible, limited to actual cash value or cost of repair, and only if the driver’s own personal policy already carries collision coverage.

See the Uber Arizona Certificate of Insurance, effective March 1, 2026–March 1, 2027. That certificate is the company’s listed policy for those dates. It is not a substitute for the statute. Under § 28-4038(B), liability is at least $250,000 per incident until a passenger is occupying the vehicle, then at least $1,000,000. On this certificate, Uber lists a $1,000,000 combined single limit once a ride has been accepted, and lists UM of $25,000 per person and $75,000 per accident for that accepted-ride span. UM is not included while the driver is only waiting for a request.

Lyft

Lyft’s current Arizona certificate shows:

• Waiting for a request: $25,000 bodily injury per person / $50,000 per accident / $20,000 property damage — Arizona’s statutory minimum for that period, with no separate uninsured motorist entry shown.
• Accepted-ride liability: $250,000 combined single limit for Period 2 and $1,000,000 combined single limit for Period 3. Uninsured motorist coverage of $25,000 per person / $75,000 per accident is listed on that Period 2/3 policy, so the certificate does not wait until Period 3 to show UM.
• Auto physical damage: actual cash value or cost of repair, whichever is less, subject to a $2,500 deductible.

The certificate does not identify an airport-specific underinsured-motorist entry the way Uber’s does; whether Lyft’s underlying Arizona policy addresses that scenario differently would require the full policy in force on the accident date. Lyft Arizona Certificate of Liability Insurance, effective October 1, 2026–October 1, 2027.

A passenger or driver may also have personal uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage of their own, but because Arizona does not require it, it has to be checked rather than assumed.