In Arkansas, a personal policy can exclude everything during a rideshare trip, and the rideshare law sets no uninsured coverage amount
Arkansas’s Transportation Network Company Services Act puts rideshare insurance in Ark. Code § 23-13-709. While a driver is logged on and available, the floor is $50,000 per person, $100,000 per incident, and $25,000 for property damage. From the moment the driver accepts a ride until the last requesting rider departs the car, the floor is $1,000,000 for death, bodily injury, and property damage.
Those figures are liability floors. § 23-13-709 does not set an amount for personal injury protection, medical payments, uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, comprehensive, or collision. Whether any of those first-party benefits pays is controlled by the policy that applies. Arkansas is an at-fault state, and a claimant who is 50 percent at fault recovers nothing.
The rideshare sections come from the official enacted Acts, as of October 13, 2026: Act 1050 of 2015 and Act 1267 of 2015. Other sections come from the official Code of Arkansas public access site, current through the First Extraordinary Session, 2026.
Arkansas & the South
The $1 million period starts at acceptance and ends when the last requesting rider departs
§ 23-13-702 puts the drive to the pickup inside the prearranged ride. The ride ends “when the last requesting rider departs from the personal vehicle.” The table below is the same boundary, by app status. The dollar figures in it are liability floors, not first-party benefits.
| App status | Statute | Liability required | Uninsured and underinsured |
|---|---|---|---|
| App off | Personal policy, § 27-22-104 | $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident, $25,000 property damage. Not a rideshare figure. | Required unless rejected in writing. §§ 23-89-403, 23-89-209. |
| Logged on and available, no ride accepted | § 23-13-709 | $50,000 per person, $100,000 per incident, $25,000 property damage | No amount set. A personal policy may exclude it. |
| Accepted, driving to the pickup | § 23-13-709, § 23-13-702 | $1,000,000 | Same |
| Rider in the car | § 23-13-709 | $1,000,000 | Same |
| Last requesting rider departed, driver still logged on | Back to the waiting tier | $50,000, $100,000, and $25,000 | Same |
If the driver’s insurance lapsed or falls short, the company pays from the first dollar
The driver, the company, or any combination may provide the coverage. If the driver’s insurance has lapsed or does not provide the required coverage, the company’s insurance covers the claim from the first dollar, and its insurer has the duty to defend. Company coverage cannot depend on a personal insurer denying the claim first. The insurer may be authorized in Arkansas or an eligible surplus lines insurer. Coverage meeting the section satisfies Arkansas’s financial responsibility laws. § 23-13-709.
The driver must carry proof of coverage. After an accident, the driver must give it on request to directly interested parties, insurers, and investigating officers, and say whether they were logged on or on a ride. § 23-13-709.
The Act’s definition says a rideshare company does not include one that controls, directs, or manages drivers or vehicles, except by written contract. § 23-13-702. That is a definition, not an express liability bar, and how courts apply it is unsettled.
A personal policy may exclude every coverage while the app is on
§ 23-13-709, as amended by Act 1267 of 2015, lets an insurer that writes automobile insurance in Arkansas exclude any and all coverage under the owner’s policy for a loss while the driver is logged on or on a prearranged ride. The permitted exclusion applies notwithstanding the financial responsibility laws. It may reach liability, personal injury protection under § 23-89-202, uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, medical payments, comprehensive, and collision. The section does not require a personal policy to cover that use. It also does not stop an insurer from providing coverage by contract or endorsement. First-party benefits are whatever that policy actually provides.
Uninsured coverage is required on Arkansas policies unless rejected in writing
Uninsured motorist coverage is required at no less than the state minimums unless a named insured rejects it in writing, and the rejection lasts until withdrawn in writing. Insurers must offer limits up to the policy’s liability limits. § 23-89-403. Underinsured coverage of at least the state minimums can also be rejected in writing, and is available only if uninsured coverage is elected. An underinsured insurer has 30 days after certified-mail notice of a tentative settlement to pay it, or it loses its recoupment and subrogation rights. § 23-89-209.
The rideshare section sets no uninsured amount, and nothing in it turns $1,000,000 of liability into $1,000,000 of uninsured coverage. Uninsured and underinsured benefits, if any, are whatever the applicable policy provides, including any written rejection. A rider’s own uninsured and underinsured coverage can matter.
Whether the uninsured, underinsured, and personal injury protection offer rules reach a rideshare company’s commercial policy is unsettled.
PIP must be offered, and it pays regardless of fault unless rejected in writing
Arkansas is an at-fault state, but insurers must offer personal injury protection, and the insured may reject it in writing. §§ 23-89-202, 23-89-203. A personal policy may exclude that coverage during rideshare use. The certificates below do not print a personal-injury-protection amount. If the applicable policy includes the coverage and it was not rejected, it pays without regard to fault:
- Medical: $5,000 per person, for expenses within 24 months.
- Income loss: 70 percent of lost income, starting 8 days after the accident, for up to 52 weeks, capped at $140 per week. A person with no income gets $70 per week.
- Death: $5,000 if death occurs within one year.
The personal minimum liability is $25,000 per person, $50,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage. § 27-22-104. A 2025 act lets a policy from an insurer “authorized or eligible” in Arkansas count toward that requirement. Act 345 of 2025.
Uber prints 50/100/25, then $1 million, with no uninsured coverage in either
Uber’s Arkansas certificate is issued by United Financial Casualty Company, NAIC 11770, for March 1, 2026 to March 1, 2027. Uber certificate PDF.
| What the form describes | Policy | Liability printed | Uninsured printed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Logged on and available, no request accepted | 06250511 | $50,000 / $100,000 / $25,000 | “Not included in any amount” |
| From recorded acceptance | 06250472 | $1,000,000 combined single limit | “Not included in any amount” |
Lyft prints Period 1 at 50/100/25 and Period 2/3 at $1 million
Lyft’s certificate SEA-004219133-07, dated August 13, 2026, says “Evidence of Insurance Only for the State of AR.” The insurer is Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company, NAIC 23035, and the policies run October 1, 2026 to October 1, 2027. Lyft certificate PDF.
| Row label | Policy | Liability printed | Other printed terms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Period 1 | AS2-695-471695-086 | $50,000 / $100,000 / $25,000 | None |
| Period 2/3 | AS2-695-471695-096 | $1,000,000 combined single limit | $2,500 physical damage deductible |
The certificate does not define its period labels. Uninsured, underinsured, personal injury protection, and medical payments coverage are not shown on the certificate.
You must be less at fault than the defendants, and the injury deadline is three years
Recovery is reduced by the claimant’s own share of fault, and there is no recovery if the claimant’s fault is equal to or greater than the defendants’. § 16-64-122. A 50/50 split recovers nothing.
- Personal injury: three years. § 16-56-105.
- Wrongful death: three years from the date of death, or one year from a nonsuit, with a separate rule after a murder conviction. § 16-62-102.
How much of the several-liability rules in §§ 16-55-201 to 16-55-203 survived Johnson v. Rockwell Automation, 2009 Ark. 241, is unsettled, so no joint-liability rule is stated.
Arkansas has no enforceable cap on punitive damages
Punitive damages require clear and convincing evidence that the defendant knew or should have known its conduct would probably cause injury and continued with malice or reckless disregard, or intentionally pursued conduct to cause injury. §§ 16-55-206, 16-55-207.
The statutory punitive cap in § 16-55-208 was held unconstitutional by the Arkansas Supreme Court in Bayer CropScience LP v. Schafer, 2011 Ark. 518, under article 5, section 32 of the Arkansas Constitution. There is no enforceable statutory punitive cap.
Cities and counties are immune except to the extent of their liability insurance
Cities, counties, school districts, and other political subdivisions are immune from suit for damages except to the extent they are covered by liability insurance. § 21-9-301. Act 627 of 2021. They must carry motor vehicle liability coverage, or self-insure, at least at the state minimums, and a claimant can sue the insurer or pool directly. § 21-9-303. An accident with a city bus or police car is usually limited to that coverage.
Claims against the state go to the Arkansas State Claims Commission.
Stay at least 30 minutes if police were called, and report within 30 days
- Injury or death: stop immediately and stay. Give your name, address, and registration, show your license on request, and give reasonable aid. §§ 27-53-101, 27-53-103.
- Police contacted: if you know police were contacted, stay at least 30 minutes unless you leave to get help for someone.
- Leaving: leaving an injury accident is a Class D felony, and a Class B felony for serious injury or death.
- Written report: to the Office of Driver Services within 30 days for any injury or death, or property damage over $1,000 to any one person. § 27-19-501.
Driverless vehicles run through State Highway Commission programs
Autonomous and fully autonomous vehicles may operate under a program approved by the State Highway Commission. § 27-51-2002. Driverless ride networks may operate, alone or on the same app that connects riders to human drivers. § 27-51-2003. Program applicants must show the vehicle can meet duties after an accident. Under the Commission’s rule, a human operator must be in the vehicle for the first six months of a program. 27 CAR § 115-105. Act 619 of 2021.
No driverless-specific insurance amount was found, and whether the § 23-13-709 limits apply to driverless trips is unsettled.
Little Rock, Northwest Arkansas, and Fort Smith run on the state permit
Rideshare companies are permitted by the Arkansas Public Service Commission. § 23-13-704. The main markets are Little Rock, Fayetteville, Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale, Fort Smith, and Jonesboro, with Clinton National Airport and Northwest Arkansas National Airport.
What decides which floor and which policy applies
- Which statutory period the driver was in, using the acceptance and departure line in the table above.
- The driver’s personal policy, any rideshare exclusion, and whether it lapsed.
- Your own auto policy, including personal injury protection and uninsured coverage, or any signed rejection.
- Fault allocations, because a claimant who is 50 percent at fault recovers nothing.
- If a city or county vehicle was involved, the liability coverage it carries.
- The accident date, for the three-year deadline, and the 30-day Office of Driver Services report.
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Pin down when the ride was accepted, then find which policy actually covers you
In Arkansas, acceptance moves liability to $1,000,000, the personal policy may exclude everything, and neither certificate shows uninsured coverage. A free review can sort out which policies apply to your accident.