How much insurance is available after a California Uber or Lyft accident?

California uses three rideshare insurance periods, but uninsured-driver coverage has its own narrower window

California separates the waiting period from the accepted-ride period. The $1 million liability tier begins when the driver accepts the request, before the passenger gets into the car. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is different: the state-required TNC coverage begins only when the passenger enters the vehicle and ends when the passenger exits.

California law allows the $1 million accepted-ride liability requirement to be satisfied by qualifying TNC insurance maintained by the driver, the transportation network company, or a combination of the two. If driver-maintained TNC insurance is used, the company must verify that it is specifically written to cover TNC use. During the waiting period, the company must provide the required coverage if the driver’s qualifying TNC policy has lapsed, been canceled, or is otherwise not maintained. The required TNC coverage does not have to wait for a personal auto insurer to deny the claim first. California Public Utilities Code § 5433

The pickup drive and passenger ride share the same $1 million liability tier

For liability coverage, California does not create a lower tier for the drive to pickup. The $1 million primary requirement starts the moment the driver accepts the ride request and continues until the driver completes the app transaction or the ride is complete, whichever is later. California Public Utilities Code § 5433(b)

Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage follows a different clock. California requires that coverage only from the moment the passenger enters the vehicle until the passenger exits. California Public Utilities Code § 5433(b)(2)

In California, one app event can change both the size and the type of insurance available

The difference between “waiting” and “accepted” is substantial. A driver who has not accepted a request is in the $50,000 / $100,000 / $30,000 primary-liability tier, although California also requires at least $200,000 in excess liability coverage for that period. Once the request is accepted, the primary liability requirement becomes $1,000,000.

The distinction gets even more important when the at-fault vehicle is uninsured or underinsured. California’s required TNC uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage does not begin at ride acceptance. It begins when the passenger gets into the vehicle.

Personal auto coverage should not be assumed to fill a rideshare gap. California expressly provides that a participating driver’s or vehicle owner’s personal auto policy does not provide coverage while the driver is using the vehicle in connection with the TNC platform unless that policy expressly extends coverage to that activity. California Public Utilities Code § 5434

If the Uber or Lyft driver was the one who was hurt

Business and Professions Code § 7455 is written for the benefit of app-based drivers and, if the driver dies, their spouses, children, or other dependents. It requires occupational accident insurance covering medical expenses and lost income from injuries suffered while the driver is “online,” and accidental-death insurance for qualifying online injuries that result in death. Occupational accident coverage must include medical expenses up to at least $1,000,000 and disability payments equal to 66 percent of the driver’s average weekly earnings from all network companies, subject to Labor Code § 4453(a) minimums and maximums, for up to the first 104 weeks following the injury. “Online” includes time when the driver can receive ride or delivery requests, or engaged time. It is not limited to a passenger being in the car. Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 7455

Those benefits are not a substitute for the liability insurance required by Public Utilities Code §§ 5433 and 5434, and they are not passenger liability coverage. For the exclusions, the 28-day earnings formula, and what to do after a driver injury, see What Insurance Covers California Uber and Lyft Drivers Injured While Online?.

What if the other driver has no insurance, or not enough?

Liability coverage pays claims against the driver or company legally responsible for causing an accident. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage protects an insured person when the at-fault driver has no liability insurance or does not have enough liability insurance to cover the loss.

California’s personal-auto rules generally require an insurer issuing bodily-injury liability coverage to include uninsured motorist protection unless the named insured agrees in writing to delete it or, within statutory limits, reduce it. Underinsured-motorist protection is part of that statutory framework. California Insurance Code § 11580.2 The California Department of Insurance likewise explains that this coverage must be offered and can be declined by signing a waiver. California Department of Insurance — Automobile Insurance Guide

The TNC rule is separate. Effective January 1, 2026, California requires the transportation network company itself to provide uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage of $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident from the moment a passenger enters the vehicle until the passenger exits. That policy shall be primary over any other applicable uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage and shall be solely the obligation of the transportation network company. Pub. Util. Code § 5433(b)(2); SB 371, Chapter 314 (2025).

The California Public Utilities Commission’s public summary of TNC insurance correctly lists those $60,000 / $300,000 Period 3 figures. It still describes the UM/UIM requirement as something that may be satisfied by driver-maintained insurance, company insurance, or a combination. Current § 5433(b)(2) instead requires the company itself to provide the coverage and makes that policy the company’s sole obligation. CPUC — Insurance Requirements for TNCs

Because company policies can change, the certificate and policy actually in effect on the accident date should control over a generic national insurance page.