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.
| App status at impact | Policy that responds | Liability available |
|---|---|---|
| Driver offline | Driver’s personal auto policy | Driver’s personal policy limits. For policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2025, California’s minimum financial-responsibility limits are $30,000 for bodily injury or death to one person / $60,000 for bodily injury or death to two or more people / $15,000 for property damage. |
| App on, waiting for a request | Primary transportation-network-company coverage | At least $50,000 per person / $100,000 per incident for death or personal injury / $30,000 property damage, plus at least $200,000 per occurrence in excess liability coverage above the primary limits. |
| Ride accepted / heading to pickup | Primary transportation-network-company coverage | $1,000,000 for death, personal injury, and property damage. |
| Passenger in vehicle through ride completion | Primary transportation-network-company coverage | $1,000,000 for death, personal injury, and property damage. California also requires $60,000 per person / $300,000 per incident in uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage while the passenger is in the vehicle. |
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
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 primary uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage of $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident while the passenger is in the vehicle. That policy is primary over other applicable uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage. SB 371, Chapter 314 (2025)
Uber
Uber’s current California certificate separates the periods clearly.
During the waiting period, Uber's certificate lists $50,000 per person / $100,000 per accident in bodily-injury liability and $30,000 in property-damage liability, plus $200,000 in excess auto liability, and states that uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is not included during that period.
During the accepted-ride period, Uber's certificate lists a $1,000,000 combined single liability limit. Uber's own published statement on its California insurance program confirms that, since January 1, 2026, every accepted Uber ride in California carries $60,000 per person and $300,000 per accident in uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage while the passenger is in the vehicle, on top of the $1,000,000 liability coverage, consistent with the amended state requirement. Uber — California Insurance Reform
A certificate on file for Uber's California program separately lists a $1,000,000 uninsured/underinsured motorist limit for accidents on the premises of public airports, without naming which specific airports the exception covers. Because certificate documents change and the version reviewed for this page did not spell out an airport list, a claimant should confirm the exact airport-exception language from Uber's certificate in effect on the accident date rather than relying on any fixed list of airport names.
Lyft
Lyft’s current California certificate lists $50,000 per person / $100,000 per accident / $30,000 property damage during Period 1, $200,000 in Period 1 excess liability, and a $1,000,000 combined single liability limit during Periods 2 and 3.
The same certificate states that Period 3 includes uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage of $60,000 per person and $300,000 per accident effective January 1, 2026. It does not list uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage for the waiting period or pickup period on the certificate. Lyft California Certificate of Liability Insurance, effective October 1, 2025–October 1, 2026
Because company policies can change, the certificate and policy actually in effect on the accident date should control over a generic national insurance page.
What actually proves which California policy applies
California’s coverage rules turn on precise platform events, so the useful evidence is the evidence that timestamps those events. Preserve or request:
- The driver’s app status at the time of impact
- The passenger’s trip receipt
- The ride-request and acceptance timestamps
- Pickup and drop-off data
- The Uber or Lyft trip ID
- The police accident report
- Insurance information for every driver involved
- The rideshare driver’s personal auto policy and any rideshare endorsement
- The transportation network company’s claim number
- App screenshots
- Communications with Uber or Lyft after the accident
- The certificate and policy in effect on the accident date
- Any personal uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage that may apply
- If the accident occurred at an airport, the exact location on airport property, because Uber's current California certificate contains a higher uninsured/underinsured motorist limit for accidents on public-airport premises
A California rideshare claim can turn on a single timestamp.
The difference between “waiting,” “accepted,” and “passenger aboard” can change the applicable liability limit and whether required uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage exists at all.