Three insurance periods, three different numbers
Texas doesn’t insure an Uber or Lyft trip under a single policy. It treats the driver’s app status at the moment of the crash as the deciding fact, and each status carries a different insurer and a different limit.
| App status at impact | Policy that responds | Liability available |
|---|---|---|
| Driver offline | Driver’s personal auto policy | Driver’s personal policy limits. Texas minimum financial-responsibility limits are $30,000 bodily injury per person / $60,000 bodily injury per accident / $25,000 property damage. |
| App on, waiting for a request | Required rideshare / TNC coverage | $50,000 per person / $100,000 per accident / $25,000 property |
| Ride accepted through drop-off | Rideshare company’s commercial policy | $1,000,000 combined single limit |
*Texas law allows the required coverage to be maintained by the driver, the transportation network company, or a combination of the two. If a driver-maintained policy has lapsed or does not provide the required coverage, the transportation network company must provide the required coverage beginning with the first dollar of the claim. Coverage maintained by the company is not contingent on the driver’s personal insurer first denying the claim. Confirm the policy actually in effect on the date of the crash before relying on any specific coverage.
NoteTexas law treats the drive to pick up the passenger and the trip itself as one continuous period — what the law calls a “prearranged ride.” There’s no separate, lower tier for the minutes before pickup. A 2025 bill, House Bill 3520, would have created one, but it didn’t pass. The $1 million structure stands as of this writing.
It’s not whether they were driving for Uber. It’s what the app was doing.
Personal auto policies may exclude or restrict coverage while a vehicle is being used for rideshare work. Texas therefore requires the waiting-period limits to be in place while the driver is logged on and available, whether that required coverage is maintained by the driver, the rideshare company, or both. Company-maintained coverage does not have to wait for a personal insurer to deny the claim before it can apply.
A ride acceptance can move the required rideshare liability tier from $50,000 for bodily injury to one person / $100,000 per incident / $25,000 in property damage to a $1 million total liability limit. Establishing the driver’s exact app status at impact is therefore one of the first things worth nailing down after a Texas rideshare accident.
What if the other driver has no insurance, or not enough?
Liability insurance and uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage do different jobs. Liability pays claims against whoever caused the crash. That coverage can step in when that person has no insurance, or not enough to cover the loss — and on a rideshare company’s commercial policy, the named insured is the company, not the driver, which changes how this plays out.
Uber
Uber’s Texas certificate of insurance states that uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage is not included in any amount — not during the waiting period, and not during the $1 million accepted-ride period.
Lyft
Lyft says it carries uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage in states that require it. Its Texas-specific limit isn’t clearly established in the public materials available, so it shouldn’t be assumed — it needs confirming against the policy in effect on the date of the crash.
An injured Uber driver in Texas generally has to look to their own personal auto policy for uninsured or underinsured motorist protection, and only if that coverage was actually included and never rejected in writing. Lyft drivers should confirm the same against Lyft’s policy directly.
What actually proves which policy applies
Rideshare companies keep electronic trip records showing exactly when a ride was requested, accepted, started, and completed. Those records settle the app-status question far better than anyone’s memory of it after the fact. Useful evidence includes: