Rideshare insurance periods in California: who pays in each app period

General information, not legal advice. This site is not a law firm and isn't affiliated with any app company or insurer. Laws and company terms change, and every situation is different. Check the official sources linked below, and talk to a licensed professional about your situation.

The short answer

In California, which insurance applies depends on what the app was doing when the crash happened. App off: your personal policy. App on, waiting for a request: the rideshare company's insurance at lower limits ($50,000 / $100,000 / $30,000, plus $200,000 excess). Ride accepted through drop-off: $1,000,000 of primary coverage. Passenger in the car: that $1,000,000 plus uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, which a 2026 law change cut to $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident. None of this has to cover damage to your own car.

Sources: Public Utilities Code §5433 · Public Utilities Code §5434

The periods in one table

Drivers and insurers usually talk about "Period 0" through "Period 3". The statute doesn't use those numbers, but it draws the lines in the same places.

Period	What's happening	What California law requires	Main source
0	App off	Nothing rideshare-specific. Your personal auto policy applies, the same as any other driving.	Your policy
1	App on, waiting for a request (and again after a ride ends, until you accept another or log off)	Rideshare insurance, primary: at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident for death and injury, and $30,000 for property damage. The company must also carry at least $200,000 per occurrence in excess coverage.	PUC §5433(c)
2	Request accepted, on the way to pick up	Rideshare insurance, primary: $1,000,000 for death, personal injury and property damage.	PUC §5433(b)(1)
3	Passenger in the car, until the ride is complete	The same $1,000,000, plus uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage of $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident from the moment a passenger enters until they exit.	PUC §5433(b)(1)–(2)

A few details that matter:

When Period 2 starts and ends. The $1,000,000 applies "from the moment a participating driver accepts a ride request" until the driver completes the transaction in the app or the ride is complete, "whichever is later" (§5433(b)).
Between rides counts as Period 1. After you finish a ride, you're back at the Period 1 limits until you accept another request or log off (§5433(c)).
Who has to carry it. The coverage can come from the company, from a rideshare policy the driver buys, or a mix. If a driver's own rideshare policy lapses, the company has to provide the coverage "beginning with the first dollar of a claim" (§5433(b)(1), (c)(1), (e)).
Uninsured motorist coverage is the company's job. Since January 1, 2026, the Period 3 uninsured/underinsured coverage is "solely the obligation of the transportation network company" and is primary over other uninsured motorist coverage (§5433(b)(2)).

Your personal policy during app time

From the moment you log on until you log off or the passenger gets out, whichever is later, California law says your personal auto policy doesn't cover you, the car's owner, or anyone else unless the policy expressly covers that time or has an amendment or endorsement for it "for which a separately stated premium is charged" (PUC §5434(b)). Rideshare companies have to tell you this in writing as part of your driver agreement, including that your personal policy won't cover collision or comprehensive damage to your car while you're logged on (PUC §5432).

That's why many drivers add a rideshare endorsement to their personal policy. Insurers aren't required to sell one, but §5434(c) allows them to. The Department of Insurance describes one approved product as letting a driver's personal policy "fill in the insurance gaps" in Period 1, including keeping optional coverages like collision and comprehensive in force (CDI, 2016). What any endorsement covers depends on the insurer, so ask for the details in writing.

If your own insurer has already turned you down, see what to do when your insurance denies a claim because you were driving for an app.

What the law doesn't cover: your own car and you

The $1,000,000 and the Period 1 limits are liability coverage. They pay other people when you cause a crash. California doesn't require rideshare companies to pay to fix your car. The Department of Insurance's notice to drivers says rideshare companies aren't required to carry collision, comprehensive or medical payments coverage, so their liability policy doesn't have to cover your injuries or your car (CDI notice to drivers). That notice doesn't reflect the uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage that §5433(b)(2) now requires while a passenger is in the car.

What the companies say they provide on top of the law (these are company terms, not law, and they can change):

Uber says that once you've accepted a trip, it maintains coverage to repair your car up to its actual cash value with a $2,500 deductible, "contingent on your personal insurance including comprehensive and collision coverage." It also says there's no Uber-maintained collision or comprehensive coverage if you're offline or online but haven't accepted a trip (Uber).
Lyft says that when you're en route to pick up or on a ride, and you have comprehensive and collision on your personal policy, it maintains "contingent comprehensive & collision coverage up to the actual cash value of the car ($2,500 deductible)" (Lyft).
Uber also says that in California it maintains occupational accident insurance for rideshare drivers covering medical expenses, disability payments and survivor benefits while you're online, on the way to a pickup, or on a trip (Uber).

More on when you pay that deductible and how to get it back: the Uber and Lyft $2,500 deductible.

The 2026 change: SB 371 and the out-of-date CPUC page

SB 371 (Stats. 2025, ch. 314) amended §5433. Before, the law required $1,000,000 of uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage while a passenger was in the car, and that could come from the driver's policy, the company's, or both. SB 371 lowered it to $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident and made it the company's sole responsibility. The section on the Legislature's site shows it in effect since January 1, 2026. (SB 371 only took effect if AB 1340 was also enacted; AB 1340 was chaptered on October 3, 2025.)

The California Public Utilities Commission's own Insurance Requirements for TNCs page still said "one million dollars ($1,000,000)" for Period 3 uninsured/underinsured coverage when we checked it on October 29, 2026. The statute controls, so this guide uses the statute's numbers.

What the change means for you

If you're hurt by an uninsured or underinsured driver while a passenger is in your car, the required rideshare uninsured motorist coverage is now $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident. In Periods 1 and 2, §5433 doesn't require the company to carry uninsured motorist coverage at all, and your personal policy's coverage may not apply during app time unless it expressly covers it (§5434(b)). Check your own policy, and any endorsement, for what it does during app time.

Uber and Lyft show $25,000 in Period 1. California requires $30,000.

Both companies' national insurance pages list Period 1 property damage coverage of "$25,000" (Uber, Lyft). Those pages cover the whole country and describe minimums ("at least"). In California, §5433(c)(1) requires at least $30,000 for property damage in Period 1. Uber's page links to a certificate of insurance for each state, which shows what it carries in California.

Delivery apps are different

These rules are for rideshare: §5431 defines a transportation network company as one that "provides prearranged transportation services for compensation" connecting "passengers with drivers" (PUC §5431). Delivery-only apps set their own coverage. DoorDash, for example, says its insurance may cover up to $1,000,000 of liability to others "in most states" during an active delivery, and that it "does not pay for repairs to your car" (DoorDash).

If you crash while the app is on

Get help and stay safe. Call 911 if anyone is hurt.
Document it. Take photos of the cars, plates and scene, and get the other driver's contact and insurance details.
Note your app status. Screenshot the app if you can: were you waiting, on the way, or carrying a passenger? That decides which coverage applies.
Report it in the app and to your own insurer, and tell both the truth about what you were doing. The company or its insurer has to share "the precise times that the participating driver logged on and off" with other insurers investigating coverage (PUC §5435).
Don't wait for your personal insurer to say no. Rideshare coverage "shall not be dependent on a personal automobile insurance policy first denying a claim" (§5433(d)).
Report to the DMV if required. A crash with any injury or more than $1,000 in damage to any one person's property generally needs an SR-1 within 10 days (Vehicle Code §16000). See DentedValue's SR-1 guide.

Common questions

What are rideshare insurance periods?

They're a shorthand for where you are in the app when something happens: app off (often called Period 0), app on and waiting for a request (Period 1), request accepted and on the way to pick up (Period 2), and passenger in the car (Period 3). California's statute, Public Utilities Code §5433, sets the insurance rules by those same stages, although it doesn't number them.

How much insurance does California require during Period 1?

Under PUC §5433(c), while you're logged on and waiting for a request, the rideshare insurance has to be primary and at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident for death and injury, plus $30,000 for property damage. The company also has to carry at least $200,000 per occurrence in excess coverage.

Is uninsured motorist coverage still $1 million during a ride?

No. SB 371 changed PUC §5433(b)(2) effective January 1, 2026. The required uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage is now $60,000 per person and $300,000 per incident, and it applies from the moment a passenger gets in until the passenger gets out. The CPUC's insurance page still showed the old $1,000,000 figure when we checked on October 29, 2026.

Does my personal car insurance cover me while the app is on?

Usually not. PUC §5434(b) says your personal policy doesn't cover you from the time you log on until you log off or the passenger gets out, whichever is later, unless the policy expressly covers that time or you bought an endorsement for it with a separately stated premium.

Does the rideshare company's insurance pay to fix my own car?

California law doesn't require it. Uber and Lyft both say on their own insurance pages that once you've accepted a ride, they carry coverage for your car up to its actual cash value with a $2,500 deductible, but only if your personal policy includes comprehensive and collision. That's the companies' own terms, which can change.

Do these rules apply to DoorDash or other delivery apps?

Not directly. PUC §5431 defines a transportation network company as one that provides prearranged transportation for passengers. Delivery-only apps set their own coverage. DoorDash, for example, says its insurance covers liability to others during an active delivery and doesn't pay to repair your car.

Sources

The sources this guide cites. We check the guide against these sources before publishing and each time we review it.

Published October 29, 2026 · Last reviewed October 29, 2026 · How we write and review guides