When you join DoorDash to deliver food — becoming a dasher — you’re likely making deliveries by car. This means having good car insurance is critical.
You’re dashing to earn extra cash, not to have to think about premiums and liability coverage. But just glossing over insurance talk can wind up costing you way more money.
For many, it’s easy enough for a driver to reach out to their own personal auto insurance carrier to let them know that they are dashing now and need to add on additional coverage.
While it’s the easiest way to go, it’s far from the cheapest. You can find many solid insurance options — to protect you in worst-case scenarios — at cheaper rates through other car insurance companies if you take a few minutes to shop around.
How Does Insurance Work for DoorDash Drivers?
To drive for DoorDash, you need to have valid auto insurance. But it’s not as simple as just leaving your regular car insurance policy as is and picking up orders for DoorDash (or other food delivery services). You will need to add additional coverage or rideshare insurance to your current policy.
This is because delivery driving is a specific exclusion for pretty much all personal auto insurance policies. This means if you get in an accident while making a DoorDash drop-off — even if it’s your first and only delivery — your standard policy will not cover you.
Not only won’t you be covered, but your auto insurance company could cancel your plan. When you sign up for any policy, you need to provide information about how you’ll be using your car — for personal use and/or business purposes — and where and how far you’ll be driving.
You can call your own insurance company or log in to the app go to your account settings and update your car usage details. Or you can shop for a different independent contractor driver insurance altogether.
With USAA, for example, you can get rideshare or delivery insurance coverage for as little as $6 per month.
DoorDash Offers Limited Liability Insurance Coverage
Unlike other delivery company apps, DoorDash does offer basic liability car insurance for their drivers.
It’s extremely minimal and protects DoorDash from being sued if you are at fault for an accident. It will also cover basic repairs for the other driver’s vehicle.
This basic liability coverage is only offered if you are making an active delivery of food with an order in your car. You will not have coverage when you are on your way to the restaurant or to pick up the order.
This coverage is quite limited (more details in the section below on what DoorDash liability covers). In addition to this limited liability coverage, you are expected to have your own personal car insurance policy.
What It Includes
DoorDash liability insurance covers eligible drivers for up to $1,000,000 as outlined in the Independent Contractor Agreement.
This includes bodily injury, property damage, and damage or injury to other parties in an accident.
The coverage will only kick in if all conditions below are met:
- The Dasher is considered the liable party
- The Dasher was making an active delivery at the time of the accident
- Their primary, personal auto insurance policy has denied the claim
- The personal auto insurance policy provides a claim denial letter
What is Standard Insurance Coverage for DoorDash Drivers?
All DoorDash drivers will need to have their own basic car insurance coverage, in addition to a clean driving record and driver’s license.
There’s no minimum requirement for coverage limits (i.e., damages up to a certain dollar amount). Rather, drivers are expected to maintain compliance with the state’s minimum coverage requirements.
Additional Coverage to Consider Purchasing
Commercial coverage or business-use coverage are two common additions that food delivery drivers may opt to add to their regular vehicle coverage.
Visit your insurance provider’s website or talk with an insurance agent to see which option may be the best fit.
Business Use Coverage
Business-use coverage means car insurance that covers your personal vehicle while you use it for business activities.
For food delivery—like DoorDash, GrubHub, or Uber Eats—this means contacting your insurance company to let them know you want to add business use coverage for your own car.
The increase could be as little as 15% or as high as 50% according to different rideshare drivers and insurance agents.
Commercial Coverage
This option makes sense if you are going to be using your car exclusively for business purposes — as a DoorDash delivery driver or for other commercial work.
With a commercial policy, your car cannot be used for personal use. You’re not covered when you’re not driving the vehicle for deliveries. You’re only covered when you’re working.
For most Dashers, commercial auto insurance wouldn’t make sense because you are dashing part-time to augment your income or you have one vehicle that you use for deliveries and personal use.
If you do have a vehicle that you will use exclusively for dashing, then commercial car insurance could make sense. But just about always, commercial coverage will be more expensive than business-use coverage.
TLC Coverage
In New York City, TLC coverage may also be required in addition to business or commercial coverage.
New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) requires minimum specific liability coverage, vehicle standards, a background check, and special requirements to be in compliance. This includes basic driver’s education, an additional driving exam, and laws and regulations regarding passenger assistance, wheelchair accessibility, and sex trafficking awareness. There is also a more rigorous background check.
TLC coverage is required if you pick up any fare-paying passengers in New York City. Even if you are driving a passenger to Pennsylvania or New Jersey, this NYC insurance is needed if the trip originates in New York City.
Popular Insurance Companies for Delivery Drivers
Here are some popular insurance carriers that DoorDash and other delivery drivers use:
- State Farm: Easy to get business-use insurance as an add-on to your existing policy. Typically it’s around 15 to 20 percent of your existing premium cost.
- Geico: Offers drivers special rideshare coverage for multiple driving and delivery apps across 40 states. Rates can be around $100 a month or more. Geico is also rolling out a hybrid coverage plan (with higher deductibles) that app drivers can use, with rates around $150 a year. Geico does not offer gap coverage for delivery and rideshare drivers
- Progressive: This popular provider is known for offering good coverage for gig workers, with very flexible policy options including on-demand delivery coverage. In some states, Progressive offers deductible reimbursements too.
- Allstate: Provides possibly some of the most comprehensive insurance coverage for delivery and rideshare drivers, like a gap protection option in almost every state and deductible gap coverage. Allstate says coverage starts at pennies per day. Assuming 99 cents or less per day, this means coverage could start at around $30 per month or less.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some frequently asked questions that Dashers have about DoorDash insurance requirements.
Does DoorDash Check Your Insurance?
Possibly not. DoorDash states that you are required to maintain your car insurance if making deliveries by car, meeting or exceeding state and local coverage requirements for a delivery driver. However, according to some driver forums, DoorDash does not check your insurance. They state that DoorDash does not require you to upload insurance documents or, otherwise, actively verify your insurance coverage.
That said, we advise you to acquire coverage to comply with local and state laws and DoorDash’s requirements. Additionally, DoorDash states that if you fail to maintain coverage then any DoorDash coverage (i.e., occupational accident, commercial) may not apply.
Do You Need Commercial Insurance for DoorDash?
Not necessarily. It depends on the requirements of your state.
Even if commercial insurance is not required, you will need additional coverage to drive for DoorDash or similar apps.
In most instances, you can add business use coverage to your existing policy and you will be in compliance. Commercial insurance is generally just for drivers who use one specific vehicle for commercial purposes only (i.e., a semi-delivery truck).
What Happens if I Get in an Accident While DoorDashing?
If it’s an emergency, always call 911.
If it’s a non-emergency situation, report the accident to DoorDash and submit an insurance claim with your primary auto provider and with DoorDash.
- Contact DoorDash driver support through the support feature in the app or call 1-855-973-1040 toll-free.
- In addition to calling, email driver-support@doordash.com and/or autoclaims@doordash.com. (It’s good for you to keep a written record of your communications.)
- If you need to file a claim due to an injury, you can do so 24/7:
- File it online at BlueStarClaims.com
- Call 1-480-579-2405. This is a 24/7 line dedicated to DoorDash drivers.
- Email bluestarclaims.com.
In addition to its own commercial coverage (for damages up to $1 million), DoorDash offers occupational accident coverage (up to $1 million in medical bills with no deductible or copay and 50% weekly wage replacement up to $500).
How Much Does DoorDash Insurance Cost?
There are no premiums or deductibles for DoorDash commercial or occupational accident insurance coverage. It is offered to all Dashers. However, you are still required to have your own car insurance coverage that covers delivery app driving.
How Much Will My Car Insurance Go Up if I Become a DoorDash Driver?
For business use coverage that you add to your personal driver policy, your coverage could go up by $6 to $46 per month (or more) depending on your current rates, zip code, driving record, insurance provider, and other factors.
To get the best savings, you may need to switch to a different carrier from your current personal coverage plan and then add on business use coverage.
Your Car Insurance Could Even Go Down
While switching insurance always sounds like a pain in the neck, you’re already in the thick of it with having to add on more coverage options anyway.
You could wind up saving an extra $1,200 a year or more, and pay less money with DoorDash coverage through a different provider than you are paying now for personal driver coverage only.
Even if you spend 20 minutes at it, you could save $1,200 this year. That’s like making $3,600 an hour (or around 160 hours worth of Dashing, but from the comfort of your armchair).
Bottom Line
You need insurance to drive for DoorDash. You will need to have at least a personal auto insurance policy—with business or DoorDash driving—added to your coverage.
There’s no specific policy you can buy in order to be DoorDash eligible. There are different requirements in every state, and even some city-specific ordinances or regulations. You will need to find a policy, and policy add-on, to make you compliant with the state(s) where you live and will drive.
Adding on additional coverage to an existing policy is the easiest way to go about it, and could cost as little as $6 per month.
Getting the cheapest rate, however, may require 10-20 minutes of looking at different rate options.
