Car sharing is on the rise in Florida and it can often lead to some confusion on the part of insurance coverage and responsibility during an accident. Car sharing involves car owners essentially renting out their vehicles to other drivers in a marketplace. Some other examples of carsharing are uber and lyft. There have been some rulings on liability concerning private rental cars and car sharing but these concepts are still relatively new under Florida law.
Although car sharing can be seen as extremely convenient as well as an excellent way to get extra money by renting out your vehicle, it can require some extra insurance coverage.
No-Fault Insurance In Florida:
Any motorist that registers a vehicle needs to have at least $10,000 in PIP coverage and $10,000 in PLD or property damage liability coverage. This type of minimal coverage will often provide just the right payout for extremely minor accidents, but it can be detrimental in recovering losses from a high-speed crash.
PIP coverage does extend to drivers that don’t have their own insurance coverage. This insurance typically covers friends or family members that borrow owned vehicles for the person that is covered in the insurance policy. PIP insurance carriers may not be required to pay out if the car is being used as a business rental.
A series of specialty insurance products have come forward from companies like Turo and Getaround. Both of these companies are providing private rental cars with at least $1 million in liability coverage for the owner with the option to share a percentage of the coverage as part of the trip price.
As this is still a relatively new concept, we would highly recommend if you are renting your vehicle out that drivers get the extra level of insurance coverage provided by one of these parties. If you regularly use a car sharing application, you should consider extra coverage to protect yourself behind the wheel and make sure that your coverage or the vehicle owners coverage do not become intertwined. Having your own coverage will make sure that you can be covered in the event of an accident and that the owner of the vehicle stays protected too.
This post was written by Wendy Doyle-Palumbo. Wendy is a personal injury attorney in Pasco County at Wendy Doyle-Palumbo, Esq. Wendy has over 25 years of experience practicing law and has won several cases in helping those get the compensation that they deserve!
