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A major insurance company is about to start offering add-on insurance for ride-sharing drivers, aiming to make money and close a loophole that could leave drivers and passengers unprotected if they’re in crashes.

Starting in February, Aviva Canada plans to let its own car-insurance customers add extra coverage if they want to work part-time for a service like Uber, whose app lets riders summon freelance drivers online.

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“This can be had for as low as $600 a year,” said spokesman Glenn Cooper. “Yes, it goes up from there. It goes up depending on your driving record, where you live, and all those factors that go into your regular policy.”

The idea, for Aviva, is to make it dead simple for its existing customers to tack more coverage onto policies they already have, he said, like insuring a family heirloom in a home insurance policy. You just call and ask.

The gap between the price of taxi coverage and the regular personal auto insurance most Uber drivers carry is a major competitive advantage for ride-sharing drivers. Insurance for taxi drivers typically runs about $5,000 a year, Cooper said, while personal insurance is a fraction of that. It’s one of the reasons an Uber ride is usually a lot cheaper than a taxi ride: Uber drivers don’t have to make as much money on each ride to turn a profit.