A copy of the Uber insurance policy – the one that Trevor
Kalanick (CEO of Uber) is using to try and deny coverage to the family of
Sophia Liu – has been sent around by an anonymous source.
I haven't had a chance to read it yet but Mr. Anon writes,
There are a lot of major problems with this policy and you will see them as you read it.
1) The whole UBER thing is a daisy chain of foreign
corporations. UBER is incorporated in the Netherlands, James River
Insurance in Bermuda and Raiser Corporation in Switzerland.
You aren't really naïve enough to think that the
credit card money UBER collects goes to a US Bank are you? Remember the
lyrics to the song:
"All the gold in California is in a bank in Beverly Hills in somebody else's name"
2) You don't need to be an insurance expert to look at the policy and determine the following:
a. This policy is designed for one purpose only: To
protect the lily-white butt of UBER CEO Travis Kalanick and his top
investors.
b. There is a virtual cornucopia of exclusions, exemptions, what-ifs, Catch-22's, etc,
"Oh by the way, that's not covered, and oh, neither is that."
3) You can see why this policy would not pay the
$500,000 medical bill for the mother of the little girl run over killed
by UBER in San Francisco.
4) It also claims it would not pay if the UBER driver was "Negligent"? Why else would there have been a wreck?
5) Even the "New, improved" UBER insurance policy would not correct any of the above defects.
6)
Glaring omissions: Driver drug testing? FBI Fingerprinting? City
permits? Personal Injury Protection (PIP)?, Vehicle inspections, Hours
of Service, Mandatory Proof of Workers Comp, Towing, Rental vehicle
while yours is in the shop, Subrogation
(Reimbursement for loss of use of the vehicle and the income it could
have produced had it not been wrecked).
The UBER policy is the longest policy in America with the fewest things actually covered. Unbelievable.
7) NO LIMO COMPANY IN THE USA COULD BE APPROVED FOR OPERATION WITH
THIS WORTHLESS, PHONEY POLICY. So, why does UBER get away with it?
Mr. Anon adds,
Not
surprisingly the Uber Insurance Policy (Which is really Raiser, not
Uber) does not provide the insurance coverage advertised or even close.
As you will see below the actual coverage is contingent and illusory
and the amount of coverage is not actually $1,000,000. Once again, Uber
is trying with some success to hoodwink the public and the press, and
is just plain lying.
The one-year policy runs
from December 21, 2013 to December 21, 2014. This policy is issued by
James River Insurance Company. It covers as named insureds Rasier LLC,
Rasier-CA LLC and Rasier-DC LLC (hereinafter “Rasier”),
all of which are affiliates of Uber Technologies and contracts with
drivers but Raiser does not dispatch to those same drivers. This policy
covers autos that are en route to pick up passengers or that are
transporting passengers. It does not cover autos
that are logged on to Uber’s system awaiting dispatches, which Uber
last week claimed is the subject of a supplement to this policy.
As Uber has claimed, it does
provide up to $1,000,000 in liability coverage for bodily injury or
property damage to passengers or other third parties within the scope of
the coverage. However, that coverage is available
only if Rasier is liable to the third party or
caused the accident. The coverage does not apply if the driver is
negligent and the injured party fails to establish that
Rasier is liable as well or caused the accident. Thus, in
most cases the policy does not provide any liability coverage to the
drivers. It also does not provide collision or medical payments to the
drivers for damage to themselves or their personal
cars.
A schedule attached to the policy
names as “additional insureds” those persons “as required by written
contract” (presumably the UberX drivers) and Uber Technologies. But the
insurance afforded those additional insureds
under this schedule covers only their liability for those accidents
caused in whole or part by
Rasier’s acts or omissions or those of third parties acting on Rasier’s behalf. The schedule does NOT cover drivers from accidents caused by their own negligent acts or omissions. Moreover, even this narrow coverage is constricted
further by “limits of insurance” language in the schedule. It limits the coverage to the lesser of the
amount on the face of the policy ($1 million) or the amount required by
the contract between Rasier and the drivers. Rasier’s form contract
(attached)
only requires the drivers to carry the minimum amount required by state
law. That might be as low as what is required for personal auto
policies, which varies by state but could be in the range of $20,000.
Contrast this Insurance Policy with the insurance that Uber is currently advertising that it has, which can be found at:
The Phantom should have sent you a copy of the Uber policy with this post.