Drive at Your Own Risk: Uber’s Misrepresentations to UberX Drivers About Insurance Coverage Violate California’s Unfair Competition Law

Abstract

Ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft have revolutionized the private transportation market. Given the lack of clear regulations over these businesses, however, insurance industry experts disagree with Uber about the adequacy of uberX drivers’ existing insurance coverage. This Note asserts that Uber misleads uberX drivers about the type and amount of coverage available to them, as uberX drivers have no first-party protections in place while they drive around searching for fares. This Note further argues that based on these insurance misrepresentations, Uber may be liable to injured uberX drivers under California’s unfair competition law for engaging in unfair business practices. Accordingly, uberX drivers should be entitled to restitution for their injuries and injunctive relief to prevent Uber from continuing to mislead uberX drivers about their insurance coverage.