Ask your Uber driver what type of insurance he has. If he does not have commercial insurance, chances are that his insurance will not pay for any injury.

Same is true for AirBnB.

Homeowners usually covers some incidental business, some none at all, so if there is an injury or worse, will the homeowner's insurance pay for it?

Additionally who is doing the screening for Uber and AirBnB. Are they good citizens, or are they drug dealers and pedophiles. What are their requirements and what type of credentials must be presented?

While people are intoxicated with the lower prices and the freedom that the Internet offers, one should be aware of the consequences.

Do you have any concrete information about this? I share your concerns, but I doubt that quizzing my driver will yield anything other than hearsay. And you have not provided any specifics.

OK, try not take words my rhetorical words literally, but try ascertain whether Uber and AirBnB have the property insurance to cover YOU for any injury and what are their credentialing requirements.

You do not have worry about semantics, you can leave that to your PI attorney.

Yes, this has been in the news quite a bit lately - whether the drivers' insurance will cover passengers in the event of an accident along with the depth and accuracy of the background checks.

With Uber you often get a real cab - or a regular car service - both of which will have appropriate insurance.

If you are in an area that allows anyone with a car to drive for Uber you should assume that the driver does not have insurance for paid passengers - so if injured you may not be covered.

There have been some recent incidents with Uber that have been well publicized. I've never used them. I don't really understand why people do, unless the cab service in your city is really that bad.

I don't see Air Bnb as much different than Vrbo or even a guest house or B&B.

mlgb, our friends in DC can't stop talking about how much they like Uber over a traditional cab. They love it because the cars are clean, the drivers uniformly friendly, no money changes hands, and there's no tipping. Some drivers even offer drinks/snacks/mints and the like. And they come to their door on time.

I was hoping to try it while we were there, but the opportunity didn't arise. We did hail a cab twice: one was fine, the other smelly and overheated, with torn seats. Not a big deal, of course, but I can see why a better alternative would be popular.

I do think Uber is competing with cabs on an uneven playing field. I would like to see a new, more dynamic set of regulations governing all kind of ride services, because I think the rules governing taxis in big cities are antiquated.

I do not know VRBO, but just to state the obvious, AIRBNB offer residential apartments that are rented on a short term basis. If the person who is the primary renter or owner, just has homeowners, then his insurance will probably not cover liability for a commercial enterprise. A B & B or guest houses are establishments dedicated to commercial rentals even if the owners live on the premises.

In NYC, Airbnb cannot rent to someone unless the primary renter or owner lives on the premises.

NewbE, my niece who went to school in DC and lived there for a while recommended Uber over the DC cabs. But we wound up public transportation and hailed a cab once (because we were afraid we might be late for her wedding!).

VRBO is another website for owners to list their homes online for rent. They were around before Airbnb. VRBO was popular in the Palm Springs area and other places with vacation rentals before Airbnb came along, they are really not for renting out a room in your home though.

There are many who argue that in many cases Airbnb and VRBO are de facto hotels (including the city of New York). They just don't pay the hotel taxes or have the proper inspections and safeguards.

We used Uber back in October for an evening out and loved it. In chatting with one of our drivers that night he mentioned it had taken months for him to get approved--he had to apply, they ran a background check, his car had to be okay'ed, etc. We were one of his first rides so he didn't have a lot of experience with it yet, but was excited about getting started. We liked it because it was incredibly fast and very convenient and as they are new here, we had introductory offers that made the rides almost free.

We have used Uber in Boston, San Francisco and Denver. Have had great experiences each time.

The Uber cars we have been in were much nicer than cabs are, the drivers much more professional than the taxi drivers we've had.

We liked that we could order a car large enough to seat 6 people, and we could also choose the simplest ride if we wanted to.

It's nice that you can see exactly where the cars are when you order one, and know how quickly it will arrive.

As NewbE said, "They love it because the cars are clean, the drivers uniformly friendly, no money changes hands, and there's no tipping. Some drivers even offer drinks/snacks/mints and the like. And they come to their door on time."

I agree the insurance question is important, and I'll look into it before we use Uber again.

Well, that was easy:
https://support.uber.com/hc/en-us/ar...s-an-accident-

In The US, What Insurance Is Available If There's An Accident?

If you’re taking a ride requested through UberBLACK, UberSUV, or uberTAXI, your livery or taxi transportation provider carries a commercial insurance policy in at least the minimum amount required by local regulations. If you didn’t get his or her insurance information at the time of the accident, please reach out to us so we can connect you.

If you’re taking a ride requested through uberX, some transportation providers are rideshare drivers providing transportation with their personal vehicles. Rideshare providers carry personal insurance policies. However, there’s a commercial insurance policy for ridesharing with $1 million of coverage per incident. This policy covers drivers’ liability from the time a driver accepts your trip request through the app until the completion of your trip. This policy is expressly primary to the driver’s personal auto policy. An additional insurance policy covers drivers when they are logged into the Uber app but have not yet accepted a trip request.

There is also uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UI/UIM) of $1 million per incident for bodily injury, in case another motorist causes an accident and doesn’t carry adequate insurance. So, for example, injuries caused by a hit-and-run accident would be covered by the UI/UIM.

More information at:
http://blog.uber.com/uberXridesharinginsurance

regarding VRBO - we rent our vacation home through them. We are registered with our state and pay and charge lodging taxes to all our guests. Most owners also do this.

I've heard of Uber, and now have perused the website. Are you expected to tip, still. (I never know what to tip taxis!).

No tip. No money changes hands between rider and driver with Uber.

Yep, no tip, and no payment changing hands--you pay via the app. Which is great in so many ways. Maybe I'm just a klutz, and maybe I'd get smoother about it if I did it more, but I always find juggling payment and gathering my things and exiting the cab a bit challenging.

I like the Uber and probably willing to live with the insurance issue. I know exactly who the driver is (and so does Uber since he has to be registered with them), and I am often in direct phone contact with driver when he arrives, and the driver knows who I am since I am registered with Uber. For the driver, there is absolutely no cash anywhere so theft risk for the driver has to be near zero. For me there is no fumbling with cash or the credit card reader in the taxi, etc., get out and go. When I open the Uber app I know the cars in the area and time to pick up within a minute or two. I have stood on a corner more than once trying to hail cab and watched empty cabs ignore me for one reason or another. To date, Uber has been a very smooth and efficient way to go from point a to b.

regarding VRBO - we rent our vacation home through them. We are registered with our state and pay and charge lodging taxes to all our guests. Most owners also do this.
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Does insurance cover your liability and the costs of bodily injury if a guest is injured or worse? What type of background check did VRBO conduct?

I looked into using VRBO as an owner, when they first started (I think they offered a free trial). At that time, they didn't do any background checking at all. You just filled in your personal details, signed something to absolve them of much responsibility, and posted your listing. It was strictly between the owner and the renter. The people that called were flaky, tried to negotiate on the price, get out of paying the cleaning deposit, etc. I didn't renew when it came time to pay up.

I usually rented it out for the season so there was no Transient Occupancy Tax (hotel tax) as it was considered just like any other residential tenancy. I didn't need a business license, conditional use permit or anything else. I had a lease/rental agreement and took a deposit just like I did for my long term rental properties.

The gray area is when people rent for shorter periods. I rarely did that, and only to people I knew (eg friends of friends). The small income wasn't worth the downside from my perspective.

Many city are clamping down on short term vacation rentals for a number of reasons, eg zoning, competition with hotels, neighbor complaints, safety concerns, loss of rental housing stock.

I know the condo assn where I formerly owned even attempted to change their CCRs but they didn't get very far with that.

Thanks for all the feedback on Uber, btw. I signed up for them and then it turned out that the app didn't work on my iPod or dumb phone without some shenanigans. I talked to one of the reps at a golf tournament and she gave me some info on how to make it work but I've never followed up. And have forgotten everything she told me.

mlgb for your own protection, I would check to see what your homeowners and umbrella cover.