The short answer
In Illinois, how much rideshare insurance is available depends on what the driver's app was doing. Once a ride is accepted, the law requires $1,000,000 in primary liability coverage. While the driver is only waiting for a request, the minimum is $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident. With the app off, only the driver's personal policy applies. Those figures are liability limits for crashes the rideshare driver causes. If an uninsured or underinsured driver causes the crash while a passenger is in the car, the separate required UM/UIM coverage is $50,000.
Coverage by trip phase
App off
The driver is a private motorist. Only the driver's personal auto policy applies, and the rideshare company's coverage does not.
App on, waiting for a request
Illinois requires at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per incident for death and personal injury, plus $25,000 for property damage. Personal policies often exclude this period, so the rideshare coverage frequently fills the gap.
Ride accepted through drop-off
Illinois requires $1,000,000 of primary liability coverage for death, personal injury, and property damage. Liability coverage pays when the rideshare driver is at fault, whether the injured person is a passenger or someone outside the car.
Passenger in the car, other driver at fault
Liability limits answer a different question: what the rideshare driver's insurance pays when that driver causes the crash. When an uninsured or underinsured driver causes it, the Act separately requires $50,000 of uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) coverage, and only from the moment a passenger enters the vehicle until the passenger exits. The Act does not require rideshare UM/UIM coverage while the driver is waiting for a request, so a rider's or driver's own UM/UIM policy may matter there.
Who can bring a claim
- Passengers in the rideshare vehicle
- Occupants of another car hit by the rideshare driver
- Pedestrians and cyclists struck by a rideshare vehicle
- Rideshare drivers hurt by another, at-fault driver, usually against that driver's insurer
Why these cases stall
The key fact, what the app showed at the moment of impact, sits in the rideshare company's records rather than yours. Expect disputes over the trip phase, over whether the driver or another motorist was at fault, and over which policy pays first.What to do after a rideshare crash
- Screenshot the trip in your app: driver name, vehicle, route, and times
- Report the crash through the app and to police, and get the report number
- Photograph both vehicles, plates, and the scene
- Get names and insurance information for every driver involved
- Get medical care promptly and keep every record
- Most Illinois injury lawsuits must be filed within two years (735 ILCS 5/13-202)
Primary sources
- 625 ILCS 57/10 — Transportation Network Providers Act insurance requirements
- 735 ILCS 5/13-202 — Two-year personal injury limitation
This article is general information, not legal advice for your situation. Company policies can exceed these statutory minimums.