Uber Eats driver whose car was stolen says insurance won’t help

In less than two weeks, two different Uber Eats drivers were carjacked in Memphis. In both cases, crooks got away with the victim’s cars, leaving them without a way to make money.

One of those men learned his loss came at a greater cost than he thought.

Timothy Davis was grateful no one was hurt after a man stole his new car during an Uber Eats delivery at the Melrose Apartments.

“You can get material things back but you can’t get lives back,” Davis said.

Shortly after the incident, Davis he said he had car insurance and felt good about getting back to work soon.

Instead, he said getting those material things back is going to be a challenge.

“To know that there’s someone out there that you know took your vehicle and knowing that your insurance company is not going to cover any of that, its kind of a blow because you know that in the end, they’re still expecting you to make monthly payments on a vehicle you don’t have,” Davis said.

Under Tennessee law, rideshare drivers must maintain primary auto liability insurance, but the law doesn’t explicitly mention insurance requirements for food delivery services like Uber Eats or Door Dash.

“Because I’m not you know transporting any passengers, I’m just taking people meals so I didn’t understand the whole purpose of having commercial insurance for all that because to me that’s no different from one of my friends calling saying hey I’ll pay you $5 if you stop by pizza hut or whatever the case may be.”

Insurance agents said before you join a rideshare or food delivery service, talk with your insurance company to make sure you have the right coverage.

“Don’t make assumptions that you do. But know what you have and why you have it and therein lies another deal, why you have what you have and is it providing you the protection that you want,” said State Farm Insurance Agent, Pam Burch.

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