NYC Council Passes Bill to Lower Insurance Limits for For-Hire Vehicles

www.insurancejournal.com, Andrew G. Simpson, June 13, 2025

With urging from a coalition of for-hire vehicle drivers and companies including Uber, the New York City Council voted to lower a for-hire vehicles’ insurance requirement in hopes of lowering premiums and disincentivizing fraud.

The lawmakers voted 50-0 (with one abstention) to change the amount of personal injury insurance coverage that the city’s 74,000 Uber, Lyft, yellow taxi, and livery drivers have to buy. The measure lowers the minimum limit of personal injury protection (PIP) coverage per person from the current $200,000 to $100,000.

The $200,000 in PIP coverage that drivers in New York City have been required to maintain is four times the $50,000 per person requirement for similar drivers throughout the rest of the state.

The City Council measure, which has been sent to Mayor Eric Adams for his approval, will prohibit the Taxi and Limousine Commission from requiring the vehicles it licenses to have personal injury protection (also known as no-fault) liability coverage in an amount greater than 200% of the amount required by state law for drivers elsewhere in the state.

The move to change the insurance was led by Council Member Carmen De La Rosa (D-Manhattan, District 10) and the Uber-backed coalition, Citizens for Affordable Rates (CAIR).

“For years, New York City’s for-hire drivers have been crushed by an unjust, outdated insurance mandate that inflated costs, limited their options, and unleashed widespread fraud. In the middle of an affordability crisis, drivers were stuck paying the price for a broken system,” said De La Rosa. “But today, the Council came through.” Continue article