# Insurance When You Start a Side Hustle or Gig Work
Driving for a rideshare app, delivering food, selling handmade goods, or freelancing on the side all create business risk — and your personal policies quietly assume you *aren't* doing any of that. The gaps are easy to miss until a claim gets denied. Here's what changes when you start earning on the side and how to close the coverage holes.
What Changes at This Moment
Personal auto and homeowners policies generally exclude or limit business use. If you drive for Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, or Amazon Flex, there's often a coverage gap during parts of the trip that neither your personal policy nor the app's policy fully covers. If you sell products, make things, or store inventory at home, a homeowners policy usually caps business property and excludes business liability. The more the side hustle grows, the bigger the exposure.
Which Coverages to Review or Add
- Rideshare/delivery endorsement or commercial auto if you drive for apps, to fill the personal-policy gap. See Commercial Auto Insurance and the Auto Complete Guide.
- General liability for injury or damage claims tied to your product or service. See General Liability Insurance.
- Business property / inland marine for tools, equipment, and inventory a homeowners policy won't fully cover. See Inland Marine Insurance.
- Professional liability (E&O) if you give advice or professional services. See Professional Liability / E&O.
- A Business Owners Policy (BOP) once the side hustle is sizable. See Business Owners Policy (BOP).
Common Gaps Gig Workers Miss
- The rideshare "coverage gap" — the period after you turn the app on but before a passenger is aboard is often thinly covered.
- Assuming homeowners covers business inventory or equipment — it usually caps it.
- No liability for products you make and sell.
- Freelancers skipping E&O when their real risk is a mistake in the work.
- Not telling your agent about the side income, which is what creates the denied-claim surprise.
How an Independent Agency Helps
Side hustles fall in an awkward spot between personal and commercial coverage, and carriers handle them very differently. Because BNW Services (dba InsureToday24) is independent, we find the endorsement or small commercial policy that fits your specific gig — often for less than people expect — so a denied claim doesn't wipe out your side income. Read Why Use an Independent Insurance Agent.
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Earning on the side? Call or text (573) 594-5148 — Lucy can find the right coverage 24/7 — or begin at insuretoday24.com.
References
1. Insurance Information Institute — Ride-sharing and insurance — https://www.iii.org/article/background-on-ride-sharing-and-insurance
2. National Association of Insurance Commissioners — Consumer resources — https://content.naic.org/consumer.htm
3. Investopedia — Gig Economy — https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/gig-economy.asp
4. USA.gov — Small business and self-employment — https://www.usa.gov/start-business
5. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — https://www.consumerfinance.gov
Related
- The Complete Guide to Auto Insurance
- General Liability Insurance
- Inland Marine (Tools & Equipment) Insurance
- Insurance When You Start a Business
- Why Use an Independent Insurance Agent
Watch
- Comparing Auto Insurance Coverage of Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and Amazon Flex — by *The Rideshare Guy*
- Do Uber and Lyft drivers need rideshare insurance? — by *Insureon*