Delaware Code Title 2 Sec. 1910 – Automobile insurance provisions
(a) Insurers that write automobile insurance in Delaware may exclude any and all coverage afforded under the policy issued to an owner or operator of a personal vehicle for any loss or injury that occurs while a TNC driver is logged on to a transportation network company’s digital network or while a TNC driver provides a prearranged ride. This right to exclude all coverage may apply to any coverage included in an automobile insurance policy including, but not limited to:
(1) Liability coverage for bodily injury and property damage;
(2) Personal injury protection benefits as required by §2118 of Title 21 and § 3902 of Title 18;
(3) Uninsured and underinsured motorist;
(4) Medical payments coverage;
(5) Comprehensive physical damage coverage; and
(6) Collision physical damage coverage.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 2 Sec. 1910
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Digital network: means any online-enabled technology application service, website or system offered or utilized by a transportation network company that enables the prearrangement of rides with transportation network company drivers. See Delaware Code Title 2 Sec. 1901
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Personal vehicle: means a vehicle that is used by a transportation network company driver and is:
- Prearranged ride: means the provision of transportation by a TNC driver to a rider, beginning when a TNC driver accepts a ride requested by a rider through a digital network controlled by a transportation network company, continuing while the TNC driver transports a requesting rider, and ending when the last rider departs from the personal vehicle. See Delaware Code Title 2 Sec. 1901
- TNC: means a corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, or other entity that is licensed pursuant to this chapter and operating in Delaware that uses a digital network to connect transportation network company riders to transportation network company drivers who provide prearranged rides. See Delaware Code Title 2 Sec. 1901
- TNC driver: means an individual who:
Such exclusions shall apply notwithstanding any requirement under Chapters 21 and 29 of Title 21.
Nothing in this section implies or requires that a personal automobile insurance policy provide coverage while the TNC driver is logged on to the transportation network company’s digital network, while the TNC driver is engaged in a prearranged ride or while the TNC driver otherwise uses a vehicle to transport passengers for compensation.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as to require an insurer to use any particular policy language or reference to this section in order to exclude any and all coverage for any loss or injury that occurs while a TNC driver is logged on to a transportation network company’s digital network or while a TNC driver provides a prearranged ride.
Nothing shall be deemed to preclude an insurer from providing primary or excess coverage for the transportation network company driver’s vehicle, if it so chose to do so by contract or endorsement.
(b) Automobile insurers that exclude the coverage described in § 1908 of this title shall have no duty to defend or indemnify any claim expressly excluded thereunder. Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to invalidate or limit an exclusion contained in a policy including any policy in use or approved for use in Delaware prior to August 10, 2016, that excludes coverage for vehicles used to carry persons or property for a charge or available for hire by the public.
An automobile insurer that defends or indemnifies a claim against a TNC driver that is excluded under the terms of its policy, shall have a right of contribution against other insurers that provide automobile insurance to the same TNC driver in satisfaction of the coverage requirements of § 1908 of this title at the time of loss.
(c) In a claims coverage investigation, transportation network companies shall immediately provide upon request by directly involved parties or any insurer of the transportation network company driver if applicable, the precise times that a transportation network company driver logged on and off of the transportation network company’s digital network in the 12-hour period immediately preceding and in the 12-hour period immediately following the accident. Insurers providing coverage set forth under § 1908 of this title shall disclose upon request by any other such insurer involved in the particular claim, the applicable coverages, exclusions and limits provided under any automobile insurance maintained under § 1908 of this title in order to satisfy the requirements.
(d) If a lender or a secured party has a secured interest in a TNC driver’s vehicle and a transportation network company’s insurer makes a payment for a claim for damage to the TNC driver’s vehicle that is covered under comprehensive or collision damage coverage held by the transportation network company, the insurer shall issue the payment directly to the vehicle repair shop or jointly to the owner of the vehicle and the primary lender or secured party on the covered vehicle.
(e) Nothing in this section shall limit the right of a lender or secured party of a TNC driver’s vehicle to require a TNC driver to maintain comprehensive, collision damage coverage, or both for a TNC driver’s vehicle, or to show evidence of such coverage to the lender or secured party, that would cover the period when the TNC driver is logged on to the transportation network company’s digital network but is not engaged in a prearranged ride or when the TNC driver is engaged in a prearranged ride. If the TNC driver fails to maintain the required comprehensive or collision damage coverage, or to show evidence to the lender or secured party of the coverage upon reasonable request by the lender or secured party, the lender or secured party may obtain the coverage at the expense of the TNC driver