In recent years, online ride-hailing services have become a crucial mode of transportation, forming a massive market with over 500 million users. While they have significantly facilitated travel and created jobs, some ride-hailing drivers have expressed concerns that the high premiums and difficulty in obtaining the commercial insurance required for operating ride-hailing services are hindering the industry's development.
New energy online ride-hailing insurance premiums continue to rise, far exceeding the growth rate of drivers' income during the same period
Mr. He, a ride-hailing driver in Hefei, Anhui Province, previously insured his new energy vehicle for 8,500 yuan per year. When he went to renew his policy last year, the insurance company quoted him a price that was too high. He tried other insurers, but they refused, arguing his vehicle was considered high-risk. Ultimately, he had no choice but to renew with his original insurer.
"Most insurance companies offer prices around 14,000 yuan, and you must purchase full coverage. In fact, vehicle damage insurance has a higher claim ratio. If you don't buy vehicle damage insurance, the premium should be adjusted. I think 7,000 to 8,000 yuan is reasonable." Master He told reporters, "The insurance premiums for fuel-powered online ride-hailing vehicles are lower, but there has also been a certain increase. I hope you can help online ride-hailing drivers appeal."
In addition to the difficulty of obtaining insurance, online ride-hailing drivers also face the pressure of rising premiums year after year. Mr. Sun, an online ride-hailing driver in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, said his car insurance premium in 2024 was 6,500 yuan. While driving, Mr. Sun accidentally collided slightly with a roadside barrier while trying to avoid a vehicle that suddenly changed lanes, damaging the left headlight and slightly deforming the bumper. The repair cost approximately 2,500 yuan, and the insurance company made a normal claim settlement. Mr. Sun's car insurance premium increased by 30% to 8,500 yuan in 2025.
Mr. Zhao, a Beijing-based online ride-hailing driver, told reporters that his insurance renewal premiums had increased even though he hadn't suffered any accidents. "The annual premium for 2024 was 8,500 yuan, and it's going to 9,800 yuan for 2025," a jump of more than 15%.
Mr. Zhao isn't alone. Insurance premiums for new energy ride-hailing vehicles have been rising steadily in recent years, putting considerable pressure on the industry. According to a manager at Shaanxi Yihang Beibei Network Technology Co., Ltd., insurance companies are restricting coverage for certain vehicle types, with some models commanding premiums as high as 25,000 yuan per year. Over 20 of their company's vehicles have been forced out of service due to excessively high insurance quotes.
It's understood that there are only a handful of online ride-hailing insurance companies, and most are concentrated within a few leading insurance companies. In some regions, these leading companies are reluctant to accept insurance for online ride-hailing services and impose stringent requirements. For example, one insurance company in a city in East China can only process five vehicles per day, requiring a counter inspection and the presence of a legal representative. In many other places, insurance companies only accept renewals and do not accept new vehicle insurance.
Insurance companies believe the risks are higher than the premiums and are not very active in insuring online ride-hailing vehicles, especially new energy vehicles.
Why is it so difficult to get insurance for online ride-hailing services?
Mr. He mentioned above left a message on the "Leaders' Message Board" of People's Daily Online regarding the insurance issue of online ride-hailing vehicles, reflecting the high premiums. Relevant departments of Anhui Province replied that new energy vehicles, especially new energy taxis and online ride-hailing vehicles, are currently in a special period of "high risks, high repairs, high compensation, and high premiums." There has been a temporary situation in which new energy vehicle insurance is "costly for car owners and losses for insurance companies." They stated that they will push insurance companies to fulfill their social responsibilities.
"Overall, the insurance premiums for new energy vehicles of the same price are often higher than those for fuel vehicles. Due to differences in vehicle models and owners' historical claims, insurance companies' related business operations, and the overall claims ratio in the local market, there are certain differences in new energy vehicle insurance premiums. Some owners may encounter a significant increase in renewal costs." said Wang Xiangnan, deputy director of the Insurance and Economic Development Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Industry insiders point out that insurance prices should be commensurate with risk, and that high accident and claims rates are the primary reasons for the high premiums for ride-hailing services, particularly new energy vehicles. A senior insurance company representative, in an interview, cited high repair costs, a lack of widespread social maintenance, inadequate repair standards, and the high claims rates associated with some new energy vehicle companies compressing vehicle sales prices and inflating subsequent repair costs. This is not a single issue within insurance, but a systematic effort to improve the quality and upgrade the new energy vehicle industry.
Zhang Sheng, an associate researcher at the School of Business at Yulin Normal University, believes that current online ride-hailing insurance pricing methods rely solely on static indicators like vehicle age and brand, failing to incorporate dynamic data such as frequency of sudden braking, duration of nighttime driving, and frequency of traffic violations. This fails to address the risk characteristics of online ride-hailing vehicles, which are characterized by their dynamic operation and high frequency of use. To mitigate risk and increase premiums, insurance companies set high entry requirements, which is one of the main factors contributing to unfriendly underwriting policies.
In addition, some online ride-hailing vehicles are affiliated with online ride-hailing companies. Factors such as the online ride-hailing companies' commissions or the high overall claims rate of the company's vehicles have exacerbated the high cost of vehicle insurance and the difficulty of purchasing insurance.
Mr. Wu, a ride-hailing driver in Puyang, Henan Province, was registered with an online ride-hailing company. When his insurance policy was about to expire, the company told him, "This year's premium is over 3,000 yuan higher. If you can afford it, go ahead and buy it yourself." Mr. Wu contacted the insurance company, but was told they only work directly with ride-hailing companies and don't sell policies to individuals. Unwilling to accept the high premium, Mr. Wu said helplessly, "My car is no longer insured, so I have to keep it parked."
The difficulty of obtaining insurance and the high cost of premiums have led some online ride-hailing drivers to purchase non-operating insurance. Some individuals operate online ride-hailing services using their personal vehicles, secretly purchasing lower-cost non-operating insurance under the name of their private vehicles. This can lead to insurance companies denying claims in the event of an accident. According to industry insiders, over 20% of online ride-hailing drivers on a certain platform have non-operating insurance, and the accident denial rate is nearly 90%, creating a vicious cycle of "low premiums, high denials, and compromised driver rights."
"If an operating vehicle is insured with non-operating insurance, the insurance company can theoretically refuse to pay compensation. Some insurance companies will pay partial compensation out of humanitarian considerations, but it is still a small part compared to the loss of the car owner. Therefore, it is not recommended to insure operating vehicles with non-operating insurance." said an insurance industry insider.
Some so-called "pooled insurance" policies, which offer 60% of regular insurance premiums, have attracted many ride-hailing drivers. However, these policies have not been approved by national financial regulators and lack appropriate oversight, making claims difficult.
Promote the establishment of a multi-level risk-sharing system and optimize the pricing mechanism of the insurance industry
In recent years, the number of workers in new employment forms, such as ride-hailing drivers, has increased significantly. According to the Ride-hailing Regulatory Information Interaction System, as of October 31, 2024, a total of 362 ride-hailing platform companies nationwide had obtained operating licenses, 3.206 million ride-hailing vehicles had obtained transport licenses, and 7.483 million drivers had obtained professional qualifications. Driving a ride-hailing vehicle has become a key channel for re-employment. Some drivers have left the industry due to unsuccessful insurance renewals. High premiums and difficulties in obtaining insurance directly impact the stability and development of the ride-hailing industry.
Many experts and industry insiders interviewed stated that while online ride-hailing insurance is difficult to obtain due to high premiums and high risk, underwriting online ride-hailing services can be risky and unprofitable. Striking a balance between these two issues requires comprehensive measures, addressing both the symptoms and the root causes, focusing on improving the overall quality and efficiency of the industry. In addition to further strengthening oversight and enforcing accountability, regulators should also guide the online ride-hailing and insurance industries to jointly explore risk-sharing mechanisms and optimize industry pricing mechanisms.
To address the difficulty in securing insurance for new energy vehicles due to high claims risks, on January 24th of this year, the Financial Regulatory Administration, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Transport, and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the "Guiding Opinions on Deepening Reform, Strengthening Supervision, and Promoting the High-Quality Development of New Energy Vehicle Insurance." These guidelines explicitly call for innovative and optimized new energy vehicle insurance supply, including establishing a high-claims risk-sharing mechanism, prudently optimizing the floating range of independent pricing coefficients, enriching commercial auto insurance products, and optimizing commercial auto insurance base rates. The following day, the Shanghai Insurance Exchange officially launched its "Easy Auto Insurance" platform, allowing new energy vehicle owners to sign contracts directly with insurance companies, eliminating intermediaries. This year, Mr. He purchased a satisfactory insurance product through the platform.
To address the high insurance premiums for online ride-hailing vehicles, experts recommend strengthening research into risk pricing based on the driving behavior of online ride-hailing drivers. Industry insiders note that current auto insurance premiums are determined through actuarial pricing based on vehicle conditions, such as price and the previous year's claims history. However, for online ride-hailing vehicles, risks arise not only from the vehicle itself but also from the route traveled, the driver's real-time driving behavior, and individual driving habits.
Professor Duan Yan and Associate Professor Quan Jiyue of the School of Business at Yulin Normal University suggest collecting data on sudden acceleration and nighttime driving in ride-hailing services to establish a "base premium + floating coefficient" model. "We could explore dynamic pricing reforms, incorporating metrics like the number of sudden accelerations, the proportion of nighttime driving, and peak-hour order volume into pricing. We could also research risk assessment and pricing mechanisms based on driver behavior, and establish a multi-dimensional pricing mechanism that considers vehicles, road conditions, drivers, and driving behavior." Given the frequent turnover of ride-hailing drivers, they could also explore how to accurately price and collect premiums on a monthly basis based on this real-time driving data. Of course, this would require ride-hailing drivers to authorize insurance companies to access their personal driving data.
Experts suggest breaking down barriers between financial regulation, traffic management, and platform data, establishing a national ride-hailing risk assessment platform to enable multi-dimensional pricing based on the vehicle, the driver, and road conditions. For example, Shanghai has already implemented a pilot program that significantly improves the accuracy of premium pricing by sharing 12 types of data, including maintenance records, insurance claims, and driving behavior.
Gu Dasong, associate professor at the School of Law at Southeast University, suggested strengthening third-party risk reduction services. This could be achieved by introducing professional institutions to provide a closed-loop service of "training-monitoring-claims settlement," incorporating risk reduction services into industry standards, and providing premium subsidies to companies that meet the standards, thus creating an ecosystem of "risk reduction-premium reduction-industry virtuous cycle."
Some scholars have also suggested supporting automakers and platforms in establishing self-insurance companies. For example, some automakers are piloting a "carmaker-platform-insurance" tripartite co-insurance program, incorporating battery repair costs into the risk pool. By 2024, pilot vehicle insurance premiums were expected to drop by 18%, and the claims settlement period was shortened to just three days.
"The floating insurance premiums for online ride-hailing vehicles can, to a certain extent, promote the development of safe driving behaviors among online ride-hailing drivers. Through the precise design of differentiated insurance premium rates, online ride-hailing drivers can be encouraged to actively install on-board safety equipment, strictly abide by traffic rules, reduce the number of accidents and insurance premiums through safe driving, and form positive incentives for safe driving behaviors." An industry insider said.
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