Insurance for food delivery drivers in Michigan is complicated. Many people who deliver food for a living do not realize there are differences in coverage between their personal auto No-Fault insurance policies and a commercial insurance policy.

Sadly, many do not learn about the difference until it is too late. The realization comes after they have caused a car accident where someone was injured or killed and their own insurance company refuses to cover or defend them because they were using their personal vehicle for work - or “commercial” - purposes when the crash occurred.

Delivery drivers must have auto No-Fault insurance, which includes liability coverage. But to be properly covered for a car accident, delivery drivers must also have commercial auto insurance or make sure there is no business-use exclusion in their personal auto policy that would void coverage.

This exclusion is very common in many personal auto policies and allows the insurance company to refuse to defend and pay damages to protect the policyholder/insured if he or she causes a car accident while using a personal vehicle on the job.

Regardless of whether you were at-fault for causing a car accident while using your personal vehicle to make deliveries as part of your job, it is important to remember that if you have been injured at work, then you have legal rights and obligations under Michigan's workers' compensation law.

What are the effects of the requirements for car insurance for delivery drivers in Michigan?

Below are examples of how the requirements for car insurance for delivery drivers in Michigan may leave people without necessary coverage if they are at-fault in causing a car accident:

• A business-use exclusion in a personal auto insurance policy was used to deny liability coverage to a man who was using his own car to deliver pizzas – which had been recognized as a “business use” – and caused a car accident. (Bristol West Insurance Company vs. Tzortinis, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division, #06-CV-14158, Judge Paul D. Borman)
• A pizza delivery driver was denied liability coverage for a car accident he caused while making a delivery based on the business-use exclusion in his mother’s personal auto insurance policy that was covering the vehicle he was driving. (Amerisure Mutual Insurance Company vs. Farmers Insurance Exchange, Michigan Court of Appeals, May 4, 2004, #243085, unpublished)
• The business-use exclusion in a driver’s personal auto insurance policy resulted in a denial of liability coverage for a motorcyclist’s death that the driver caused while operating his employer’s uninsured commercial truck. (Husted vs. Dobbs, Michigan Supreme Court, #104447 (1999))