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Uber will hold talks with UK union bosses on Tuesday over restrictions imposed by the ride-hailing app that many drivers and industry experts say have forced them into paying higher insurance premiums.
In January 2022, Uber introduced a panel of eight insurers for its tens of thousands of licensed drivers in London, and stopped allowing the cars to pick up passengers if they used policies from other companies providing cover.
Twenty Uber drivers told the Financial Times their insurance costs had soared since 2021, with most blaming the rule. Some drivers said their premiums had nearly trebled in the past two years — far beyond price increases seen across the market in the same period.
One driver said he had been locked out of his Uber account after buying a cheaper policy from an insurer not on the panel. Another said he was forced to downgrade his coverage from fully comprehensive to third party-only because of the panel insurers’ prices. A third said he had retired after panellists refused to renew his policy.
“I have to work. When the premiums go up, I have no choice”, said Uber driver Seth Seglah. “Uber doesn’t listen. They are bullies, they can just log you off.”
Uber said it “takes the decision to suspend a driver very seriously”.
It added: “We have robust processes . . . to help ensure that we are taking a proportionate approach, with manual reviews by human teams always playing a role to ensure [drivers] are treated fairly. Any driver is able to contact us if they have any concerns.”
At quarterly talks with Uber on Tuesday, union representatives from GMB will demand that the restrictions be eased after drivers and industry experts complained that the system had forced drivers to endure higher premiums. The system has also triggered concerns about potential anti-competitive behaviour.
“It should be an open market,” said Steve Garelick regional organiser at the GMB, adding that the union was asking Uber to expand the panel. “We want premiums to be as low as possible for drivers.”
More than 70 per cent of drivers may have paid more in insurance as a result of Uber’s restrictions in the past two years, according to sample data compiled by an industry price comparison website and seen by the FT.
“Normally competitors would come in and offer cheaper options,” said a senior industry executive working at a price comparison website. But the panel, which experts say features about half of the insurers offering cover for UK private hire vehicles, “is stopping the normal operation of the market”, the executive added.
“You don’t just get to call up Uber and say ‘yes, we’re not happy about these changes’,” said driver Muhammad Minar, whose premium went up 48 per cent this year, according to documents seen by the FT. “We have no power. They own too much of the market. If you work as a driver, you have no choice but to work for Uber.”
Paula Ramada, a competition economist at London Economics, said the panel “is potentially an anti-competitive vertical restraint which may well constitute an abuse of dominance by Uber”.
Uber said the insurers on the panel were selected in 2021 and accounted for “over 90 per cent” of policies sold in the private hire vehicle market in London at that time.
The panel was introduced amid pressure from Transport for London for the app to verify drivers’ policies, after reports of some of them picking up passengers uninsured.
Uber can now check drivers’ policies from panel insurers in real time through document-checking system Instadoc, which automatically uploads driver’s papers. In the last TfL licence period, Instadoc identified 174 instances of issues with insurance policies which “would not have been identified otherwise”, Uber said.
“One of our priorities has been to enhance our document-verification processes for drivers to help us deliver on our commitments to Transport for London,” said Uber.
Dan Bratshpis, boss of panellist Inshur, said the panel was not about “walling off” the market to other insurers. “It’s [about] making sure that those safeguards are in place,” he said.
In 2023, a non-panel insurer asked to join Uber’s approved list, but the request was turned down even though it was planning to use Instadoc, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
In response to questions from the FT, Uber said it planned to “provide drivers with even more options” for insurance in early 2025. It said it would launch a new system to allow drivers to compare panellists’ premiums, which would “improve competition . . and deliver better prices for drivers”.
“Uber does not receive a commission and the suppliers do not pay to be on the panel,” said Uber, adding that it did not have “visibility into the price-setting” of the panellists.
