Renting out cars as a Host on Turo is one easy way to monetize your car. However, while it’s profitable, it’s worth putting the risk into consideration.

But then, if you were to have good Insurance, you have a good chance of waiving the most of possible damages caused by third parties.

So putting affordability, the best money for value and quality, into consideration, what is the best Insurance for Turo Hosts in 2023?

Sit tight, as we cover the Insurance for Turo Hosts, comprehensively.

Why do you need Insurance for Turo as a host?

Before a guest rents a car on Turo, they’re required to have insurance or proof of insurance. Still yet, Turo hosts are mandated to sign up for a Hosting package that deducts a percentage of their trip fee.

Does it all makeup?

Is signing up for a Hosting package on Turo as a Host any needful?

Well, generally, as a Host, it’s best you have dedicated insurance for your fleets. In fact, never hope on insurance from your guest.

Now there are many reasons for this, which include:

Most people renting cars from Turo, don’t even sign up for insurance

The exception to this is under 25 drivers who are mandated to sign up for insurance before booking.

Otherwise, a good number of renters on the platform don’t even bother to sign up for insurance at Turo. They all decline them and hope for their personal insurance to the magic in case of an accident.

The interesting part is how some of these personal insurance companies don’t even cover car-sharing platforms like Turo. A typical example of this is Geico.

And no, this doesn’t mean that personal insurance can’t cover Turo. There are still a number of them that can, but they’ll always be limited to some point.

Having Backup insurance is good

You don’t want to be in a frustrated state where a renters insurance can’t cover the damage made to your car, due to a policy violation.

Undermining the type of insurance used by a renter, is still best you’re also protected.

A rule for all is to sign up for insurance with the assumption that your Renter ignored the insurance plan on Turo.

However, note that in the event of an accident, the Renter is first required to contact their Insurance company. Otherwise, they pay a fine for what it cost to get the car fixed.

Note that you also have the option to report such a Renter to Turo, if they refuse your term.

The Best insurance for Turo Hosts

While there are a number of options on Insurance for Turo Host, it’s highly required that you’re sensitive to what you pick. From our experience and research, below are ways to get it right on insurance, as a Turo Host.

Get the Turo’s 60 or 75 Protection Plan

When it comes to insuring cars with peer-to-peer car-sharing companies like Turo, there are usually a lot of things to put into consideration.

In fact, for many reasons, you’d have to contact an insurance company personally to confirm their policy. You also want to get a written policy from them.

This is exactly what happens when you intend to insure your rental car as a Host on generic insurance companies like State farm, USAA, Progressive, etc.

In general, it is not worth it.

And there are not just enough trusted insurance programs dedicated to Turo, as there are in Airbnb, for instance.

If you want to properly insure your car on Turo, the best thing you can do is to choose a protection package from Turo that would suit you.

Generally, Turo has 5 Protection plans, as listed below:

  1. 90 Plan
  2. 85 Plan
  3. 80 Plan
  4. 75 Plan
  5. 60 Plan

These protection plans dictates the percentage of fee that is deducted on insurance from your trip earnings.

For instance, the 90 Plan simply means the Host goes with 90% of a trip price for the day, while 10% is used for insurance.

On the other hand, with the 60 Plan, for example, the host only takes 60% of his earnings, while 40% of the remaining is being used for insurance.

All these has advantages and disadvantages. This table summarizes it all.

PackagesCostDeductible
90 Plan10% Of Trip Earnings$2500
85 Plan15% Of Trip Earnings$1625
80 Plan20% Of Trip Earnings$750
75 Plan25% Of Trip Earnings$250
60 Plan40% Of Trip Earnings$0

Basically, the higher the deductible, the more you would have to spend in the case of an accident.

Now, what’s the best plan in all of these?

The best protection package for Turo Host is the 60 plan and 75 Plan. For starters, it’s advisable to go with the 60 Plan as there are no deductible. However, you can go up to the 75 Plan, if you can afford a $250 deductible.

There are many reasons why it’s advisable you go these routes.

60 Plan:

  1. No deductible – Fine for people who are new to the platform.
  2. Best coverage, include reimbursement for exterior wear and tear.
  3. Good when you’re limited in cash to spend in the case of any deductible.

75 Plan:

  1. Relatively low deductible for most people
  2. 25% trip fee isn’t too bad to put into insurance
  3. The best value for money so far

It’s worth mentioning that going for the other Turo protection plans are a big risk, especially when you’re just starting out.

Commercial Insurance

There are basically two routes to insuring your vehicle as a Turo Host. Either you go through the easy track by using the company’s inbuilt insurance package or going for a commercial insurance.

As a matter of fact, you can’t decline Turo’s protection plan without a proof of commercial insurance with a trusted company.

So, yeah, commercial insurance is the alternate way to go, if you don’t fancy Turo’s protection plan.

However, it’s a lot more difficult.

Firstly, you’re required to rent vehicles in your name. This means you would have to legally register your company before you can sign up for a commercial insurance.

Supposing you’ve done all these, you can now move to the last stage of officially becoming a Turo Host.

These involves providing the requirements below:

  1. Whatsoever Proof of your commercial insurance
  2. Your business Social Security Number or any alternative
  3. Pictures of your business office and car fleets
  4. Your company’s name

From our research, below is a list of Commercial insurance that works on Turo:

  1. Abiweb
  2. Metromile
  3. Liberty Mutual
  4. Lularentals

It’s important to note that, even though on a commercial insurance, you still need to pay for a personal insurance as legally required by most states.

Lastly, there’s no such thing as a 100% trip earning on Turo, even if you totally decline the company’s protection plan.

commericial insurance policy - best insurance for hosts on turo

Final Thoughts

Choosing an insurance option is one of the most crucial step to take as a beginner Host at Turo. If you miss it out on this stage, you risk your entire car rental business.

However, here’s our guide to help put you in the right track:

  • If you’re just starting out, the best option to take would be the 60 Plan Turo Hosting package.
  • The 75 Plan is the next viable option when you start earning reasonably from the company,
  • The commercial insurance is only advisable when you have over 10 fleets of cars.
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Author

A lover of advance technology and a skillful driver, Ebubechukwu is the owner of Tekitora. He has been in the car rental industry since 2018, with experience in 3 different car rental companies which include Enterprise, Budget and Turo.