HyreCar: Risky Rentals to Ride Share Drivers

What is HyreCar?

HyreCar is a peer-to-peer car rental platforms. But it is not renting to a casual driver. This site specifically aims to rent to Uber and Lyft drivers.

How it works for vehicle owners

You register on the site and list your vehicle, with the make, model and year, as well as photographs. You also determine the rental price and whether a deposit is required.

If a driver books your car for rent, you and the driver enter into a rental agreement and the driver pays HyreCar. HyreCar deducts a commission and remits the rest of the payment to you.

How it works for renters

You can view the cars listed on the site and book one for rent. If you book one, HyreCar will add a commission to the rental rate and invoice you.

You’ll need to pay with a credit card and HyreCar will keep that number on file. If you damage the owner’s vehicle, your credit card could be charged for up to $1,000 in damages over and above your deposit.

HyreCar review

Since the site focuses on Uber and Lyft drivers, rentals are generally long term, but cost less per day than platforms that rent to tourists. On the surface, that seems to provide a benefit to everyone. Theoretically, renters get more affordable cars and owners get regular, long-term rentals. But, in reality, the site poses unacceptable risks to everyone involved. Here’s why.

First of all, for car owners, renting to Uber and Lyft drivers means that you need to be renting out a car that’s nice enough to pass a ride share company’s inspections. And that car is going to get driven constantly — far more than a casual renter would drive. Moreover, HyreCar has one of the most complicated insurance policies ever created. And, it appears that complexity means your car is likely to have less coverage for both damage and liability than you think.

Meanwhile, where drivers may get a slight break on the daily cost of an auto rental, they will need to put a deposit on the car. And they could be held personally liable for damages if they get in an accident because of the same complex and highly limited insurance coverage.

Limited insurance coverage

Let’s dive a little deeper into that limited insurance coverage.

According to HyreCar’s terms, owners must have their own personal coverage on their vehicle — and should know that their personal coverage may not pay anything when the car is rented out for commercial purposes. Moreover vehicle owners could be held liable for the “drivers negligence” during the rental period. 

The coverage only applies when the driver’s ride share coverage is in force — i.e. when the driver has a paying fare in the car. It would not apply when the driver is using the car for personal use. And, if the driver doesn’t have ride share coverage, HyreCar’s coverage wouldn’t apply at all.

But that isn’t the only red flag car owners should be concerned about.

Deductibles and exclusions

Even when the policy does cover your vehicle, the insurance has lots of holes — like a $2,500 deductible. That’s the amount that comes out of your pocket before insurance kicks in. And it excludes interior stains, tears and rips, as well as scratches, dents, punctures, window cracks and dings that are under 6 inches in length, not to mention tire damage.

All of these items are considered “normal wear and tear,” according to HyreCar’s policy. This may reflect the fact that the wear and tear involved in ride sharing is far from “normal.”

Should you be worried that someone will crash or dent or take off with your vehicle? Yes. Read the owner reviews below to see just how concerned you ought to be.

Recommendations

Our advice, if you are going to rent out your car, consider Turo. If you have a truck or van, also consider Fetch.

If you want to rent through HyreCar, make sure to buy your own commercial auto insurance policy.

What car owners say: (From Yelp)

Stay Away!!  I rented my car once and had a very positive experience; the second time and the renter crashed it. All I’m getting is the run-around…I know it’s going to be an expensive lesson.

Scam. They cost my family and I over $20000. I rented my car through them and it was totaled the very next day. They denied the claim saying the actual renter let her son drive the car and the son wrecked it. The son was not covered. I have no control over that. They intentionally lead you to believe that anything that happens while the car is on the HyreCar rental will be covered. My insurance company also denied the claim because of the rental situation.  As soon as a claim happens they find any excuse to deny a claim.  Horrible people.

I had to go to arbitration with the company and they are doing everything in their power to deny my claims. Through the grace of God, I was able to find who their insurer was and make them pay.

Stolen car

Someone stole my Camaro, and almost stole my Beamer through their platform. Did some research and found out that they stole someone’s identity, but they passed their background check. They keep blaming Checkr, but itwas HyreCar’s negligence.

One of my drivers got a ticket on my car durning a period that was clearly in his possession, and its now a year later and they still have not paid me..even though they sent me an email apologizing for how long it took and agreeing to do so. NOT WORTH IT. DON’T USE THEM!

The worst decision ever was to rent my car out on this app. My car came back with a busted up bumper and they didn’t even want to pay for it. The people who rent your car don’t take care of it and u stuck with the bill. COMPANY RESPONSE: 1/31/2018  Based off of the image you have provided, it looks like the scratch appears to be less than six inches. Our policy clearly states that we only will cover damages under six inches. 

Rotten insurance

Hyrecar for God sake please get better Insurance. I had my two cars totaled with you in 2016.

The driver ran away with the car and they are not doing anything except emailing the same thing again and again. Even the police told us that this company is known for similar things in the past. I asked them to expedite the claim process through their insurance but they told me we have to wait for 2 months before they can do anything.

If the driver can’t pay for over-mileage and damage, they don’t don’t have any process to help out.

Beware. They will wipe their hands with you soon as the driver can’t pay for damages.

Updated 12/11/2023