In that instance, a Turo vehicle struck another car and killed its driver in Smyrna, Ga. Brian Lewis, a lawyer representing a passenger in the Turo vehicle, said
that the Turo renter was not the person actually behind the wheel, and that the suit would resolve the question of whether Turo’s insurance ought to cover that situation.
In an email, Mr. Webb said that the Turo vehicle in the Smyrna accident had been stolen,
that the insurance company does not believe it owes coverage to a criminal, and that the coverage would indeed protect the car owner.
In that article, I quoted a statement from RelayRides in which the company said it had been operating successfully in Massachusetts even without any legislation — like the kind
that exists in California, Oregon and Washington — that would generally keep insurers from dropping your personal coverage as punishment for putting your car up for rent.
In a consent order, the Financial Frauds and Consumer Protection Division said
that RelayRides had acted as an unlicensed insurance adjuster and producer, misrepresented the coverage it provided and most likely led many people to violate their leasing and finance agreements.
The subsequent lawsuits and claims threatened to eclipse the $1 million in liability coverage
that RelayRides provides people who put their cars on the platform.
Tesla itself is looking to help its owners rent out their cars through what it refers to as a “shared fleet.” Getaround
allows owners to funnel their rental revenue directly to Lexus and Mercedes-Benz to cover their own payments.
In late 2013, RelayRides published a blog post making the case that its insurance is actually better than what most people buy for themselves.
Earlier that year, however, the New York State Department of Financial Services published a “Scam Alert” warning people away from the company.
The company no longer does business in New York, and Getaround does not have cars in the state either.
