"Theo" wrote in message
...
In uk.railway Recliner wrote:
I'm not sure if this applies in the UK:

Uber requires all of their drivers to have car insurance, and provides
supplemental insurance coverage, but only while the app is on.

Here’s how it works: When the Uber app is off, a driver is covered by
their
own personal car insurance. When the Uber app is turned on, a low level
of
liability insurance becomes active. When a trip is accepted, a higher
level
of coverage kicks in and remains active until the passenger exits the
vehicle. Previously Uber had only offered coverage when a passenger was
in
the car, but the company updated their policy after a series of accidents
which resulted in various lawsuits.

I suspect, but don't know, that insurance companies won't see it that way.
For instance, you get a job that takes you a long way from home and then
you
'clock off'. I suspect the insurance company would not count the return
journey as 'commuting', because that journey was generated by the job that
you picked up, even if you're not technically working at that point.
Typically insurance policies define it as 'commuting to a single place of
work', which this isn't. I don't know if the deadheading parts are
acceptable as business miles on conventional insurance policies.

In the employees-not-contractors case, the judge allowed the time from
turning on the app to getting a job as working time for hours
calculations,
but not the time to commute from outside of London to the edge of the Uber
zone (I think the example was Southampton to Woking or thereabouts). I
don't think you'd get away with saying your single place of work was
Greater
London.

There are people who drive from Southampton to London to work as Uber
drivers

no wonder they don't cover their costs

(Why can't they just work as a mini-cab in Southampton?)

tim