Do NOT Include Insurance As A Cost

[fullpower]

Do NOT Include Insurance As A Cost

Conventional wisdom suggests that car insurance is just as real of a cost of owning a car used for Uber as petrol and tires are. However, as an Uber driver, you should ignore your car insurance costs all together when determining your costs of driving for Uber. Why? For a few reasons.

First of all, it's not a cost that is consumed per mile. It is consumed via time. When you pay for an insurance premium you are paying for a period of time to be insured, say a month, six months, or a year. Whether you drive 1 mile or 100,000 miles during that time doesn't change the cost.

 

Second of all, you would be paying for it regardless of whether or not you drove for Uber.

 

If you stopped driving for Uber, you would save just the premium on your car insurance.

Also, if you happen to be a person who has to pay to park your vehicle at home, you should ignore this cost for the same reasons that you ignore insurance costs (except the one where Uber is providing it for you).

[Mr. Wolf]

Can I not include/add the insurance as a daily cost. ie £5 per day. The reason I ask because i am thinking of leasing a prius for the purpose of ubering.

[LUED]

Depends on how you want to work it out. Insurance is a fixed cost. As you rightly say, it's a cost which you have to pay, whether you drive 1 mile or a 100,000 miles. (you could say it could be a variable cost, as you may have to tell your insurance company your annual mileage, but usually, it's unlimited). Same with MOTs, and PH driver's, and PH vehicle licences. 

 

Also consider whether you use your car personally, or you just use it solely for Uber, and have a personal vehicle for your own use.