Turo is a peer-to-peer car sharing service that allows vehicle owners to rent out their own cars to other drivers. Unlike Uber or Lyft, where the owner drives the vehicle, Turo allows renters to drive other people’s cars for a daily rate. Think of it like Airbnb for cars—a new way to drive on vacation!

Hosting through Turo can be a great way to earn passive income, but it comes with some significant insurance pitfalls. Check out our detailed guide to Turo insurance below.

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How Turo insurance works for owners

Turo refers to vehicle owners who rent out their cars through Turo as “hosts” (just like Airbnb). If you’re a host, you’ll have access to five different protection plans, each with a different level of coverage.

All of Turo’s protection plans include up to $750,000 of third-party

liability insurance

underwritten by Travelers, including

bodily injury

and

property damage coverage

. With that coverage, you’ll be protected from just about any out-of-pocket costs associated with an at-fault accident when a guest is driving your vehicle.

Here are the other benefits included in Turo’s insurance plans:

Physical damage coverage: Turo pays for eligible physical damage to hosted vehicles up to the actual cash value of the car or $200,000 (whichever is cheaper) once you’ve paid the deductible associated with your plan.

Replacement vehicle reimbursement: If your car needs to be repaired after an accident, higher plans include some

daily reimbursement

to cover the cost of a replacement vehicle, and even some cash to offset the cost of a total loss.

Exterior wear-and-tear reimbursement: If you choose the highest level of protection, Turo will pay to repair most small dents, scratches, and cracks to the vehicle’s exterior caused during a trip.

Loss of income coverage: With the most comprehensive protection plan, you’ll get the choice between replacement vehicle reimbursement or reimbursement from Turo for the hosting income you lost while the car was being repaired.

One thing to keep in mind: all of Turo’s insurance coverage and host benefits are secondary to your personal car insurance. In other words, your own insurance will be the first to pay out for any claims, and Turo’s insurance comes through as a backup.

Finally, unlike a traditional car insurance policy, you won’t pay a separate bill for your Turo insurance. Instead, the cost of your plan is based on the amount Turo deducts from the trip price: that is, the car’s rate multiplied by the number of days in the rental period. The higher your protection level, the less you’ll take home from each guest trip.

Plan	Summary	% of trip cost you earn	Third-party liability coverage	Physical damage deductible	Replacement vehicle reimbursement	Exterior wear-and-tear	Loss of income coverage
90	High risk, high reward	90%	Up to $750,000	$2,500	Not included	Not covered	Not included
85	High income with a large deductible	85%	Up to $750,000	$1,625	Not included	Not covered	Not included
80	The happy medium	80%	Up to $750,000	$750	Not included	Not covered	Not included
75	Low deductible with extra perks	75%	Up to $750,000	$250	$30/day for up to 10 days	Not covered	Not included
60	Maximum protection	60%	Up to $750,000	$0	$50/day for up to 10 days	Covered with exceptions	Turo reimburses potential earnings for up to 30 days based on last 60 days’ income

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Key Takeaway The higher the protection level you choose, the more Turo takes out of your earnings.

MORE:

Rideshare insurance

Does Turo make you pay for insurance?

Not necessarily. Turo’s protection plans are available to all hosts, but they’re not technically required; as long as you have personal insurance (a requirement for all hosts), you can decline Turo’s coverage and rely on your own car insurance instead. If you choose this option, you’ll miss out on all the additional benefits of a Turo protection plan, but you’ll also be able to make up to 92.5% of every Turo trip cost.

How to get personal auto insurance as a Turo host

Here’s the bad news: it’s very, very hard to get (or keep) personal car insurance if you rent your vehicle out through Turo. And because Turo requires hosts to provide

proof of a personal car insurance policy

in order to sign up, it’s hard to square that circle.

Car insurance companies are wary of peer-to-peer car sharing services because they’re new, unfamiliar, and carry a lot of inherent risks. For that reason, most major insurance providers won’t insure a car that you rent out with Turo.

If you’re trying to get into the car sharing marketplace, you’ll need to search around for an insurance company that’s willing to cover your personal vehicle while you’re using Turo. For example,

Metromile’s

pay-per-mile experience may be an affordable option for Turo hosts in

California

and

Illinois

Is Turo worth it for hosts?

For this question, we’ve got to give a cautious maybe. Turo’s own estimate of the annual income for a host with a single car is $10,516—not nothing, but not necessarily worth the financial risks or hassle of finding an insurer. Single car owners will likely be better off with a more traditional ride-sharing service or a different side hustle.

Turo is most likely to be worth it if you have enough vehicles to make commercial insurance a feasible option. It may be easier for Turo hosts to get a commercial policy, and you’ll have the option to decline Turo’s coverage and only rely on your own policy.

Liberty Mutual

—who used to underwrite Turo’s insurance coverage—offers exclusive small fleet insurance to Turo hosts in California.

Key Takeaway It’s really hard to find an insurance company willing to insure a vehicle you rent with Turo, making it difficult for most drivers to make money through Turo.

How Turo insurance works for renters

For renters (or “guests”), Turo insurance works a lot more like

traditional car rental insurance

—with some important exceptions.

When you rent a car through Turo, you’ll have a choice between three different protection plans:

Minimum: Includes the state’s minimum liability coverage for 15-25% of your trip cost ($10/day minimum)

Standard: Includes the state’s minimum liability coverage for 40% of your trip cost ($12/day minimum)

Premium: Includes up to $750,000 of liability coverage for 65-100% of your trip cost ($14/day minimum)

In addition to the liability coverage you can purchase for your Turo rental, every plan also comes with a physical damage contract similar to the collision damage waiver you’d get from a car rental company. With that contract, Turo will cover physical damage to your host’s vehicle, but you’ll need to pay a deductible.

For the Minimum plan, the deductible is $3,000, and for the Standard plan it’s just $500. The Premium plan comes with a $0 deductible, but Premium coverage isn’t available for all vehicles or trips, and you must be 21 years old to purchase it.

Finally, every Turo renter gets 24/7 roadside assistance, meaning that you’ll have access to emergency assistance if your car breaks down, regardless of plan level.

MORE:

What to do if you’re in an accident with a rental car

Should I get insurance when renting a Turo car?

When you rent a car with Turo, you’re usually better off paying for Turo’s protection plan.

All of Turo’s protection plans offer secondary coverage. Your personal insurance policy will still be the primary coverage for your Turo rental. And if you have enough personal auto insurance coverage, you can choose to waive Turo’s protection—as long as your insurance company extends coverage to peer-to-peer rentals.

Spoiler: most insurance companies won’t cover you when you’re driving a Turo rental car unless you’re renting from a commercial host. Neither will credit card companies, even though they’ll often provide coverage for traditional rental cars. Call your insurance company before you turn down Turo’s coverage to make sure that you’re covered.

Key Takeaway In most cases, choosing Turo’s Standard protection plan will give you the best coverage as a renter.

MORE: How to avoid being unfairly charged for rental car damage

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