Marsh Risk and specialty insurer Apollo have launched a dedicated insurance facility for autonomous vehicles operating on Uber Technologies' global ride-hailing and delivery platform, in what the companies describe as a first for the sector.
The Autonomous Vehicle Insurance Programme, underwritten by Apollo's ibott division, provides Uber with capacity to offer its self-driving partners primary and excess liability coverage at preferred rates.
Rather than requiring each developer, fleet operator or vehicle manufacturer to arrange separate policies, the programme wraps all participants into a single master policy designed to eliminate overlaps and gaps in coverage across Uber's autonomous vehicle ecosystem.
The facility forms part of Uber Autonomous Solutions, a broader suite of services the company recently unveiled to help partners commercialise and scale driverless ride-hailing and delivery worldwide.
ibott, which has spent more than a decade building AV risk products, uses exposure-based pricing metrics such as per-mile, per-delivery or per-trip rates rather than conventional motor insurance models.
Chris Moore, president of Apollo ibott – Commercial, said autonomous vehicles demand "a fundamentally different approach to risk and insurance" and that the consolidated structure is intended to reduce uncertainty for large-scale deployment.
Melissa Daly, who leads the autonomous, mobility and platform risk practice at Marsh Risk, said the collaboration represents "a meaningful step forward in delivering a scalable, cost-effective framework for AV risk management."
Andy Parr, vice-president of insurance at Uber, said the policy is part of a wider effort to help partners bring autonomous vehicles to market across multiple jurisdictions.
The programme arrives against the backdrop of a fragmented and fast-evolving regulatory landscape for autonomous vehicles. In the United States, 42 states and Washington DC have enacted AV-related legislation, though requirements vary widely.
California requires operators to hold a US$5 million insurance bond, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced a new AV framework in April 2025 prioritising safety alongside commercial deployment.
In Europe, the EU's revised Product Liability Directive, adopted in late 2024, must be transposed by member states by December 2026. Allianz has called for an EU-wide "driving licence" for automated vehicles with uniform technical approval procedures.
Germany established mandatory liability coverage for Level 4 and above vehicles last year, making it one of the first countries with a comprehensive AV insurance framework.
Britain's Automated Vehicles Act 2024 shifts liability from users to manufacturers or operators when automated features are engaged, but full implementation is not expected until the second half of 2027. AXA's Marco Distefano has warned that until detailed legislation is in place, insurers cannot fully determine how self-driving vehicle coverage will work in practice.
Closer to home, Hong Kong formed a new working group in February to advance autonomous vehicle development, while Singapore already has Level 4 driverless cars running in designated districts.
For a cross-border facility such as Uber's, the patchwork of rules means a single master policy must navigate vastly different liability regimes from one market to the next.
