Everything You Need to Know About TaskRabbit Insurance: The Basics -

In the last two years, many people have been moving towards a job where they work on their own. This is called a ‘gig economy’. In this new world, the side-hustle is like having a job. It can be flexible and give you money.

There are plenty of choices when it comes to selecting a side hustle, too, and TaskRabbit is among the most popular. There’s plenty of good reasons for this-it’s simple to sign up, relatively easy to make a connection, and most of the “jobs” are fairly basic tasks that most smart, reasonably-coordinated humans can handle without any compelling issues.

When choosing a side gig like Taskrabbit, insurance comes into play. Gigs like moving, furniture assembly, deliver and handyman that are among the most popular TaskRabbit tasks come with liability issues, so it’s important to know what the tradeoffs are when it comes to signing up for a gig that comes with physical risks.

So let’s break it down. What follows is a primer on the basics of insurance and TaskRabbit, i.e., what you need to know, what the advantages are and what pitfalls may come up.

Do You Need Insurance for TaskRabbit?

This question cuts to the heart of the insurance issue, and the answer contains both good news and bad.

The bad news first: technically, TaskRabbit doesn’t offer any insurance for whatever tasks you’re taking on. That’s spelled out clearly in the Support section of the TaskRabbit website, which directly states that the company “does not insure or provide insurance against any losses sustained by Users.”

As straightforward as that is, though, there is some good news-TaskRabbit does imply the possibility of insurance using the combination of a Certificate of Insurance (COI) and something called a Happiness Pledge.

What is the COI? Simply put, it verifies TaskRabbit’s insurance, and it spells out information on the firm’s coverage, its insurance company, policy number, who’s insured and the effective dates of the policy.

Sounds great so far, right? Yes and no. The catch is that the COI only applies to users who file a claim against TaskRabbit. It does not apply to users who file claims against one another after using TaskRabbit’s technology to connect.

So what about the Happiness Pledge? It does imply some level of insurance coverage, but only for those losses not covered by personal insurance. Also, complaints and claims must be filed within 14 days, so there’s a relatively short window to follow up if issues to arise.

Given all that, then, what does it all mean?? Let’s try to break that down a little further with our next question, which will dive down a little deeper into the specifics of user insurance.

Do People on TaskRabbit Have Insurance?

This is an interesting question. The short answer is that it probably varies. Insurance isn’t required, but it is strongly recommended.

Why? Let’s ask a different question to answer that, one that will allow us to hone in a more direct answer.

Do TaskRabbit Taskers Need Insurance?

The even shorter answer to this question is an emphatic “yes.” Because TaskRabbit is specifically geared toward home services, many of the common jobs are blue collar jobs that involve at least some element of physical risk.

What that means in practical terms is that the more coverage you have, the better. To be both safe and reasonably bullet-proof on TaskRabbit, the bare minimum would be a strong combination of personal liability and comprehensive health insurance.

Also, if the task you take on using TaskRabbit crosses over into your professional expertise, any insurance you have pertaining to that could be helpful, and perhaps even necessary as well.

What Are the TaskRabbit Requirements?

When considering any insurance issues, it’s important to remember that the requirements to use and be part of TaskRabbit are very basic.

They include being at least 18, having a valid Social Security number, providing fundamental information for a background and ID check, plus having a valid checking account, credit card and a smart phone.

Beyond that the biggest requirement is geography, i.e., the ability to work in one of TaskRabbit’s specified cities or areas. TaskRabbit wants a business license if you happen to work in California and are performing a task related to your profession, but that’s about as strict as it gets job-wise.

What About TaskRabbit’s Insurance?

As specified earlier, the company’s insurance is primarily designed to protect TaskRabbit. In addition to the aforementioned breakdown, TaskRabbit does provide coverage of up to $10K if theft occurs while a Tasker is working on user property.

So What’s the Overall Insurance Verdict?

Now that we’ve spelled out some of the details, this one’s simple.Do you plan on working consistently on TaskRabbit? If that is the case you need insurance in case you get hurt or something goes wrong on the job.

With insurance, TaskRabbit can be a solid way to get work that can be a good part of your gig/side hustle strategy. If you don’t, you may be able to use TaskRabbit on a piecemeal basis, but be aware that these insurance issues may come back to haunt you.

Take a look at our article about whether or not Taskrabbit is worth it or not!

If you are interested in signing up for Taksrabbit visit their website!

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Everything You Need to Know About TaskRabbit Insurance: The Basics