Uber Technologies, the rideshare and delivery company which operates in 36 countries globally, is touting a new insurance coverage package from Guardian Insurance Limited and the safety features of its app in a bid to woo both new lessees (drivers) and passengers in Jamaica.

Indicating that it has signed “hundreds” of leases for vehicles offering transport in Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine, the company says it is encouraging travellers to sign up, touting its “best-in-class safety tools” with new features that “heighten safety and increase reliability”.

The company said each ride is insured: protecting users and lessor partners through Guardian General Insurance Limited.

The Jamaica Observer reached out to Guardian for comment, but was redirected to Uber by Guardian’s President Karen Bhoorasingh.

Uber, however, in response to the Business Observer, outlined : “All leases taken in the Uber app are covered by a policy purchased by Uber from Guardian Insurance, one of Jamaica’s leading insurance companies. “The policy has two primary coverage: one is auto liability, which protects passengers and third parties who may have been affected in an accident caused by a lessor partner subject to the applicable policy limit.

“The other is personal accident which protects occupants of the vehicle during a leasing taking place via Uber’s app. Coverage includes death, permanent loss of a limb, and medical expenses subject to the applicable policy limits.”

The company added, “These coverage are automatically activated at the moment when the lessor partner accepts the leasing requested by the user via the Uber app and ends when the last passenger descends from the vehicle.”

In Jamaica, the company outlined in other information, Uber has more than 20 safety tools and features. These include the ‘Follow My Lease’ which allows travellers to share your lease status and location on the map with friends and family, all right from the app, so someone you trust always knows where you are. Travellers can customise contacts and choose up to five people.

The app also offers emergency help, allowing users to call 119 from the app and display live locations and lease details, “so you can share them with the emergency dispatcher.”

The company says it also does partner background checks: All lessor partners must undergo a multi-step safety screen, including being checked for driving violations, impaired driving, violent crime, and other checks. In addition, Uber rescreens lessor partners every year and uses technology to look for issues in between.

All leases are tracked from start to finish, so there’s a record of your lease if something happens.

The company says it also harnesses the power of GPS, along with other sensors from the lessor partner’s smartphone, to identify rare events like unexpected stops or possible crashes.

The app’s personal identification number (PIN) verification feature helps make sure passengers are getting into the right car with the right lessor partner.

The company says it also uses technology to help keep phone numbers private, so neither lessor partners nor users will see each other’s numbers when communicating through the Uber app. Once a lease is completed, the app also protects user information by concealing specific pickup and drop-off addresses in a lessor partner’s lease history.

The Business Observer requested an explanation of how fares were calculated and was told: “In all cities where the Uber app is available, the lease suggested price is based on time and distance. The time-price is calculated by minutes and the distance-price by kilometres. The suggested price is based on current market circumstances, and it varies from country to country since the characteristics are different.

The company declined to disclose other parishes in Jamaica being targeted for expansion but stated, “At Uber, we are always looking to expand to more cities so more people can have access to a safe and reliable mobility option. At the moment, we have no confirmation of expansion to other parishes in Jamaica. Still, we can assure Uber is focused on reaching more lessor partners and users in Kingston, St Catherine, and St Andrew.”

Uber, meanwhile, has started the new financial year with bullish optimism despite continuing losses.

For the first quarter ended March 31, 2021, gross bookings reached US $19.5B, up 24 per cent year-over-year. The company made a net loss of US $108 million.

CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said, in the release attached to the results, “Uber is starting to fire on all cylinders, as more consumers are riding with us again while continuing to use our expanding delivery offerings,”

“We will continue to innovate and find new ways to deepen engagement with our customers as the only global platform that helps you go wherever you need and get whatever you want.”