Waymo Announces Insurance Coverage For Autonomous Ride-Hailing Service

Waymo is looking to solve one of the final major roadblocks for fully-autonomous ride-hailing, announcing insurance coverage for riders with startup Trov.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the insurance startup will provide all Waymo passengers with insurance for lost and damaged property, as well as any medical expenses resulting from accidents.

Google’s self-driving car division will include the insurance coverage to all users paying for the upcoming ride-hailing service, eliminating any stress for riders to find their own insurance policies.

The coverage will be underwritten for an unknown sum by a venture capital fund and according to Trov’s chief executive, only be available to riders using fully-autonomous Waymo vehicles, not those semi-autonomous ones that feature a Google engineer behind the wheel.

“The coverage will be included as part of Waymo’s ride-hailing service, and covers lost or damaged personal articles/property, trip interruption, and medical expense reimbursement. You don’t actually select anything as a rider,” Trov spokesperson Alex Pitocchelli said.