Bill would make driver insurance primary in peer-to-peer car rentals; industry says practice already protects consumers

Sen. Don Guile's Senate Bill 771 would align Maryland law for peer-to-peer vehicle rentals with traditional rental and personal auto practice by making the driver's personal auto insurance the insurer of first resort for at-fault crashes involving peer-to-peer rentals. If the driver is uninsured or improperly insured, a peer-to-peer operator's master policy would be available as secondary coverage.

Sponsor testimony described peer-to-peer platforms as a growing segment and said parity with traditional rental car rules is appropriate. Industry representatives from a peer-to-peer platform (Turo) explained current practice: a driver who rents via a platform is appended to the operator's master policy at the point of rental if needed, and the industry added that the bill would not remove operator liability where appropriate. Turo said drivers, vehicle owners and platforms must be insured and the bill would promote consistency.

Questions from lawmakers focused on whether a renter without personal auto insurance could simply rent repeatedly and rely on a platform policy, and whether the platform charges for appended coverage. An industry representative said the platform's process appends drivers to the master policy at rental and that platform pricing already reflects that coverage; Turo said the operator's policy acts where the driver lacks insurance.

Ending: The committee received technical clarification from the industry; proponents said the change restores parity with adjacent insurance rules and noted unanimous Senate passage. No opposition was recorded in committee testimony.