PSV insurance for Uber and Bolt cars in Kenya (2026): price, cover and pitfalls

Insurance is the single biggest fixed cost of a car on Uber or Bolt after the car itself — and the one owners most often get wrong. The commonest mistake is not paying too much. It is paying for the wrong cover, and finding out at the claim.

Why it has to be PSV cover

A car that carries paying passengers is a public service vehicle, and needs PSV insurance. A private car policy is written on the basis that the car is not used for hire. Using it for ride-hailing breaks that condition, and an insurer can refuse a claim for an accident on a trip — leaving you with your own repair bill and any claim from the passenger or the other driver.

Uber and Bolt also ask for the PSV insurance certificate before the car can go online. See the full list of papers.

Third-party only or comprehensive?

• Third-party only (TPO) pays for damage and injury you cause to other people. It does not pay for your own car. For a PSV taxi it starts from about KSh 7,574 a year.
• Comprehensive adds your own car: accident damage, fire and theft. For a PSV taxi it typically costs 4.5–7% of the car's value a year — roughly KSh 54,000 to 84,000 on a KSh 1.2 million car.

For an owner, comprehensive is usually the one that matters: if the car is written off on third-party cover, the asset that earns your daily amount is simply gone.

What a year of cover really costs

On top of the premium, every motor policy carries:

Ask every insurer for the all-inclusive figure, so you compare like with like. Then divide it by your working days: on a KSh 1.2 million car, comprehensive cover is roughly KSh 175–270 of every working day's daily amount. Work it out for your car with the PSV insurance calculator.

What to check before you pay

• That the policy says PSV, and names the use — taxi or ride-hailing.
• The excess — what you pay yourself on every claim — and whether it is higher for a young or new driver.
• Passenger legal liability: PSV cover must include liability for the passengers the car carries. Check the limit per person and per event.
• Who may drive. If the policy names drivers, your driver must be on it. Agree in your driver agreement who pays the excess when an accident is his fault.
• That the insurer is licensed and trading. IRA publishes the licensed list — see the 2026 list, with the insurers licensed for motor commercial cover.

Three insurers you cannot buy from in 2026

In March 2026 the Insurance Regulatory Authority placed Trident Insurance, KUSCCO Mutual Assurance and Corporate Insurance under statutory management, appointed the Policyholders Compensation Fund to run them, and barred them from writing new policies. Their policyholders were told to find cover elsewhere; the Fund is compensating claimants.

If any of your cars is still insured with one of them, replace the cover now. A cheap policy from an insurer that cannot pay is no cover at all.

Keep it from lapsing

An expired policy takes the car off the platforms and off the road — and every day without cover is a day without a daily amount. Gariboss keeps every car's insurance date and warns you before it runs out.