Car Insurance Shoppers Are Quitting Mid-Search. Delivery Drivers Can't Afford To

Three out of four Americans have either abandoned or delayed a car insurance search because the process frustrated them, and roughly 40% walked away entirely and never came back. That’s the headline finding from a new national survey by the comparison site BestMoney on how drivers shop for coverage, and it describes a market where friction is quietly costing people money.

Shoppers report bouncing between websites, retyping the same details into form after form, and still not knowing whether they’ve landed a fair price. For most drivers, that frustration ends in overpaying. For the millions of people who deliver food and groceries in their own cars, it can end in a coverage gap they don’t know they have.

What the Survey Found

The data comes from BestMoney’s survey of 1,031 U.S. adults about how they shop for car insurance, and it shows a process that wears people down long before they buy. In total, 76.6% of respondents said they’d abandoned or delayed a search out of frustration, with about 40% quitting outright and another 37% pausing before finishing later. Nearly 70% visited between two and five websites just to get a baseline sense of their options. Almost half (49.9%) spent anywhere from one hour to more than five hours trying to reach a decision.

The frustrations are close to universal, with 95% of shoppers reporting at least one pain point. The most common was simply not knowing whether they were getting the best deal, which 59% cited. Another 52% were tired of entering the same information on site after site, 47% disliked the sales calls and emails that followed a quote request, and 43% struggled to compare quotes side by side. Nearly a third (30%) said they worried about overpaying for coverage.

Those numbers matter because a stalled search usually means a driver sticks with whatever policy they already have. Delaying a decision can feel harmless, but the renewal date keeps coming, and the default choice is the one nobody compared. The survey’s breakdown suggests friction delays almost as many purchases as it kills outright. Either way, the shopper ends up making the decision with less information than they set out to gather.

Why the Friction Hits Delivery Drivers Harder

For a typical commuter, a messy insurance search usually ends with a policy that costs too much. For gig drivers, the bigger risk is a policy that doesn’t cover how they actually use the car. The Insurance Information Institute (III) explains that personal auto policies aren’t designed, underwritten, or priced for driving for pay, and the commercial use exclusion in personal policies reaches beyond rideshare to include business deliveries. In practice, a driver who logs into a delivery app on a standard personal policy may not be covered for an accident that happens on the clock.

Plenty of people are in that position. Pew Research Center’s 2021 gig work study found that 16% of U.S. adults have earned money through an online gig platform, and the jobs it counted include deliveries for restaurants, stores, and grocery apps. Among people who’d done gig work in the past year, 31% said it had been their main job, and roughly six in ten said the income was essential or important for meeting basic needs. Those are the households least able to absorb a denied claim.

Delivery pay also leaves little cushion for an uninsured loss. Most orders pay somewhere between $3 and $8, based on one longtime Dasher’s tally of how much DoorDash actually pays per order, so a single fender bender can erase a long stretch of shifts. Drivers who want the math to keep working need coverage that matches what they’re really doing with the car. Finding that coverage takes a genuine comparison, which is exactly the kind of search the survey shows most people abandon halfway through.

The Questions Gig Drivers Need Answered

A standard quote form isn’t built for the questions a delivery driver has to ask. Drivers need to know whether a carrier sells a rideshare or delivery endorsement in their state, whether that endorsement covers food and package delivery or only passenger trips, and how it works alongside whatever coverage the app provides. The III recommends that drivers ask the platform what coverage it carries and then contact their own insurer to close any gaps. Getting those answers from several carriers means more sites, more forms, and more of the friction respondents already said drives them away.

Coverage can also shift as a driver’s app status changes. The III points to a framework from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners that splits app-based driving into three stages: logged in and waiting, heading to a pickup, and actively completing the job. A personal policy may exclude all three, while app-provided coverage may only apply during some of them. That leaves the waiting stage as the stretch drivers most often overlook when they compare policies.

The picture gets more complicated for drivers who work several platforms at once. Delivery is only one corner of a gig economy that now spans more than 70 side hustle apps, and many of them, from package delivery to vehicle moving, put workers behind the wheel. A courier who runs three or four apps at the same time, a common strategy among drivers who track their earnings closely, may be relying on several different coverage arrangements in a single shift. Each one is another variable to account for in an insurance search that already frustrates most shoppers.

Why Shoppers Say They’d Try AI

BestMoney’s survey also found strong interest in a different way to shop. Some 83% of respondents said they’d consider using a free AI tool, such as a ChatGPT app, to help compare car insurance options, and Millennials and Gen X stood out as the generations most open to the idea. The appeal is easy to see for anyone with a complicated situation. A conversational tool can field a follow-up question like “does this endorsement cover grocery delivery?” without sending the shopper back to the start of a new form.

Shoppers weren’t ready to trust just anything, though. The top condition for trusting an AI insurance tool was knowing it pulls real, up-to-date data instead of AI guesses, which 59.6% named. Another 54.5% wanted options laid out side by side, 51.8% wanted assurance that their personal data was secure, and half said the ability to ask follow-up questions in plain language would raise their trust. That checklist works as a practical filter for any driver testing one of these tools.

Comparison sites are responding with tools that pair a chat interface with structured quote data and then hand shoppers off to the carrier to finalize pricing. BestMoney, for example, has built a car insurance app inside ChatGPT that works this way. Maayan Gal, a product manager at BestMoney, said the goal is to “save users from having to enter the exact same information over and over.” For a delivery driver, the hand-off step is where the details get settled. Final endorsement terms and pricing still come from the insurer, so questions about delivery coverage need clear answers in writing before the driver buys.

What Drivers Can Do Now

Drivers who deliver in their own cars can start by pulling their declarations page and checking for any business-use or livery exclusion. From there, it’s worth listing every platform they drive for and noting what coverage each one provides during each stage of a job. With that list in hand, a comparison search, whether through a traditional site or a conversational tool, can focus on carriers that actually write delivery coverage in their state. Disclosing gig work upfront matters too, since a claim filed during undisclosed delivery work is exactly where a coverage gap tends to surface.

The broader lesson from the survey is that most people stop shopping before the process pays off. For a commuter, quitting early usually means paying more than necessary. For a delivery driver, it can leave the car, the side income, and the household budget exposed to one bad afternoon on the road. Finishing the search and asking the delivery-specific questions along the way is worth the hour it takes.

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More Recommended Ebike/Scooters

Check out these other ebikes and scooters I've reviewed:

Urban Arrow Ebike – Last year, I made one of the largest purchases I’ve ever made – I bought a $9,000 electric cargo bike from Urban Arrow. In my Urban Arrow review, I will discuss what it is and why I decided to buy this bike, as well as discuss how impactful a bike like this can be on your journey to financial independence.
Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Ebike – The Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is a fat-tire ebike that I’ve had the pleasure of riding for a while now. It has amazing power, great looks, and awesome range. If you’re looking for a great fat-tire ebike that offers a lot for the price, the Troxus Explorer Step-Thru is definitely one for you to consider. Check out my Troxus Explorer Step-Thru Review.
Hovsco HovBeta Ebike – The HovBeta is a folding ebike with great specs and a lot of interesting features, and importantly, it’s sold at a good price point. I’ve had a blast commuting with it and using it to do deliveries with DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Check out my Hovsco HovBeta Ebike Review.
Vanpowers Manidae Ebike – The Vanpowers Manidae is a fat tire ebike that I’ve been riding as my primary winter commuting bike and have also been using it to do food delivery with apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. After clocking in a decent number of miles with this ebike, I wanted to write a post sharing what my experience with the Vanpowers Manidae ebike has been like. Check out my Vanpowers Manidae Review.
Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding EBike Review – A Great Value Folding Ebike – The Sohamo S3 Step-Thru Folding Ebike is an entry-level folding ebike that offers a lot of value for the price point. I’ve been riding the Sohamo S3 for a while now, putting the bike through its paces, and I have to say, this bike has exceeded all of my expectations. Check out my Sohamo Review.
KBO Flip Ebike – The KBO Flip is an excellent bike. I’ve had a great time riding it and think it’s a versatile bike that can be used for a lot of purposes and can fit a variety of lifestyles. It’s worked out great for me as a general commuter bike and as a food delivery bike. Check out my KBO Flip Review.
Hiboy P7 Commuter Ebike – The Hiboy P7 is an excellent electric commuter bike that’s offered at an affordable price point. The range and speed of this bike are both very good, so you won’t have any trouble getting anywhere you need to go with it. As a food delivery vehicle, this is also good – with how much range it offers, you’ll be able to work all day on a single charge. Check out my Hiboy P7 Commuter Electric Bike Review.
Himiway Escape Ebike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
Espin Sport Ebike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
Varla Falcon Scooter – The Varla Falcon is an excellent scooter that offers a good amount of power at a lower price point compared to more powerful scooters. It’s not exactly an entry-level scooter, nor is it a high-powered scooter. I think it fits somewhere in-between those two categories – an intermediate scooter if I had to give it a category. Check out my Varla Falcon Review.
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Hiboy S2R Scooter – The Hiboy S2R is one of the more interesting electric scooters I’ve been able to test out. It’s not a high-powered scooter, but for an everyday transport option, it’s very useful, especially given some of the unique features that it has. Indeed, for the price, the Hiboy S2R might be the best value scooter I’ve used. Check out my Hiboy S2R Review.
Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.

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For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:

M1 Finance ($75) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $75 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
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Ally Bank ($100) – Of all the banks out there, Ally is, without a doubt, my favorite. At the moment, Ally is offering $100 to customers who open an eligible Ally account and meet the requirements. Here are the step-by-step directions to earn your Ally Bank referral bonus.
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Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.

Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.

Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:

SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $300 if you complete a direct deposit.
5% Savings Accounts. I'm currently getting 5.24% interest on my savings through a company called Raisin. Opening a Raisin account takes minutes to complete, it's free, and all of your funds are FDIC-insured. I explain how it works, why I'm now using it to store my emergency fund and any other cash savings I have, and why I recommend everyone check it out in this review.
US Bank Business. US Bank is currently offering new business customers a $400/$1200 signup bonus after opening a new account and meeting certain requirements.
M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $75 for opening an account.
Empower. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.

Feel free to send Kevin a message here.