Mileage for pay changes what a contract is being asked to carry. A car that makes a few errands a week and a car that spends its days on app trips are two different loads, and a service contract written for the first may not describe the second. This guide lists what to check before you buy, in the order most people miss them.
Start with the use clause
Every service contract describes how the car is used. Look for words like personal use, private use, business use, commercial use and for-hire use. Many contracts define personal use and then say that any other use falls outside the agreement. Find that sentence, read the definition beside it, and note whether driving for an app, a courier service or a delivery platform is named. If the definition is silent, ask the contract company in writing what it treats as personal use.
Check the mileage assumption
Contracts often tie coverage to a mileage limit or to the odometer reading at purchase. A car on app trips can climb faster than a commuter car, so the odometer may pass the stated limit sooner than you expect. Write down the odometer reading now, estimate your yearly trips honestly, and compare that estimate with the limit printed in the contract. The published tables on this site show the limits we have seen printed, and they give you a starting point for that comparison.
Look for a commercial add-on or a carve-out
Some sellers offer a separate commercial endorsement, a rider, or a note that adds for-hire driving to the contract. Ask whether such an add-on exists for the car, what it changes, and whether it appears on the signed paper or only in a sales conversation. A verbal yes is not a term. If the paper does not say it, the paper controls.
Ask what the claim file will show
A contract company may ask for the service record, the odometer reading and the vehicle history when a claim comes in. If the car has been used for hire, those records may show it. Keep your own log of trips, dates and mileage so you can answer questions about use. Ask the contract company what documents it accepts with a claim and whether it asks about use before it pays.
Questions to put before you sign
Ask whether for-hire driving is excluded, whether a commercial add-on is available, what the exact words for personal use are, what mileage limit applies to your yearly driving, and what happens if the odometer passes the limit during the term. Get each answer in writing. Ask whether the contract can be cancelled if your use changes, and read the cancellation section before you pay.
Use the published tables on this site to compare the limits each provider prints rather than relying on memory. The scoring rubric explains how the tables are built.