Driverless taxis – what should insurers be considering?

The arrival of Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous driving subsidiary, marks one of the most transformative developments for the UK's transport system in decades. With driverless taxi trials beginning in April 2026 and a commercial launch targeted for September 2026, the UK is entering a new era of mobility that promises to reshape urban transport, safety standards, economic opportunity, and the regulatory landscape.

Waymo has already conducted extensive testing across London boroughs, signalling that its ambitions extend beyond experimentation toward establishing a fully operational robotaxi network in one of the world’s most complex urban environments.

Safety implications

Waymo emphasises safety as the cornerstone of its technology and its UK launch will put those claims to the test. Waymo reports 90% fewer serious injuries or worse crashes and 82% fewer airbag deployments compared with human drivers over one hundred million autonomous miles. This is particularly relevant in London, a city known for dense traffic, cyclists, unpredictable pedestrian behaviour, and challenging road geometries. If replicated in the UK, the reduction in collisions could save lives, ease strain on emergency services, and significantly lower insurance related costs.

Waymo report, following a study comparing Waymo’s liability claims to human driver baselines (based on Swiss Re’s data from over 500,000 claims), that Waymo’s autonomous vehicles dramatically lower the frequency of insurance claims. It reported that there was an 88% reduction in property damage claims and 92% reduction in bodily injury claims compared to human drivers. Across 25.3 million autonomous miles, the Waymo Driver was involved in just nine property damage claims and two bodily injury claims.

Whilst these statistics will be welcomed by insurers, there is a new range of AV specific risk categories to be considered, to include product liability, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, sensor degradation and regulatory intervention.

Regulatory and legal implications

The UK has positioned itself as one of the world’s earliest adopters of dedicated autonomous vehicle legislation, but what is the legal framework? The Automated Vehicles Act (2024) enables self-driving cars to operate on public roads without a safety driver. It also realigned liability in autonomous mode from the human driver to manufacturers, insurers, or the software providers. This framework is crucial for enabling services like Waymo’s to operate responsibly and at scale.

Further regulatory adjustments expected in late 2026 will define the conditions under which companies can launch commercial robotaxi services in London. 

Conclusion

Waymo’s move into the UK represents more than just a new service, it marks a fundamental shift in how the nation imagines mobility. With significant economic potential, strong safety performance, and broad government support, the UK is poised to become a global testbed for autonomous transport innovation.
However, some key insurance risks remain, to include:

• Limited operational domains leading to an incomplete risk picture
• Software/systemic liability exposure
• Regulatory scrutiny, especially around school zones
• Sparse long term actuarial data

Whilst Waymo vehicles show extraordinarily low claim rates, insurers must still navigate new categories of liability, ongoing regulatory investigations, and incomplete environmental exposure before fully quantifying long term risk.
What is clear is that 2026 will be a defining year in the UK’s journey toward a driverless future.