Force majeure clause: what it excuses in a broker or county ride contract
Overview
A force majeure clause excuses a party from performing, without breach, when an event outside its control such as a flood, fire or government order prevents it. It covers only what the clause names or something of the same kind, and many clauses require quick written notice. MTM's agreement lists events and sets no notice step. Monroe County's gives 72 hours.
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What does a force majeure clause cover?
A force majeure clause covers the events it lists and, usually, things of the same kind. MTM’s standard provider agreement (the 01.01.2023 version Pennsylvania DHS posts) says neither side has breached if a failure to perform comes from war, terrorism, flood, earthquake, strike, picketing, riot, fire, explosions, accidents, delays of carriers, governmental actions, acts of God, other circumstances beyond its control, or a later court or agency order. For how broker deductions for late and missed trips work, see the broker penalties guide.
The federal default clause (FAR 52.249-8) gives a second list and a test. A contractor is not liable for the government’s excess costs when the failure arises from causes beyond its control and without its fault or negligence. The examples are acts of God or of the public enemy, acts of the government, fires, floods, epidemics, quarantine restrictions, strikes, freight embargoes and unusually severe weather.
Monroe County’s wording shows how a list can change between documents. Its 2026 solicitation names acts of God, labor strikes, human health pandemics, natural disasters, emergency governmental action and material or labor shortages. The agreement drafted for the award names only acts of God, natural disasters and emergency governmental action. Both versions introduce their lists with “include, but are not limited to.” Read the version you sign, not the solicitation.
What does it not cover?
It does not cover events the clause leaves out, and under New York law a catch-all phrase does not stretch far. In Kel Kim Corp. v. Central Markets (New York Court of Appeals, 1987), a tenant lost its required liability insurance when its insurer declined to renew. The lease excused delays from labor disputes, shortages of materials, utility failures, war, adverse weather, acts of God “or other similar causes beyond the control of such party.” The court said that, ordinarily, a party is excused only if the clause specifically includes the event, and it read the catch-all as limited to matters of the same kind as the listed ones. A lapse in insurance went to the landlord’s separate interests, not day-to-day operations, so the excuse failed.
For a ride company the practical lessons are specific:
- Insurance. MTM’s agreement requires coverage at all times and ends the agreement at once if it lapses. Treat a renewal date as a hard deadline, not an excusable event.
- Ordinary weather. The federal clause says “unusually severe.” A normal storm that slows a run is a scheduling problem.
- Subcontracted carriers. Under the federal clause, you avoid the government’s excess costs for a subcontractor’s default only if the cause was beyond both your control and the subcontractor’s, and the service could not have been obtained elsewhere in time.
How fast do I have to give notice?
Fast, if the clause says so. The Monroe County, Florida, agreement posted for its September 9, 2026 meeting spells out the steps:
- Send immediate written notice, under the contract’s notice section, that describes the event and shows the delay is a direct and reasonable result of it.
- Make any claim for more time within 72 hours of the delay beginning. After that the claim is waived.
- Report the end of the cause within 72 hours of it ending.
- Know that the county may challenge the claim within five calendar days of your notice, and service must continue without a break while that is settled.
- If the county accepts, take reasonable steps to limit the damage until performance resumes.
MTM’s clause has no notice step or deadline. WellTrans’s Indiana agreement has no force majeure section at all, only exceptions written into individual duties, which is the next question. The same Monroe County agreement carries emergency evacuation trips, and the emergency transportation contracts guide covers their activation and penalty terms.
How does it work with late and missed-trip penalties?
Penalty clauses can carry their own exception instead of pointing to a force majeure section, and each wording can differ. WellTrans’s agreement shows three in one document:
- Late pickups and drop-offs. The damages for late pickups, slow will-call answers, vehicle no-shows and late arrivals at appointments are waived when the delay came from something outside your control and WellTrans heard about it before the scheduled time.
- Late reports. The exception says only that the cause was beyond your control. It names no notice.
- Short-notice reroutes. The 12-hour rule does not apply in a documented emergency or an act of God.
In WellTrans’s wording, telling the broker before the pickup time is what keeps the exception alive. The broker penalties guide shows how deductions arrive and how to dispute them.
What to ask for when a contract has none
Ask for a clause before signing, and keep the request specific:
- Named events that fit your work: flood, fire, severe storm closures, government orders, an outage in a payer’s system.
- A notice window you can meet, such as 72 hours, counted from when you learn of the event.
- Suspension, not termination. Duties pause during the event and resume after it.
- A way out for both sides if the event runs past an agreed number of days.
This is a request, not a rule. A buyer may counter with its own list. Monroe County’s agreement shows one form of counter: a short list with an open “not limited to” phrase.
Documenting a delay
A notice carries more weight with the day’s record attached. HealthRide’s trip log report shows each leg’s scheduled and actual times and exports to PDF, so a notice about a closed road or a flooded lot can carry the record of what happened that day.
Frequently asked questions
- Does bad weather count as force majeure in a ride contract?
- It depends on the words. The federal default clause names only unusually severe weather, so an ordinary storm does not qualify. MTM's agreement lists flood, earthquake and acts of God. Under New York law a court reads a general catch-all phrase only as broadly as the specific events listed beside it.
- Does a pandemic count?
- Only if the clause covers it. Monroe County's 2026 solicitation names human health pandemics as an example. The federal default clause names epidemics and quarantine restrictions. MTM's list has no pandemic but includes governmental actions and circumstances beyond a party's control, which a court may or may not read to cover one.
- How fast do I have to give notice that an event is stopping my rides?
- Read your clause for a number. Monroe County requires immediate written notice and bars any claim for more time made after 72 hours, treating it as waived. MTM's clause sets no notice step, but telling the broker in writing right away costs nothing and ties the delay to the event.
- Does force majeure excuse a lapsed insurance policy?
- In a leading New York case, no. A tenant lost its liability coverage when its insurer would not renew, and the state's high court held that was not an event of the kind its clause listed. MTM's agreement treats a lapse in required insurance as grounds for immediate termination.
- What if my contract has no force majeure clause?
- Then you rely on narrow common-law excuses. In the same New York case the court said impossibility excuses performance only when the subject matter or the means of performance is destroyed in a way that could not have been foreseen or guarded against in the contract. Ask for a clause before you sign.
