Partnering with SafeShare to create the Ad-hoc Insurance of the Sharing Economy

The sharing economy presents different challenges to those of the rental sector. Traditional insurance excludes property damages by paying guests and household insurance does not cover damage from third parties, amongst other limitations.

Slock.it enables anything from lockers to villas to be rented in an ad-hoc, peer to peer fashion. For small items, our build-in deposit system will be often sufficient, but for higher value property, such as vehicles, office spaces or apartments, we have partnered with SafeShare to provide Slock users with a leading insurance product.

Because it supports almost any use case in so many countries, SafeShare is an ideal partner for Slock.it

With Safeshare, Slock.it smart contracts will be able to offer a revolutionary , universal, on-the-spot insurance where users pay only for the type of insurance they need, when they need it. The insurance provider will read from the Ethereum blockchain when the objects are rented out, and owners will only pay for the time the property was required.

The simplicity and elegance of the implementation of the insurance mechanism prototype we are developing with SafeShare would surprise many — it is worlds away from the horribly expensive, slow to implement SOA frameworks from traditional integrators. In many respect, it’s a perfect example of how blockchain technology creates new business opportunities while reducing the cost of operations for the companies that adopt it.

We encourage you to learn more about SafeShare and their amazing team on their website: http://safeshareinsurance.com/


About the Author

Stephan Tual is the Founder and COO of Slock.it.

Previously CCO for the Ethereum project, Stephan has three startups under his belt and brings 20 years of enterprise IT experience to theSlock.it project. Before discovering the Blockchain, Stephan held CTO positions at leading data analytics companies in London with clients including VISA Europe and BP.

His current focus is on the intersection of blockchain technology and embedded hardware, where autonomous agents can transact as part of an optimal Internet of Things economy.

Twitter: @stephantual
Contact:
stephan@slock.it

Insurance Is The Unlikely Key To the Sharing Economy’s Future

The potential to come home to find your house trashed is every Airbnb host’s nightmare.  It’s not unknown to happen with one London user recently finding their New Year’s Eve ruined by a guest who decided to turn their flat into a nightclub. These kinds of incidents often attract media attention to the accommodation-renting platform and drag up a question that hangs over much of the sharing economy – who’s responsible when things go wrong?

Collaborative consumption, from Uber to crowdfunding, is based around trust and when high-profile cases rattle consumers many companies suffer. This is prompting a new wave of startups to build the background services that the sharing economy needs to grow. These include the likes of background checking platform for sharing economy workforces Ofido, which raised USD4.5m last year, as well as startups looking to rethink insurance for this disruptive new industry.

“The sharing economy has come out of nowhere and insurers are just getting their heads around it,” says Alex Steinart CEO of sharing economy-focused insurance startup SafeShare. “Traditional insurers use a broad brush and either cover personal life or businesses without any cross over.”

Now insurance firm Aviva is getting into the space with its Canadian arm preparing to offer a policy specifically for drivers using their own vehicles to work for ride sharing and carpooling services, such as Uber and Lyft. It comes as Toronto begins to rewrite its transport laws with these new services in mind. The presence of a high-profile insurer in the space offer validation to the industry and European long-distance, ride sharing firm BlaBlaCar also works with Axa to offer its  users policies with insurance in mind. In an industry built on trust providing piece of mind for users is a must and to that end insurance’s role will only grow.

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Big Expectations

Led by the soaring growth of Uber and Airbnb more consumers are looking to sharing economy and collaborative consumption services, accessed through mobile apps. Investors clearly have a lot of faith in these services, with Airbnb and Uber reportedly sitting of respective valuations of USD25.5bn and as much as USD60bn. Many forecast massive revenues for sharing-based business models over the coming years.

> PWC estimated that the sector could generate USD335bn globally by 2025.
> The UK’s cut of that could be as much as USD15bn.

However, to meet these lofty predictions the industry needs to clarify grey areas such as government regulation, the status of employees and insurance.

Insuring The Sharing

The sharing economy is held back by grey areas such as what taxes users are susceptible to, with Airbnb only recently beginning to collect tourist taxes. The company also now offers a guarantee for damaged goods of up to USD1m that users can apply for. Steinart highlights new approaches to insurance as a force to encourage participation in the sharing economy.

Insurance is a space poised for significant disruption this year as fintech entrepreneurs turn their signs on disrupting its outdated systems. Insurance still generally works on an annual payment model and as data-driven businesses, insurance firms are unprepared for an industry that has emerged so rapidly. The disruption of insurance is expected to massive and lucrative and there’s a real role for sharing economy companies to help shape its future.

 

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