UK startup launches insurance for sharing economy

Inlet, a new Norwich-based start-up insurance broker is launching a new insurance proposition designed to cater for the sharing economy.

The products target AirBnB hosts and parking space rentals.

Inlet is offering ten products covering four main product areas and plans to grow that to around 35 during 2018. The products areas that are available as of now include host insurance for homeowners, tenants and landlords covering the letting of rooms, annexes and whole houses, house swap insurance, landlord protection covering against tenants sub-letting the property with or without their knowledge, as well as parking host insurance, covering people letting their garage, driveway or allocated parking.

The new products are add-ons as they require an annual home or landlord insurance policy to be in place. All products are underwritten by UK General, on behalf of Great Lakes a wholly owned subsidiary of Munich Re.

“Without a doubt, Inlet has identified an area of the market that is currently not catered for properly so we will work with them to try and develop the sector so that people operating in the shared economy can do so with a degree of appropriate protection at a fair price,” said Stephen Ekins, business development director, UK General.

Inlet is the brainchild of former Arthur J Gallagher and Co-op Insurance head of pricing, Louise Birritteri.

“The sharing economy has really taken off in the last couple of years but what people don’t realize is that, in most cases, their standard home or landlord insurance policy won’t cover them for losses or their liability for these types of short term letting activities - whether that’s letting a room in their house or renting out a parking space, Birritteri said.”

“Some insurance providers do offer a level of cover for these sorts of arrangements in annual policies but it often falls short of what the customer actually needs. It means that not only do they not have the right cover but they also end up having no choice but to pay over the odds for year-round insurance when, in most instances, they only need cover for a limited number of days a year.”

“There is huge potential in this market sector and I would encourage brokers to look into it as it could provide a real safeguard for their clients, protecting them from future liabilities and losses,” Birritteri said.