Car sharing and ride sharing are relatively new terms you might not be familiar with. Given the similarities in their names, it’s easy to confuse them with one another. However, car-sharing and ride-sharing are actually very different. Ride-sharing usually refers to sharing a single route with multiple passengers, while car-sharing is essentially sharing a car by renting it out.

In this article, we explore the difference between car share and ride share, discuss how they both work and detail why KOBA Insurance and car-sharing go together. 

Difference between car share and ride share

The difference between car share and ride share is that a ride-sharing service involves sharing a singular route with multiple passengers. Car sharing involves renting out your car or renting someone’s car for a given period. An excellent way to look at car-sharing may be to consider it as an Airbnb, but for vehicles! Car-sharing can offer you excellent flexibility regarding your journey. Once you’ve hired the car, you can drive to where you please and enjoy the journey on the way. Ride-sharing doesn’t offer you any flexibility in your journey. When ride-sharing, you’re simply travelling to a pre-determined destination with other people. 

One of the other significant differences is how you earn money. As a ride-share driver, you operate as a taxi, except your passengers are determined through mobile applications, rather than traditional ride-hailing. As a vehicle owner renting your car for car-sharing purposes, you don’t drive your vehicle, you’re simply lending it to another individual who pays an hourly or daily fee to use it. 

How ride-sharing works

Ride-sharing operates similarly to a taxi service. As a passenger, you book your ride and the driver takes you to your destination. The key difference between taxi companies and ride-sharing services is that ride-share drivers use their own vehicles. When ride-sharing as a passenger, you might also join others on a pre-determined journey. For example, if you’re travelling from point A to point B, there might be someone already travelling in the same direction. So, instead of both of you driving the same route, you hop into the other person’s private vehicle and tag along for the journey. You usually organise these arrangements through specific ride-sharing applications.

How car sharing works

Uber Carshare (previously known as Car Next Door) is a relatively new company with innovative ideas for transforming car rental operations and providing car owners with a chance to make some money on the side. If you want to earn an income from your personal vehicle, but don’t have the time to drive people around, car-sharing might be ideal for you. Rather than offering your driving services, you can simply offer your car (temporarily, of course) when you’re not using it. As a member of Uber Carshare, you can rent your car to other Uber Carshare members who pay an hourly or daily rate to use it.

Car-sharing is a unique opportunity to earn some money as a side-hustle. Through Uber Carshare, you could share your car with complete confidence as Uber Carshare provides identity verification, 24/7 support and excellent community management. 

Why KOBA and car-sharing go together

KOBA and car sharing are a match made in heaven thanks to our joint innovative technology. Large insurance companies work with aggregated figures, which means they struggle to identify methods of charging policyholders for personal use, without also charging them for when they rent out their car. Here at KOBA Insurance, we’ve joined forces with Uber Carshare and created innovative technology to ensure you only pay for personal insurance when you’re using your vehicle. As a policyholder with KOBA Insurance, you pay two premiums; a fixed premium and a driving premium.

Uniquely designed with Uber Carshare, KOBA offers car share owners pay-per-KM insurance when they’re using their car.

Owners get comprehensive coverage which covers their car while it’s parked between bookings, and a unique per-KM rate for insurance while driving.

KOBA works with Uber Carshare’s Instant Keys GPS device^.

By automatically switching between KOBA and Uber Carshare, our integrated tech distinguishes when your car is used for personal use and measures the KM you drive so you pay for the insurance you use.

As a KOBA customer, you pay from 7 cents per KM you drive, and an upfront cost to cover your car while parked for incidents like theft, fire, hail etc.

You can download the KOBA app to track trips, costs and policy docs.

Our policy could be beneficial for you if you’re thinking about becoming a member of Uber Carshare. As a member of Uber Carshare, you’re covered for when you’re lending your car, but what about when you’re using it for personal use? You’ll need car insurance to cover your vehicle for when it’s parked or for when you’re driving it. With our advanced technology, we can automatically identify when you’re renting your car through Uber Carshare, and don’t charge you a driving premium when the car isn’t being used for personal use. Our comprehensive policy blends seamlessly with Uber Carshare, so you know you’re covered while car-sharing with them.

Interested in joining Uber Carshare? Learn more about KOBA Insurance and get a quote online, today!

Any advice provided on this site is general advice only and does not take into account your individual needs, objectives or financial situation. Terms, limits, conditions and exclusions apply. Before making a decision, you should carefully read the Product Disclosure Statement & Financial Services Guide (PDS & FSG), and the Target Market Determination (TMD), which are available at KOBAinsurance.com.au to help you decide if the product is right for you. If you purchase a policy, KOBA receives a commission, which is a percentage of your premium, and may be entitled to a profit share if certain thresholds are met in agreed periods. Please ask us for more details.