Car-sharing is a new service that’s recently arrived in Australian markets. Members of car-sharing platforms, such as Uber Carshare (UCS), rent their vehicles to other members who pay a daily or hourly rate. It’s an excellent service that allows car owners to make some extra money on the side. There is a problem with this, though. The problem is gaining personal car insurance while you’re technically using your vehicle for ‘commercial purposes’. Fortunately for you, there’s also a solution here at KOBA Insurance.

As a policyholder with KOBA Insurance, we cover your vehicle when it’s parked and when you’re driving it, even when you’re involved with car-sharing services. In this article, we define car-sharing services, explain what the car-share insurance problem is, detail how KOBA’s Car Sharing Owner-use Comprehensive cover works, outline how we operate with Uber Carshare and discuss the car share insurance solution.

What is car-sharing?

To understand the car-share insurance solution, it’s important to understand how car sharing works. Car sharing is a new service that allows car-share members to rent their vehicle out to other car-share members. If you’re an owner of a vehicle, you can rent it out to individuals who pay an hourly or daily rate to utilise your car. While you’re renting your vehicle, a car-sharing company, such as Uber Carshare, usually covers your vehicle. They don’t, however, cover your vehicle between bookings. This means you don’t have any cover for your vehicle while you’re driving it or when it’s parked. It’s a seriously good idea to gain personal comprehensive cover for when you’re using your vehicle. Unfortunately, this is where the car-share insurance problem starts. 

What’s the problem with car share insurance?

The problem with car share insurance is that it’s currently a very unclear topic in the insurance industry. Some insurers state you can use your car for car-sharing services, but they also state you can’t use your car for commercial purposes. Car sharing services essentially sit on the fence of commercial use. Some insurers don’t even mention car-sharing in their product disclosure statement. The issue with this is that you never really know if you’re insured or not. For example, if you claim damages to your car while you’re using it and the insurer discovers you use your car for car sharing, they might deny your claim and actually cancel your policy.

It’s important to understand that this isn’t a deceptive tactic. Traditional insurance providers may not yet have contingencies in place for this new type of service for rental vehicles. The confusion is that you’re using your vehicle for personal use, but you’re also technically using it for commercial purposes. There aren’t many personal comprehensive policies that specifically address car sharing. At least not until now. 

KOBA’s solution

If you’re a member of a car-sharing platform, specifically Uber Carshare on its Instant Keys policy, you could consider becoming a policyholder with KOBA Insurance. As a policyholder with KOBA Insurance, we provide comprehensive cover and fair premiums, but we also offer an Australian first comprehensive policy specifically designed with Uber Carshare. Below, you can explore the primary aspects of how our comprehensive cover works:

Telematics technology

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, as the owner, use.

Premiums

As a policyholder with KOBA Insurance, you pay two premiums: a fixed premium and a driving premium. Your upfront fixed premium is an annual amount that you pay upfront and at policy renewals. This fixed premium essentially covers you for damages your vehicle might incur while parked (you’d be surprised by the number of things that can go wrong when you aren’t looking!). The second premium is your driving premium. You pay this premium monthly and it covers your vehicle while you’re driving it. We derive the value of your driving premium by multiplying your per km rate with the number of kilometres you drive. You can expect to pay from a few cents per kilometre.

Capped kilometres

Our policy is unique in that we don’t punish you for driving more than you expected to. We all have busy weeks that can require extensive travelling and we understand it’s not an accurate representation of your average mileage. For this reason, we apply a kilometre cap to your policy. These caps are 250KM per day or 1,750KM per month. If you occasionally exceed these kilometres in the given periods, we don’t charge you for the additional kilometres. For example, if you drive 2,000KM in a billing month, we’ll only apply your per km rate to 1,750KM. The remaining 250KM are on us^!

It’s important to keep in mind that if you regularly exceed our kilometre caps, we might cancel your policy. Our policies are ideal for individuals who infrequently drive or travel short distances on average. We don’t want you to empty your wallet, so if we think you won’t be saving money as a policyholder with us, we’ll let you know. We’re big on transparency and honesty. After all, our policyholders are what makes this operation possible. 

Comprehensive coverage

Below, you can explore a list of additional benefits you can gain as a policyholder with KOBA Insurance:

• Baby capsules and child seats: Up to $500 for any item and $1,000 for any single incident

• Emergency repairs: Up to $500 for any incident

• Emergency travel and accommodation: Up to $500 for any incident

• Hire car after theft: Up to $70 per day

• Locks and keys: Up to $1,000 per policy period

• New car replacement: Depending on the circumstance, we replace your vehicle with a new car of the same make, model and series 

• Personal items: Up to $500 for any incident

• Towing and storage: Reasonable costs associated with towing and vehicle storage until we settle the claim

• Trailer cover: Up to $1,000 for any incident

How KOBA and Uber Carshare work together

We’re the first car insurance company in Australia to offer our policyholders a unique and specific comprehensive cover for car-sharing individuals, exclusive to Uber Carshare and members on its Instant Keys policy. Unlike other insurance policies, if you’re a policyholder with KOBA, we guarantee you’re covered while using your vehicle for personal use. You can still rent your car through Uber Carshare, however through our integrated technology, we  simply stop counting your kilometres when it’s not actually you driving. This is possible thanks to our joint innovative tech that ensures we know when you as the owner are driving your vehicle, vs. being rented out on the Uber Carshare platform. 

We can identify exactly when you’re renting your car and when you’re using it for personal use. This means you pay for the kilometres you personally clock on your vehicle. We disregard the kilometres added by Uber car-share borrowers. Our innovative policy introduces claims management solutions that ensure your claims process is smooth, seamless and stress-free as a car-share owner.

Why KOBA?

Comprehensive cover, fair premiums, compatibility with Uber Carshare services, capped kilometres… should we keep going? There’s an abundance of reasons to consider becoming a policyholder with KOBA Insurance. If not for our innovative and unique policy, then for our commitment to being an honest, transparent and understanding insurance provider. Our policyholders mean everything to us, so why not join our community and enjoy the benefits and peace of mind.

Get a quote online today.

^If you regularly reach these cap limits during your Policy Period, we may decide not to offer to renew your Policy.

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.