New insurtech broker offers ‘add-on’ products for sharing economy

UK General will underwrite products for a new specialist insurance broker that has launched with a proposition designed to cater for the sharing economy.

Norwich-based Inlet is launching with ten products covering four main product areas, and plans to grow that to around 35 products during 2018. 

Inlet will target Airbnb hosts and parking space rentals. It is not the only company to identify opportunities in the on-demand space over the past year. In October US-based Slice Labs, often seen as a pioneer of on-demand insurance, raised $11.6m in a funding round led by XL Catlin’s XL Innovate.

Inlet’s four product areas are:

• · Host insurance – cover for homeowners, tenants and landlords for the letting of rooms, annexes and whole houses
• · House swap – cover for homeowners and tenants who are house swapping
• · Landlord protection – cover for landlords to protect themselves should tenants sub-let their property, with or without their knowledge
• · Parking host – cover for people letting their garage, driveway or allocated parking

These add-ons retail at around £1/day for “parking host” and from £1.50/day for “host insurance”. For clients to be eligible for cover, they must have an annual home or landlord insurance policy in place.

Inlet founder and chief executive Louise Birritteri said: “The sharing economy has really taken off in the last couple of years but what people don’t realise 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.”

She added: “With Inlet’s insurance products, people can buy cover they need ‘on-demand’, from a broker or direct, at a fixed daily price, for pretty much any period they like.”