Whether you're lending your belongings privately or through a platform: in both cases, resources are being shared and a contribution is being made to conserving the environment. Both models of the sharing economy promote sustainable consumption. In addition, in both cases you can earn a little extra by lending out your belongings. In contrast to lending out your belongings privately, online platforms offer numerous advantageous.
In addition, some platforms offer insurance coveragefor rented items in the rental price – for example Sharely and Carify, with whom we cooperate. As a result, the items are also insured against damage when they are rented out. This benefits both renters and lenders.
Provided that you are not lending your belongings out on a commercial basis, household contents insurance is usually sufficient. "not[...]commercial" here means that you are not making a living from your lending activity. But do check to see if your belongings are also protected against loss or damage due to breakage under your household contents insurance. In general, taking out additional cover known as "accidental damage" as part of your household contents insurance is sufficient in situations like this. At Zurich, we are now offering house contents All Risk Insurance for cases like this.
We recommend that you take out personal liability insurance, if you are renting someone else's belongings. This pays for damage that you have caused to other people and their property. For example, if you accidentally damage the cordless drill you borrowed from your neighbor.
If you are renting via platforms offering their own insurance coverage, we recommend that you check their personal liability insurance; the insurance coverage offered by these platforms is not always sufficient.
Renting a product is always a sensible choice if you will not need it regularly or only for a certain time.
If you regularly use rental vehicles, it is sensible to take out insurance for rented and shared vehicles. The deductible, the amount that you must pay out yourself following an accident, is usually very high for rental vehicles. Of course, you can reduce the deductible under your insurance policy with the rental car company or car sharing platforms. In many cases, this reduction will cost you more than the annual premium of our insurance for rented and shared vehicles. With our insurance, there is no deductible for you to pay.
If you occasionally drive vehicles owned by others, then we recommend you take out personal liability insurance with additional cover for "driving third-party vehicles" "Occasional driving" could mean, for example, that you use the vehicle less than a certain number of days in a year. With us, that number is 26 days in a year. In addition, you should ask the car owner in advance whether the vehicle has comprehensive insurance cover. Read more in our blog post on third-party driver's insurance.
