On-demand mobility vehicle insurance company Voom wants to protect your assets. An outgrowth of Skywatch, an on-demand commercial drone insurance provider, Voom extends the concept to cover user risks for a wide range of consumer short-term mobility platforms.
Skywatch uses a telemetry-based risk analysis engine to provide drone pilots with hazard alerts and feedback on their piloting, transmitting in real time to an app on users’ smartphones. As pilots build hours of flying experience, Skywatch uses the individual pilot’s collected data to adjust their insurance rates — higher safety ratings bring lower premiums. Voom will use a similar model, compiling user safety and performance characteristics to customize insurance policies for consumer mobility choices on an individual basis.
Fast-growing micromobility solutions with on-demand access to your choice of vehicles from e-scooters to powersports rentals are convenient, fun, and much cheaper than buying your own vehicles, especially if you ride only occasionally. If you don’t have liability insurance, however, an hour riding an e-scooter or ebike or piloting a drone could result in financial ruin.
The odds are good that rental companies or on-demand usage entities have liability insurance to protect themselves from financial peril if riders damage property, injure or kill other people, or get hurt. Don’t assume a rental company’s coverage protects you, however. Unlike renting a car when you travel, it’s quite likely your car insurance policy won’t automatically extend coverage when you rent a drone or an off-road vehicle.
Especially when damage or injury is severe, claimants sue everyone involved, from the city that maintains the roads to vehicle manufacturers, rental companies, and riders. When you ride an unfamiliar, high-risk vehicle in an unfamiliar city, for example, you’re risking more than you may realize.
“With the rise of on-demand mobility services such as e-scooters, we discovered that in most cases, riders are not covered in case of an accident. And much more importantly, they are not aware of this fact,” said Voom CEO and co-founder Tomer Kashi. “Voom will ensure that users of unique mobility platforms can grab insurance on-the-go from their mobile devices whether they ride, fly, or sail.”
The next time you rent a jet ski, side-by-side, or motorcycle during a vacation, hop on an e-scooter on your way to work, or sign out an e-bike to cruise the beach, ask to see the insurance coverage before you commit to the ride.
