Perhaps the answer here is to insist that a renter must either have valid insurance already that would pay out to third parties in the event that they were driving any vehicle. Most fully comprehensive insurance in the UK already covers this assuming you have valid fully comp on some car already.
For example I (being fully insured on my own car) could drive a friend's car without being specifically insured on it and were I to get involved in an accident (that was my fault) then damage to third parties are covered but damages to my friend's car are not unless his insurance specifically covers me.
If the renter doesn't have this insurance already simply increase the amount they have to pay to rent in order to cover it.
It seems that most insurance in the U.S. already covers this, but RelayRides fear that with enough of these cases the insurance companies will change the plans to ban the practice of loaning out cars to strangers, thus ruining their business.
> insist that a renter...have valid insurance [or pay a higher fee]
If you don't own a car it is just about impossible to buy a liability insurance policy. I know this. I tried. I tried very hard.
I don't own a car myself, but since I often rent a car when I travel, I decided that I'd try to buy a third-party liability policy instead of paying the absurd prices that Avis or Dollar charge (>$20 a day).
I called about 10-15 insurance brokers, and not one of them had ever written a "non-owner" policy. The standard answer I got was, "You have to own a car to get liability insurance; yes, it'll cover you for other vehicles you drive, but you have to have your own car for us to create a policy for you".
I realize that you are in the UK, so the situation might be different there. But in the US (and Canada), I think that RelayRides would have to be the one to provide the coverage, because the average RelayRides user (who likely lives in the same city and doesn't own a car) won't have his own liability insurance (and couldn't get it even if he wanted it!).
Does this mean there's a niche for someone with a lot of land to buy many very cheap-to-insure vehicles and sell them to people who don't want a car but need one for insurance?
I'm pretty sure the basis is "You don't own a car? You some kinda communist?".
Large corporations don't react well to things that are unusual. Only 8% of US households do not have a car[1]. 1/6th of those are concentrated in New York City alone, home to just 1/38th of American households and the only American city where fewer than half of households own a car, the rest are scattered throughout the country, with smaller concentrations in various other urban areas.
Statistically, Americans have cars. I'd lay decent odds that if alister were in New York, though, he wouldn't have had any trouble.
I guess they could offer this insurance themselves and I'm sure if this became a big enough thing the insurance companies would want a slice of the action.
I wonder if it would be possible to persuade them to insure a "theoretical car" that pays no road tax and does 0 miles per year.
I knew that credit card companies offer some auto coverage as well, but didn't realize until I researched it now that it doesn't include liability insurance.
One of my contracts once required that I have $1 million in insurance company to work for them, including coverage for any employees traveling related to the work. That was 10 years ago though, and 1) I don't recall if the insurance included liability insurance, and 2) I think it only covered travel related to business, so while an odd-ball thought, it probably won't work for you.
What do the people in the NE (NYC, Boston) do? I thought that quite a few don't have cars but instead rent them for trips or for moving. Surely a number of them are in the same boat.
And http://www.carsdirect.com/car-insurance/can-i-get-car-insura... "Every insurance provider is required to offer non owner car insurance, so you shouldn't have a difficult time finding this insurance if you need it. Well known providers such as State Farm, GEICO or Progressive are providers you might consider. Some banks offer auto insurance, so those that do will also be able to offer non owner car insurance." ... "Non owners insurance quotes are available from all of the major insurance companies. Progressive, Geico, State Farm, and Nationwide are just a few insurance companies that offer insurance coverage to people who do not own cars. You can also get quotes from insurance consolidators like esurance or netQuote."
If you have any sort of credit record then most of the annual-fee credit cards provide rental insurance, and the fee is typically less than a small number of days of paying the rental agency.
Actually, $20+ /day is the price of _additional_ liability insurance. In most states liability coverage up to state defined Fnancial Responsibility Limits is included in rental price. Ask at the time of getting your car to avoid additional fees.
For instance, Avis says [1]:
Avis provides liability coverage for its vehicles as required by applicable law. In most instances, this will include coverage for the renter or authorized driver up to the financial responsibility limits of the applicable jurisdiction at no additional charge. In some states, the liability coverage provided is excess to any other applicable coverage.
Excluded are CA, TX, UT.
Dollar has similar policies, but they are less specific in their generic policies [2]:
B. Third Party Liability Claims: Unless otherwise required by applicable law, a renter and/or any additional authorized driver (and the respective insurance company of each) is primarily responsible for all third party claims of personal injury, including death, and property damage caused or arising from the use and operation of the DOLLAR vehicle during the rental. (To the extent DOLLAR is required to provide coverage, in spite of the terms of the rental agreement, it shall only be in an amount necessary to satisfy the minimum financial responsibility limits required by applicable law.)
For example I (being fully insured on my own car) could drive a friend's car without being specifically insured on it and were I to get involved in an accident (that was my fault) then damage to third parties are covered but damages to my friend's car are not unless his insurance specifically covers me.
If the renter doesn't have this insurance already simply increase the amount they have to pay to rent in order to cover it.
reply