The collaborative economy has one of its best examples on the Airbnb day’s rental website. But this phenomenon, marked by times of crisis, has also reached the rental of private cars. Several platforms offer the owner the possibility of making a profit from a car that was standing in the garage.
This is an initiative that has been present for more than five years in other European countries such as France and Germany, and since a year ago, as is the case of 'Getaround', in Spain (Visit https://uk.getaround.com for more). This firm of French origin has experienced a significant increase in activity this summer, its first in the Peninsula.
The operation is relatively simple: an owner of an "underused" vehicle creates his account, uploads the data of his car -and a photo- and puts a price per day and mileage. This amount is usually well below the price of a traditional rental car: you can find cars from about fifteen euros a day.
The driver interested in renting the vehicle can check what is available in his area and send a message to the owner. He or she must explain the use to which the car will be put - occasional journey, removal...- and the expected mileage to be covered. The owner analyses the request and accepts or denies it. If accepted, the user must pay the agreed price and meet with the owner to collect the vehicle.
The most sensitive point of the whole process is, logically, the insurance against accidents or breakdowns. It is the insurance company Allianz -partner of the project- that covers these risks with an excess insurance, which covers the driver in case of accident or damage to the vehicle -from 300 euros-.
The operation is similar to that of other platforms that exist in the national market of the so-called 'P2P rental' -Peer to Peer, among private individuals- such as Social Car or Mambocar, and which increasingly have a share in the car rental market.
There are 22 million underutilized vehicles, as they remain parked most of the time. It is an alternative for those who are reluctant to own a car and for those who have an unused car in their garage.