easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou together with lasminute.com founder Brent Hoberman will launch a new scheme in 2012 which will allow people to rent out their own cars. They won’t need anything else just smartphone apps to book slots in their neighbour’s vehicle.They will try this new scheme first in the London area and it will affect approximately 1000 cars.
According to Mr. Haji-Ioannou there are already many under-used cars in London so why not try to rent them out. The cars will be fitted with automatic entry and tracker system so the owners don’t have to be present at the time of the rental. It will also provide people with greener car hire because according to the plans it could get 10 cars off the road and will also reduce personal car emmissions by 40%. The car sharing scheme is not ready yet but if somebody wants to register he/she can do it on the company’s site.
This is actually not a new phenomenon because another car sharing scheme was already launched in 2010 -it is called WhipCar. It’s also a small business model where people can rent their neighbour’s car from a few hours to weeks. WhipCar accept cars that are no more than 8 years old and have valid MOT, road tax and insurance. They also have to be clean and in good condition. Owners get the rental charges paid into their bank account after WhipCar has deducted its 15% commission.
Not only the owners but the renters also have to register on the site. The company also checks the car’s age and whether they have any convictions. Renters pay the hourly or daily cost plus the fully comprehensive insurance and a charge of £2.50 which goes to WhipCar.
This is a pretty smart idea which not only available for rental cars but for unused items, for parking space or for storing stuff in somebody’s house.
Car hire excess insurance for car sharing too >>
