Pikl teams up with Quoteline Direct
UK: Airbnb insurance broker Pikl Insurance has agreed a link-up deal with online broker Quoteline Direct to offer Airbnb-style short-term letting cover to its clients.
The cover plugs the gap that currently exists in the insurance market where standard home, landlord and holiday home policies fail to cover guests and short-term lets.
The partnership means that Quoteline Direct will be selling Private Home Host, Landlord Host and Landlord Tenant Host products to its clients who are providing short-term hosting arrangements.
Pikl CEO Louise Birritteri said: “We’re delighted to enter this partnership with Quoteline Direct. It is a clear sign that the key players in the industry have recognised that their clients who are operating in the sharing economy are doing so without the necessary protection they need.
“Those who believe that their standard home or landlord policies will cover them are sadly mistaken and it could be that they only discover that when they need to make a claim,” she added.
Phil Stevens, product manager for Home and Buy-to-Let at Quoteline Direct, said: “The sharing economy has blossomed in the last few years and much of the insurance industry is playing catch up.
“It’s fantastic that Pikl has not only recognised this gap in the market but that they have managed to fill it with specialist products that are tailored to the needs of sharing economy hosts, and importantly are straightforward for brokers to sell. We anticipate a large take up in the Pikl cover over the coming months as we approach the peak season for short-term property lets,” he added.
Pikl recently announced that it had closed its latest funding round having raised £2.5m, which included an investment from Direct Line founder and chairman of esure Group and GoCo Group, Sir Peter Wood.
Pioneering insurance for the burgeoning sharing economy, Pikl has initially targeted the Airbnb market, developing products for sharing platforms, property managers and individuals – many of which are market firsts – and are sold both wholesale to the insurance market and directly to customers.
The insurance broker has focused on working collaboratively with the insurance market to try and stimulate industry change to support users in the sharing economy.
Its industry report published in March highlighted that the insurance needs of over one million short-term rental hosts are not being adequately accommodated by the UK’s major insurers. They are either being excluded from, compromised by or voided from their existing home insurance policies.
Birritteri said: “By creating wholesale insurance products for brokers working alongside the insurance industry, Pikl is solving this problem for consumers.
“It means that the generation of Airbnb-ers can now get the best of both worlds – the best deals for both their standard and shared economy cover, and where they struggle to find cover, in Pikl they’ll have a brand that will accommodate them for both types of cover and will always have their best interests at heart,” she added.
For more information, visit the Pikl website here.
