Back live & on a pathway to sustainability
After 2 months of downtime we are now fully operational again and our insurance pricing has caused a bit of a stir amongst our members. We have been very vocal about wanting to be the first profitable car sharing company and to do that we wanted a better priced policy that did good things for our owners and drivers.
At first glance, some members are noticing that their insurance pricing has actually gone up so this can’t be better. But it really is. The pricing has increased on the front end because we won’t subsidise it at the back end. So yes, the cost has gone down but now members are seeing 100% of it. Is a business that makes a constant loss a good business that will be around for a long time? We don’t think so, so we are owning the fact our pricing is what it is. We split it out clearly so you can see exactly what the insurance cost, and spoiler alert, we do not take any commissions on it. What you see is what the insurance provider gets. Higher priced insurance does not mean more money for us at all. Our aim is to be around for a long time. When people think about needing a car for a few hours or even a day or so we want them to think of Hiyacar. Not just for the next 6 months but for a long long time.
The fact that we are not subsidising our insurance means we will not be the cheapest for some people in some places and we are OK with that. We don’t strive to be the cheapest. We strive to be the best. We want to give the best experience and be the best value. Will members pay a little more for that? We shall see. But there is no point in them only paying half the price of what our service costs as that is not sustainable. I know I sound like a broken record but growth at all costs is not in our DNA. “Unsustainable growth is not growth, it is death”.
There will be trade offs and although we want to absorb as much of our members variation in needs as possible we cannot be all things for all people. So on that note, cars that do not change everyday mobility will have a higher price and to be honest there are much better options out there for those one off trips in a luxury car. For your regular errands though in a city / hatchback or standard saloon we believe we are the best around when ticking off what matters most to our drivers so we will never be the cheapest but will continue to be the longest running car sharing service in the UK.
