[Car] Sharing is Caring

Article Highlights

• Uber is performing trials of driverless cars.
• Zipcar is introducing ride sharing.
• There is a new clientele of ride users, rather than car owners.
• Insurance companies will be challenged to come up with new and innovative products to meet the needs of clientele.

Driverless cars. Ride sharing. How about car sharing?

New concepts in personal transportation are coming faster than we can imagine. Who would have thought that organizations like Uber and Lyft would challenge our understanding of how to get from one place to another without a personal car? And, even beyond that, Uber has been performing trials of driverless cars in Pittsburgh since September.

Now, meet the likes of Zipcar which is now rolling out not ride sharing, but car sharing. Need a car for a quick trip? Log in, find the car, tap a few digits, unlock the car, and off you go. Just park it at a convenient spot when you’re done, and, by the way, drive carefully.

All of these new concepts will challenge us all, not just in terms of utilization, but in insurance as well. If you need a car for an hour, how are you insured? All of these concepts are challenging our industry to come up with new and innovative products to meet the needs of a new clientele, which is not just car owners, but car users.

The liability is there; accidents will happen. How are we, the insurance industry, to respond?

New opportunities create new demands, and you can be sure that we at Latorre Insurance are aligned with the types of carriers that are leading the way, with both thought leadership and product-and-service leadership to meet our customers’ insurance needs.

Keep watching for more information and other life events that are changing not only products and services, but also how insurance agents like us will work with clients like you. We look forward to a bright and exciting future together!

One last thing: If you’re driving along the road and don’t see a driver in that car next to you, don’t worry. You may not be imagining it; it just might be the future moving up beside you.

Richard Latorre is President of Latorre Insurance, a full-service, independent insurance brokerage in North Carolina. Since June of 2003, his agency and its team of property, liability, health and life insurance agents and customer service representatives have served the insurance needs of thousands of clients in both North Carolina and South Carolina.