Guevara, a ‘revolutionary’ P2P car insurance service launches in the UK

It might seem like a bit of an odd move to name your startup after the figurehead of the Cuban Revolution and poster boy of rebellion Che Guevara, but that’s exactly what a new fledgling UK peer-to-peer (P2P) car insurance service has done.

Admittedly, the gaping void between political uprising, the resultant revolution and car insurance in the UK doesn’t really need to be pointed out, but it’s the notion of trying to interrupt established norms and oust the entrenched elite that led Guevara to take its name.

Announced today, rather than work as a P2P network in terms of building a marketplace of buyers and sellers, Guevara pools motorists’ premiums so that any unused cash at the end of the year goes towards lowering renewals the following year.

Quick-witted readers will have worked out already that what this means is, the safer the group of people you’re pooled with, the lower your premiums are likely to be in successive years as any accidents are taken out of the total pool of cash.

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So, the first year your premium will be around the same as it is now – the company promises quotes are competitive from the off – and providing not too many people in your pool have accidents, it would reduce significantly the following year. Guevara claims to be able to save motorists up to 80 percent in successive years. Even if you’re in a group where everyone seems to have a prang, there’s a cap on premiums so you never pay more than you did in the first year, providing your circumstances don’t change.

There are two ways to choose your pool, either get invited by a friend or family member or Guevara will “suggest the best fit”, the company’s founder Kim Miller told TNW. Higher risk people (the initial premium is based on the same sort of factors as traditional insurance policies) pay a proportionately higher amount as a joining premium, and if someone is just too reckless, they can be silently voted out of the group and Guevara will find them a new home. And if friends or family follow your lead and join up later, you can change pool to be in the same group as them.

The eight person team behind Guevara has been working towards launch for 18 months and reassures us that the service is compliant with FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) rules and Miller tells us that No Claims Bonuses work in exactly the same way as normal insurance, so there’s no need to worry about your carefully-earned bonuses being lost.

It’s certainly an interesting approach to an otherwise ignored market, although putting your premium in the hands of other drivers might make some people nervous. And the name could make SEO difficult. Still, it’s memorable.

“Guevara is about highlighting the everyday rebel in us all. We like to think ‘What Would Che Do?,” Miller says. Strive for cheaper car insurance, clearly.

➤ Guevara

Featured Image Credit – Shutterstock