Getaround Car Sharing – How Jessica Scorpio Beat the Insurance Companies

Getaround Car Sharing – How Jessica Scorpio Beat the Insurance Companies

When you have an innovative idea, you are likely to experience roadblocks because new ideas are not always welcomed by all. This is exactly what happened to Jessica

Jessica Scorpio

Scorpio owner of Getaround, a car sharing company. The idea behind Getaround is that owners make their vehicles available for rental and earn money doing so. In turn, Scorpio believes that the one billion cars that are sitting idle across the world will get some use. However, a unique idea such as this requires a well thought out plan. Even that is not enough to stop people – such as insurance companies – from trying to block the idea before it ever comes to fruition. Scorpio, however, was prepared and this is how she beat the insurance companies who worked hard to shut her down.

Get a New Law Written

When Scorpio received rejection letter after rejection letter from insurance companies who refused to cover her car sharing option, she wouldn’t accept no for an answer. Rather, when it became apparent that no insurance company was willing to stand behind Getaround, she worked to get a new law written – talk about working hard for what you want!

Her first step was to start planting her idea and she started in Sacramento. She said it was favored by both Democrats and Republicans alike. Democrats are a fan of green operations – which Getaround is – and Republicans like small business – also in Scorpio’s favor. Hence, Law AB 1871 came into play. Basically, the law states that any car owner who participates in a car sharing program will not have their car insurance affected. Owners can make around $10,000 a year for sharing their vehicle. However, during the the car must be insured by the car-sharing company.

After the law got passed in California, three other states followed suit. Not only did this help promote green companies such as car sharing companies, but it also helped Scorpio and Getaround finally get the insurance the organization needed to resume operations. The company insuring Scorpio and Getaround is Berkshire Hathaway.

The moral of this story is that when it comes to starting up a business, especially if you have a unique idea that is not commonplace, you have to work hard if you want to succeed.

Related: Getaround – A Car Sharing Start-Up, Now You Can Rent Your Own Car & Get Paid