Last Updated on: 22nd November 2023, 04:22 am
In any “normal” job employees will be protected from damages by their employer’s insurance, and the self-employed will have their own insurances in place – but what is there to protect those in the gig economy? In this article, Janthana explores how the rise of new gig economy jobs such as Deliveroo and Uber are creating a need for a different type of insurance, and how Tapoly is filling this gap in the marketplace.
The gig economy has boomed and the insurance sector has struggled to keep up. Traditional insurance policies fit freelancers, sole traders and contractors like a square peg fits a round hole, and frustration with finding a suitable, bespoke policy is rife. The rise of the gig economy is not only accelerated by the ubiquitous emergence of companies such as Uber and Deliveroo, but also by the increasing number of freelancers in the media, technology, engineering and marketing professions. For these workers, no two months, weeks or even days are the same, and they need cost-effective policies that reflect this.
Traditional insurance policies offer annual cover, which would be expensive and largely impractical for a worker who only needs cover for a short period of time. For example, a software developer may need professional indemnity insurance while on a six-week contract with a client, but would then no longer need that cover once the job ends. The number of workers searching for flexible insurance is transforming how this sector needs to function.
Tapoly is an insurance company who is filling this new-found gap in the market. Aimed at gig economy workers whose insurance needs can vary from day to day, they are offering services that fit with their clients’ demands. Policies with Tapoly are based on per-day cover, so week- or month-long cover can be taken out easily to suit a worker’s needs. Once people are signed up, they can opt in and out of cover as they see fit, bringing down their costs compared to full year-round insurance.
This means that as the year progresses, workers can move between clients and contracts with the confidence that their insurance policies are keeping up with them, and without shouldering the costs for unnecessary periods of time.
Providers such as Tapoly understand that no two jobs are the same, and are able to respond to what type of insurance is needed in a stress-free way. Their ability to act in such a fluid way is a major pull for workers with equally fluid and dynamic roles. Whether a worker needs commercial insurance for cyber breach for one contract, or personal accident cover for another, these modern insurance companies can accommodate. It’s all about suiting the worker’s needs.
Static annual policies are ineffective for this new-breed of worker, to the point of becoming obsolete for many. By transforming how we see the insurance sector, embracing flexibility and welcoming unpredictability, these new ‘occasional use’ insurance plans are becoming the way forward…
