SaaS player Kinosk pilots rental insurance

Online platform Kinosk has launched a digital insurance product for equipment rental, which offers flexible “per use period” coverage and is currently undergoing its first pilot in Europe.

Kinsok - an Italy headquartered global SaaS supplier to the construction machinery, equipment and tools market - said in a statement, “With a new stream insurance model, Kinosk has changed the way the rental industry insures assets. It allows paying for insurance for the real rental period only and including the insurance premium paid directly to the rental fee.”

Kinosk is adding a flexible insurance stream to its offering. (Image: Kinosk.)

This differed from traditional insurance, which typically predicts that rental companies will purchase insurance for a year or a quarter, and then rent out the equipment counting on the insurance coverage provided by those policies, the company said. 

Kinosk’s approach would mean that “rental companies instantly increase customer confidence and loyalty, grow service level, minimise the damage risk for assets and set new business standards for the rental industry.”

The insurance stream is built into the Kinosk digital rental platform, meaning that all approved rental deals are automatically insured.

The coverage is said to eliminate financial risks for rental companies, including damage or theft of the rented equipment as well as the financial loss of purchasing a replacement, because it also includes gap insurance that makes a refund on a “new-for-old” equipment basis.

Kinosk’s flexible subscription model would allow rental companies to define their own required rental period, automatically extending coverage if the rental period needed to be prolonged.

Alexander Koch, CFO of Kinosk.

Conversely, while equipment is at the depot, there is no need to pay for insurance as equipment in use is always protected.

“Since the insurance premium is included in the basic rental rate, there is also an option of adding other insurance products that can further improve the customer experience in the future. And when an insured event occurs, Kinosk’s digital rental platform automatically generates a package of documents, which is transmitted digitally to the insurance company.”

Kinosk software provides the rental company with up-to-date information on each insured event, in an automated process. And in addition to the built-in stream insurance, Kinosk provides an all-in-one solution for small and mid-size rental companies.

Alexander Koch, CFO of Kinosk, said; “The mission of Kinosk is to make the rental business easy, fast and efficient with digital solutions. Together with our partners - insurance companies in national markets - we will increase the profitability of rental companies, because our stream insurance not only provides better coverage but also wins in terms of price in comparison with old-fashioned insurance product.

A spokesperson for Kinosk’s insurance partner in the pilot said; “Many insurance companies have thought about such an insurance product before, but without a fully automated digital platform, this insurance model is simply not feasible. Together with Kinosk’s insuretech we have opened a new era in insurance for the rental industry.”