Captives prove flexible, profitable tool for booming gig economy

• Fast growing sharing economy businesses have turned to captives as a business enabler
• Opportunity for captive participation in driver and other third party risk programmes
• Signs the commercial market is improving, but pricing, capacity inconsistent
• Healthcare, employee benefits used as a competitive advantage to attract workforce
• Hawaii a popular domicile choice, home to Uber, Lyft, Airbnb and DoorDash captives

Captive utilisation within the sharing economy continues to ramp up as businesses seek solutions for ‘new’ and difficult to insure risks, as well as see opportunities to participate in profitable insurance lines offered to their gig workers and customers.

Workers in the sharing economy are often treated differently from those on permanent, full-time employment contracts, as they are independent contractors usually working for online platforms providing on-demand services.