Micromobility in Insurance – Market Trends and Dynamics, 2024

Micromobility in Insurance Market Report Overview

Micromobility is a term used to describe the range of lightweight vehicles designed for one or two people. It largely constitutes bicycles, e-bikes, and e-scooters and is a particularly popular form of first- and last-mile transport in urban environments. City planners and policymakers are using micromobility to encourage less private vehicle usage as part of their net-zero strategies. Shared mobility services are growing in popularity across most major cities as younger consumers make use of these economical and accessible vehicles. The rapid growth of micromobility across the UK and Europe has further created a huge number of opportunities for insurers.

The micromobility in insurance market report highlights the key findings and critical success factors responsible for the growth of this industry. The report also covers the background and summary of micromobility covering the kind of vehicles used by consumers and businesses depending on the regulations in major countries. The report further has comprehensively analyzed the insurance dynamics in the micromobility sector.

Micromobility in Insurance Market by Vehicle Types

Bicycles are slowly becoming more popular in the post-pandemic era. The Netherlands is renowned across Europe for its bicycle-oriented lifestyle and leads the way in terms of bicycle usage in the continent. European cities including Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Bern, Hannover, and Bordeaux are becoming popular destinations for cycling tourism given their warm embrace of bikes. Tokyo offers a similar bicycle culture to Europe with an estimated 16% of all trips in the Japanese capital being made by bike. The major trend-breaker in the growth of bicycle use is the US. Pandemic-fueled growth in bike usage has stalled in the US, with infrastructure requirements across many cities still leaving would-be cyclists preferring to use a car.

Furthermore, E-bikes continue to proliferate as they require less effort than bicycles. They are beginning to be seen as the successors of mechanical bikes, particularly across Europe, as batteries have become economically feasible to manufacture over the past decade. In a similar (but slightly more controversial) fashion to e-bikes, e-scooters have seen a significant rise in use among populations in Europe. Unlike e-bikes, an e-scooter requires no active effort on the part of the user to instigate motion. This makes them more accessible to the wider population than e-bikes. However, e-scooters come with a raft of regulations (that differ across countries) on their use.

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Micromobility in the Insurance Market by Vehicle Usage

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is taking off in most major cities. The trend covers a range of docked and undocked micro-vehicles that consumers can hire. These services are part of the sharing economy and are often facilitated by an app through which users can start and end their journey. Uber and Lime have a partnership whereby users can rent a Lime e-scooter (or e-bike) through the Uber app. Shared mobility and MaaS have created wider accessibility to bicycles and e-vehicles that some consumers may otherwise not be able to afford.

Furthermore, privately owned micromobility vehicles will emerge as fresh avenues for new business. According to the French transport ministry, there were approximately 700,000 privately owned e-scooters in Paris, with retailer Pure Electric expecting its sales to increase by more than 200% in 2023 following the rental ban. Over time, and once countries (and cities) have fine-tuned regulations, it is likely that the number of e-scooter sales will increase significantly across the UK and Europe. Commercial use cases are also emerging due to the versatility of e-cargo bikes. These bikes have a built-in cargo area on the front or back of the vehicle and are specifically designed for built-up environments in which road traffic significantly hampers delivery speeds.

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Micromobility in Insurance Market – Key Coverage Requirements

The key requirements of UK consumers while purchasing insurance for micromobility vehicles are coverage from theft of the e-scooter/bicycle, loss of the e-scooter/bicycle, damage to the e-scooter/bicycle, injury to self, and injury to others among others. In 2023, majority of the bicycle insurance customers wanted cover for theft of their bike, followed by cover for loss or damage to the bike.

Micromobility in Insurance Market Analysis by Coverage Requirements, 2023 (%)

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Micromobility in Insurance Market – Key Purchase Methods

The key purchase methods of UK consumers while buying insurance for both bicycles and e-scooters are online on the insurer’s website, online on a PCW, on the phone, and through an app among others. In 2023, majority of the UK consumers bought their micromobility vehicle insurance online on the insurer’s website. Online on a PCW and the phone followed the lead among the other insurance purchase methods.

Micromobility in Insurance Market Analysis by Purchase Methods, 2023 (%)

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Micromobility in Insurance Market – Competitive Landscape

Incumbents are the leading bicycle insurance providers in the UK, but startups are flourishing too. The companies in the UK offering insurance for micromobility vehicles are Aviva, Direct Line, AXA/AXA Assistance, Cycleplan, and Zurich among others. In 2023, Aviva was the leading bicycle insurance player in the UK. Aviva is leveraging its position in the home insurance market to sell bicycle insurance policies to its customers. Furthermore, MaaS providers partner with insurance companies to integrate insurance into the cost of rental so that all users are covered while vehicles are in use. Leading micromobility firm Lime has partnerships with several noteworthy insurance brands around the world that provide cover for riders of its vehicles. Insurtechs are also playing a role in micromobility insurance. UK insurtech unicorn Zego works with several leading MaaS providers in the UK and Europe, including TIER, Voi, Dott, and Ginger.

Leading UK Insurers Offering Micromobility Insurance, 2023 (%)

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Scope

• GlobalData’s 2023 UK Insurance Consumer Survey indicates that 40.5% of UK consumers own a bicycle. For consumers under the age of 40 and living in London, this figure rises to 45.8%.

• Shared mobility is a hugely popular transport method: there were over 11 million rides on Santander Cycles in London in 2022. In January 2024, Transport for London announced it will be increasing its number of e-bikes from 600 to 2,000 to keep up with growing demand for the service.

• Embedded insurance is a major distribution opportunity in the micromobility space. 21.6% of UK e-scooter policies were sold at the point of sale of the e-scooter, with the majority of these done online.

Key Highlights

• GlobalData’s 2023 UK Insurance Consumer Survey indicates that a greater number of UK consumers own a bicycle.
• Shared mobility is a hugely popular transport method: there were over 11 million rides on Santander Cycles in London in 2022. In January 2024, Transport for London announced it would be increasing its number of e-bikes from 600 to 2,000 to keep up with the growing demand for the service.
• Embedded insurance is a major distribution opportunity in the micromobility space. The majority of UK e-scooter policies were sold at the point of sale of the e-scooter, with the majority of these done online.

Reasons to Buy

The Micromobility in Insurance Market Report helps you to:

• See how micromobility is growing and changing urban dwellers’ traveling patterns around cities.
• Understand regulations and how they differ across countries in the micromobility sector.
• Identify key opportunities in the distribution of insurance products in this space.
• Benchmark yourself against leading insurers and insurtechs providing micromobility cover for consumers and businesses.