As reported in stuff some parents are at risk of having their insurance policies cancelled and claims declined, because of they take out insurance for themselves and a teenage driver, pretending they will be the main driver of the vehicle, when in fact their child will be behind the wheel most of the time. This practice known as fronting is an attempt to make insurance affordable for the whole family.

Instead of fronting, families can make insurance more affordable by cost sharing the excess. If each family member takes a higher excess, premiums are lower for everyone, there is less chance you will need to get an insurer with their fine print involved and their is greater social pressure to be a good driver.

Cost sharing can get complicated, so we have made it easy at PeerCover:

• We ask everyone to make an upfront deposit so there is more certainty that the money will be there when you need it
• Your payout is based on a multiple (normally 3 times) your balance
• Cost sharing of claims is pro-rata based on each person's balance
• We provide an independent view to reduce the chance of disputes
• You can withdraw at any time (noting that your cover will also decrease)
• Each person is still free to decide who they insure with and what level of excess and hence cost sharing they want to take

For this service PeerCover charges $100 per claim paid (shared amongst the PeerGroup), so if there are no claims, there is no fee.

If you would like to form a PeerGroup for your family, contact PeerCover or if you would like to join an existing group join-up today.

Crowd sourcing p2p insurance startups aim to return Insurance to its roots - see this A.M. Best article  (also shown below) 

People who appear in this video include:

• Meg Green, Senior Associate Editor​, A.M. Best Company 
• Fred Eslami, Senior Financial Analyst, A.M. Best Company
• Tim Kunde, CEO, Co-Founder, Friendsurance
• Chris Logan, Director, Peer Cover

IAG Labs and Good Shepherd Microfinance have launched Insurance 4 That in Australia. Insurance 4 That is  single item insurance which makes insurance affordable by not gold plating cover nor providing insured limits which are too high. Protection is available for items including:

• White goods
• Electronics
• Medical devices
• Furniture
• Musical instruments

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In New Zealand, PeerCover is offering affordable zero-deductible single item cover. Currently we offer Gadget cover for electronics but we can expand this should you require. PeerCover is a bit different than insurance

• your payout is based on your deposit (no premium)
• if your PeerGroup has no claims, you don't pay anything
• if your PeerGroup has claims, the cost (including claims handling fee) is shared pro-rata amongst the PeerGroup

So if you are looking for single item cover in New Zealand, sign up to PeerCover today.

Bill Shock is the negative reaction a subscriber can experience if their phone/internet/power bill has unexpected charges. Bill shock can happen when, for example, a user changes their mobile phone, switches to a smart meter, or uses a mobile device while roaming without understanding the voice or data roaming charges involved.

In New Zealand:

• The Telecommunications Dispute Resolution (TDR) scheme deals with about 2,000 complaint per year of which approximately 640 relate to billing and credit issues.
• The Electricity and Gas Complaints Commissioner Scheme dealt with over 3,600 complaints last year of which over 1,600 related to billing complaints.

Until now there was just 2 ways to mitigate bill shock:

1. Choose a plan to avoid bill shock e.g. prepay, unlimited or data shaping (for internet)
2. Monitor frequently

Now you can protect yourself and your friends through PeerCover.  You'll be notified if anyone in your PeerGroup is experiencing bill shock, so you can avoid the same situation. Alternatively you may able to help them get off by letting them know what to say. If push comes to shove, the bill shock amount (and a small claims handling fee) will be shared amongst the whole PeerGroup - to spread the load.