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Neighbour-to-neighbour car rental service launches in London

21st April 2010 Print

WhipCar, the world’s first neighbour-to-neighbour car rental service, has today announced that it is coming to the streets of London. For the first time, private car owners can rent out their cars for money to safe, eligible drivers looking for a close, convenient and affordable way to rent them.

They will now be able to do so all through an easy-to-use simple online booking facility - whipcar.com.

According to the DVLA, the UK currently has 29 million registered passenger cars on the road, many of which are used for less than an hour a day (New Scientist) at an average cost of £5,523 per year to own (RAC). For owners whose cars meet a set of safety criteria, WhipCar creates an opportunity to generate income from renting out their car when it is not in use. WhipCar puts complete control of the price and timing of rentals in the hands of the owner and guarantees to vet drivers. For drivers, WhipCar provides a locally accessible and smarter way to use the cars available right on their doorstep.

Vinay Gupta, Founder of WhipCar commented on the launch: “The cost of owning a car and the amount of time it’s left unused, makes it a person’s most valuable idle asset. Our research has shown that there are many people who would be happy to pay for car rental services if they could be delivered locally. Putting the two together, we recognised this as an untapped opportunity to provide a new peer-to-peer service which links excess car capacity to potential renters. Simply put, WhipCar enables car owners to put their cars to work, and for those in need of a car, they can literally rent the car next door.”

WhipCar takes just a few minutes to join (for both owner and driver) and it is free to register. The service notifies owners by text and email when there is an approved driver in their area who wants to use their car. All cars and drivers are screened by WhipCar before a booking is completed, and each journey is fully insured through a comprehensive insurance package that temporarily replaces the owner’s existing insurance for the duration of hire.

Tom Wright, Founder of WhipCar, said: “Our vision for WhipCar is pretty simple. We want to make car usage in the UK more efficient and provide a way to reward owners who want to minimise waste and still enjoy the benefits of owning a car. For drivers, we want to evolve the status-quo model of traditional car clubs and rental schemes to provide a local, cost-effective and accessible rental solution. We’ve launched in London first due to the high volume of cars and potential renters, but we’ll be quickly looking at a nationwide rollout. Fundamentally, we believe WhipCar has the power to completely transform the concept of car usage and ownership in the UK.”

WhipCar is funded by venture capital firm Delta Partners.