Karshare Blog

Car rental insurance can get confusing at times. Luckily with Karshare, there's no need to faff about with sorting out your insurance - it's included in every rental price! We don't add these costs on at the end, but instead include the third party insurance cost in the total price you see when booking your rental car. Read on to find out more about how it works.

Whether it’s for holidays, work, or any other reason, car hire is a great solution for short-term transportation needs, but it can also be eye-wateringly expensive! Let's take a closer look at why car hire has traditionally been so expensive, and how platforms like Karshare are changing the game!

Car rental, car sharing, and car clubs are all ways for individuals to access vehicles for short-term use, and each option has its own unique characteristics, benefits, and drawbacks. Here’s a quick and easy guide to help clear up some of the confusion and find the rental option that’s right for you…

Karshare is changing the way we access and rent cars. Forget the long queues at the kiosk, the restricted pick up and drop off times and the clunky key handovers. You can instantly book and rent hundreds of cars being shared using the Karshare app. On the day of your rental, you won't need anything more than a smartphone with the Karshare app installed, and a smile on your face for identity verification. Read more to see a breakdown of everything you need to rent a care with Karshare in the UK.

More rail strikes are happening today and tomorrow, and there’s word that train strikes could continue for months more according to the boss of Britain’s largest rail union. If you rely on the train to get around, this can be an unfortunate inconvenience, which is why we’ve listed out some alternate ways to get around during the rail strikes for those travelling far. From coaches to car sharing, take a look at the different options available to you and read about their pros and cons.

From the £1.5 million pounds put back into owner's pockets, to the 2.4 million miles driven in shared cars, we take a look back at some key stats from the year 2022.

Electric vehicles (EVs) are on the rise - they now hold a 14% share of the UK’s new car market and more than 40% of models are now available as plug-ins. The transition to electric vehicles is key to helping us meet net zero targets, which is why in 2030 there’ll be a ban on selling new petrol or diesel cars within the UK. With electric vehicles becoming the norm in the future, we’ve highlighted some key things worth knowing below.

Currently, 9 in 10 adults in Great Britain have reported that their cost of living has increased. Which is why it’s no surprise that many of us are looking for ways to cut costs and save money where we can. In fact, 42% of us have already started to cut back on non-essential car journeys to save on costs - so why not take it a step further and completely cut out the costs of owning a car? With the current annual cost of running a car sitting at £3,500, we look at the possibility of giving up car ownership to save costs and switching to renting instead.

Karshare’s vision is to create a world where we never have more cars than we need. This is why we’re advocates for Car Free Day, a day on 22nd September that encourages people to go car free and a day that helps raise awareness of the wider importance of reducing car usage. Car sharing can enable you to give up ownership of a car and choose to rent one from your neighbours as and when you need instead. We took some time to chat to people who have decided to either get rid of their car, or have never owned a car themselves and their reasons for this.

Tired of the old school car rental experience where you’re met with long queues, unexpected costs, and often asked to drive a different car to the one you booked? We’re tired too. It’s a clunky approach and often comes with unnecessary stress. Karshare takes away those frustrations and provides a quick and easy rental solution by renting a car from your neighbour via the Karshare app. Not only is renting from someone in your community the most environmentally friendly form of car rental but there are also other key benefits when choosing Karshare over traditional car hire companies. Here are just a few of the reasons why renting a car from your neighbour is the way forward - let’s go!

Karshare is the only peer-to-peer car sharing platform whose fleet is 100% owned by individuals in the community. We don’t put our own cars on the road and every vehicle is owned by someone choosing to share their car with others. This is why we care a lot about building a community of responsible renters, providing peace of mind to the champions sharing their cars. Interested in the steps we take to make sure the cars are treated with respect and driven responsibly? From driver telematics to rewarding great driving, we’re going to run you through the features we have in place to help build a trusted community of renters.

Renting a van from your community can help you save valuable time and money while you move house - plus, it’s better for the environment than renting through traditional car hire companies. We break down the benefits of renting a large car or a van for the day to help you move all your belongings from A to B!

Karshare’s keyless technology has revolutionised peer to peer car sharing by enabling car owners to rent out their cars without needing to be present. For renters, Karshare is a convenient way to instantly book and access nearby cars - no more queues at collection counters or picking up cars at inconvenient times. But how does this work? Today we’re running through the installation process so you can know what to expect when putting your car on the Karshare platform.

As the cost to fill up a tank of petrol has now hit £100, we’ve listed out a few changes you can make to reduce your fuel consumption and drive efficiently. If you’re looking to make back the money spent on fuel, car sharing is a great way to balance out the costs, as renting your car out to others creates additional income that can be kept aside for refill day! For longer term solutions, selling your car or switching to an electric vehicle is much more sustainable as this will remove the need for fuel all together.

9 in 10 adults have reported an increase in their cost of living over the past month. This is no surprise, with household energy bills going up by 54%, inflation soaring to the highest it’s been in 30 years at 7% and fuel prices rocketing. Are you finding it more difficult to keep on top of your monthly outgoings? You’re not alone. Almost 1 in 4 said that they found it difficult to pay their monthly household bills since the increase. Hear from some Karshare owners who are combatting the rising prices by renting their car out to their community.

Even in the UK, the weather can get quite extreme sometimes and being caught on the roads in the midst of a storm is not an ideal situation. We've highlighted some key tips on getting from A to B safely when the road becomes a riskier place to drive. From general driving tips, to route navigation, have a read to find out how best to prepare for heavy rain and strong winds.

The short answer, yes! You can easily rent a car on Karshare using a debit or credit card. In fact, using a debit or credit card is the only way you can pay for car rentals at Karshare. In order to set this up you just need to add your preferred payment details to your account. If you haven’t yet created an account you can create one in a couple of minutes. Once you’ve added your debit or credit card details, you’ll be ready to pay for rentals!

As the nights are getting longer and the temperature is dropping, we want to make sure you're fully prepared for Winter. Are you currently sharing your car with others? That's great - the Christmas period is always a busy one, so you'll want to make sure everyone sharing your car is set up safely for their journey. To encourage people to return to your car the next time they rent, get your car ready for Winter and help all your rentals run smoothly.

As the nights are getting longer and the temperature is dropping, we want to make sure you're fully ready for renting a car over winter. We've created a renter's checklist to make sure your car rental goes as smoothly as possible, even if you do get caught out by some bad weather.

One of the questions that gets asked frequently with new renters here at Karshare is how old drivers have to be to rent a car on our platform. We don't charge a young renters fee for those aged between 21-25, so the rental cost for younger renters is the same as for everyone else! Read on to find out more and to hear from Holly who initally signed up to Karshare because of this reason.

It can get a bit confusing at times, but in short, these are all different ways of describing an area in a city or town that has certain restrictions in place to help tackle air pollution. But what does this all mean? And is it only Londoners who have to take ULEZ compliant cars into consideration? Read more to find out what ULEZ, LEZ and CAZ means for those across the UK.

Did you know that Karshare is up to 80% cheaper than traditional car rental? It’s possible to find a car rental as cheap as £30 a day on the Karshare app. We take a look at the different factors that can affect the cost of renting a car, such as city and car type.

Car sharing enables car owners to safely rent out their vehicles to nearby renters in exchange for money. Think of it like an Airbnb for cars. It’s a great way to make your car work for you whenever it’s not in use. By renting out your car or van, you can help members of your community get to where they need to be. Car sharing also helps reduce CO2 emissions by decreasing the demand for more cars on our roads. With driver telematics to support safer driving and contactless car collection, renting out your car has never been easier.

If you rent a vehicle via the Karshare platform, you will have already completed DVLA checks and passed our eligibility requirements, indicating that you are a good driver. But unfortunately even the best drivers are sometimes faced with parking tickets, fines or speeding charges – so we’re going to take a look at what happens if you find yourself in one of these situations and how Karshare can help.

Hi everyone, my name is Ben Collis and I’m the Community Manager for Karshare in Manchester. As a new Karshare employee, I figured it made sense for me to join the platform as a car owner – having first-hand experience of what it’s like to be a member of the car sharing community would help me answer any questions people may have and give me a greater understanding of how to get the most out of being on the platform. Like everyone who joins, I did consider what it would mean to not always have access to my car, but ultimately I knew that I didn’t use it every day – and the idea of some extra income was a welcome one, especially after the difficult year we’ve had.

Remote working isn’t going anywhere, so more and more people are adding their vehicles to Karshare to earn extra income whenever they are not in use. With staycations on the rise and summer vacation just around the corner, now is the perfect time to give your car listing a spring clean with our helpful tips and tricks to maximise those rentals.

After the year we have just been through, it will come as no surprise that UK residents are looking for new ways to generate income and navigate this uncertain world of work. According to the Office for National Statistics, the unemployment rate in January was at 5% – the highest figure in five years, with 1.7 million people unemployed. Since the start of the pandemic, Google searches for “easy ways to make money from home” have skyrocketed by 500% and more and more people are turning to freelance work and one-off gigs to stay afloat.

Your car is, in all likelihood, one of your most valuable assets. But that value comes with a price – literally. From monthly finance payments to insurance to service charges to fuel costs, our vehicles are often as convenient as they are costly. But we’ve got some good news... What if your car could start paying for itself? There are currently an estimated 38 million vehicles parked on our roads in the UK – and they are only used a meagre 4% of the time. That means that millions and millions of cars sit idle every day – unused and costing money. The Covid-19 pandemic has only further decreased daily car usage and the rise in remote working is predicted to have long-lasting effects on mobility overall.

When we speak to car owners who are interested in sharing their car with others, their first question is often: What about insurance? It comes as no surprise – renting out your vehicle to others can be a daunting undertaking, but we are here to put your mind at ease and remind you of all of the safety procedures put in place to make your car sharing experience as comfortable as possible.

The ‘sharing economy’ is probably a term you’ve come across over the last few years when talking about companies like Airbnb, Uber, WeWork, JustPark, TaskRabbit etc. Maybe you’ve heard it referred to as the access economy or gig economy. Some even call it the peer-to-peer economy. Whatever you choose to go with, the premise of what makes a business a part of the sharing economy is simple and centres on the concept of resource distribution as opposed to resource creation. Airbnb doesn’t build new homes, it allows you to stay in someone else’s. Uber doesn’t make taxi cars, it enables drivers to turn their already-existing cars into one.