Insurtech Zego to cover Tier’s fleet of UK e-scooters

London insurtech Zego has partnered with European e-scooter giant Tier to cover its fleet of scooters as they launch in the UK.

The announcement this morning comes after the UK government’s decision to allow rental e-scooters on UK roads for the first time, as part of a 12-month trial.

Tier says it is currently involved in tendering for e-scooter trials in various cities across the UK, and said its scooters were “soon-to-be-deployed”.

Zego has specialised in providing vehicle insurance for new industries, originally focusing on private hire car drivers working for the likes of Uber and Kapten before more recently focusing on scooter insurance for food delivery and courier riders working for the likes of Deliveroo and Just Eat.

“E-scooters can play a major role in making cities greener and less congested, but they need to be insured in the right way that gives everyone peace of mind. We’re very happy to be fulfilling this role,” said Zego CEO and co-founder Sten Saar.

Zego’s insurance will cover Tier’s riders for Third-Party Liability insurance, one of the government’s requirements for e-scooter rentals, and Tier will absorb the cost of the insurance to make the sign-up process seamless.

Tier says it will also pass data to Zego for real-time analysis, helping the e-scooter brand to better understand the behaviour of its riders.

“E-scooters offer huge environmental and mobility benefits for UK cities but they need to be introduced in a way that makes everyone feel confident and safe, especially other road users,” said Tier’s UK manager Fred Jones.

“A big part of this will be ensuring that we and our riders are properly covered for accidents, by an insurer who truly understands our market and what we’re trying to achieve. With this in mind, Zego is a natural partner for Tier.”