Debbie Wosskow, founder of Love Home Swap and Chair of Sharing Economy UK @DebbieWossk
As sharing economy businesses become ever prevalent and increasingly successful; the question, what is a sharing economy business, rumbles on. Commentators are already tipping the sharing economy as the next defining force for technology and enterprise but without a clear definition itself the industry has struggled to answer questions around insurance and which businesses qualify as sharing economy businesses. It is clear that a moniker alone does not an industry make – a decisive definition is required behind which sharing economy businesses can unite.
Definition question
As chair of SEUK, I understood that the answer to the definition question was an important priority. An agreed definition – after much discussion amongst the SEUK board – was set upon and is as follows:
“The sharing economy involves using Internet technologies to connect distributed groups of people and organisations to make better use of goods, skills, services, capital and spaces, sharing ‘access’ and so reducing the need for ‘ownership’.”
Definition question continued
A clear definition allows clarity for regulators and service providers – imperative as sharing economy businesses rely on regulators and service providers understanding the sector to properly service it.
Insurance is a good example of a challenge the sector faces. Without unity businesses providing sharing economy services have faced issues around securing appropriate insurance for these services. Traditional insurance policies are not always compatible but by creating a powerful, united group via a strong uniform definition – the sharing economy becomes a sector that can be dismissed no more.
Another contentious issue is around worker’s rights. Lots of questions, especially in the US, have been asked around the treatment of workers that use sharing economy platforms to source work in terms of pay. Obstacles such as this need addressing and should be done so as a sector.
Grouping the terms
A real crux of the problem faced by us as the trade body for the sharing economy has been around what constitutes a sharing economy business? Laboured discussions have been held around Uber, Amazon etc. as to whether they are to be included in the sharing economy cohort. The answer is no and with the definition of a sharing economy business now clear it puts an end to this line of questioning. Uber for example, operates in the UK as a Private Hire Vehicle dispatcher and so definitively are not a sharing economy business.
It is evident that to successfully lobby for regulatory change it will take a strong, united voice. A prime example was a recent change to out-dated legislation around an owner’s ability to rent out parking spaces at non-residential properties without planning permission. In November 2014 the Government-commissioned report into the sharing economy was commissioned. Using this platform we were able to affect change in the shape of reforming regulation – in March 2015 the UK Government changed their guidelines on both renting out rooms and parking spaces – highlighting the importance for unity as we move forward.
The definition question has proven an interesting obstacle to overcome and I feel in answering it we have already, as a collective, begun to understand the space in which we are operating that little bit more. It was an important issue to address, as a priority, to unite sharing economy businesses in their push for change that will benefit the industry as a whole – not just individual businesses.