Jobs at risk if EVie bike insurance problem cannot be resolved

Monday 04 March 2024

Electric bike hire firm EVie has confirmed its insurance provider had given no prior indication of the “unsatisfactorily abrupt” decision to withdraw its cover – and that jobs may be at risk if a solution cannot be found.

The company announced on Saturday afternoon that it would be temporarily suspending its fleet of bikes from the end of the day, warning that job losses could result if the issue was not resolved.

Electric bike hire firm EVie has confirmed its insurance provider had given no prior indication of the “unsatisfactorily abrupt” decision to withdraw its cover.

The company announced on Saturday afternoon that it would be suspending its fleet of bikes from the end of the day, warning that job losses could result if the issue was not resolved.

"This decision has been forced upon us"

EVie said 10 working days’ notice had been given by its insurance provide about the withdrawal of cover, with chief executive Nick Perchard-Rees confirming that this had come out of the blue rather than following initial discussions.

“We just received an email stating that our current provider would no longer be able to cover us for public liability because of regulatory issues resulting from Brexit and additional costs,” he said.

“This decision has been forced upon us – we were given a mere 10 days’ notice to secure replacement insurance cover, and this unsatisfactorily abrupt notice, amidst the currently turbulent insurance market in the Channel Islands, has made it impossible to continue to offer our dockless bike without interruption.”

Turbulence in the market

Turbulence in the insurance market is a matter of growing concern for islanders.

In September, it emerged that several motor insurers – including Admiral – would no longer be able to provide policies to Channel Islands customers following legislative changes in Gibraltar.

In recent months, islanders have been reporting huge jumps in their premiums, with one broker warning that firms were “quietly withdrawing” from Jersey by pricing themselves out of the market. The Consumer Council and JCRA said they were monitoring these concerns, with the latter saying that it would consider undertaking a market study if necessary.

"Actively working on solutions"

It is not necessarily the end for EVie, which started its Jersey operations in March 2020. The company said it was “actively working on solutions and in dialogue with potential insurance providers to resume our bike sharing service as swiftly as possible”.

But if a solution cannot be found, Mr Perchard-Rees said he could not guarantee that jobs wouldn’t be lost in the future.

Currently, there are six EVie employees who work on the bike fleet.

Video: The EVie vehicle fleet remains in use.

“There are some people within the organisation who are worried about their positions,” he said. “We are trying to make them feel at ease and doing everything we can to avoid job losses.”

Users have been thanked for their understanding, while bikes were collected and taken into storage over the weekend.

Mr Perchard-Rees said around half of the EVie fleet of 175 bikes had been collected, with the remainder having been out of service for the winter at the time the decision was taken.

EVie’s vehicle fleet remains operational and unaffected by the recent news.

Pictured - top: EVie bikes, introduced in March 2020, were subsequently replaced with newer models (inset).