A new startup, Teambrella, proposes a platform where self-organised teams of people would provide each other insurance coverage in the form of bitcoin reimbursements once an accident happens.

In an interview to Bitcoin Magazine the creators of the platform claim that their project will help to make insurance business more transparent.

The platform works as follows: when an insurance group is formed, each member contributes an amount of bitcoins which is deposited to the theam wallet. The sum of each member’s contribution depends on his risk coefficient and if defined by all members through voting. Money could be spent only on the condition that an insured team member and three others out of eight semi-randomly chosen team members approve the transaction.

Once an accident happens, the one harmed submits a claim for the necessary amount of money and the evidence of loss. Team members vote whether the loss should be covered and to what extent. If someone refuses to pay his share when all other members have collectively accepted the claim, his funds will be locked and he will not be able to receive reimbursement on his claim.

When a claim is successfully met, all voting team members receive 5% of the total reimbursement distributed equally among them. Besides, a member can proxy their vote to a reputed member of the team who could vote on their behalf. This expert can receive all voting commission and liberate other members from examining the legitimacy of a claim.

As stated in the project’s white paper, the startup aims at eliminating the always existing conflict of interests between clients who want to receive an appropriate coverage and insurance companies that are typically reluctant to reimburse their clients and often look for pretexts to avoid payments. Besides, the developers claim that Teambrella team members will never overpay for their insurance since they will not pay a fixed regular to their insurer.

The developers – Russian software entrepreneurs Alex Paperno, Eugene Porubaev and Vlad Kravchuk – hope that this peer-to-peer platform would make insurance market more secure and transparent.

Anna Lavinskaya