Rostock, February 15, 2024. Refurbishment and a longer service life of devices are becoming increasingly important to consumers. A planned EU regulation, which is to be passed before the European elections in June 2024, also aims in this direction.

This provides for a “right to repair” within the warranty period, which in turn should extend the warranty period by one year. The hoped-for result: Manufacturers are paying more attention to ensuring that the devices are easy to repair and that cheap spare parts are available. In addition, the products must also be able to be repaired by independent workshops. The aim is to extend the lifespan of electronic devices and consumer goods and thus reduce scrap - a topic that the insurance startup hepster also pursues and supports with its solutions.

Insurance plays a central role in the “longer lifespan” aspect. Because they help customers to use their devices and goods in the long term and not to have to buy a new one straight away in the event of damage or damage - for which the manufacturer is not responsible. After all, according to a calculation by the EU Commission, around 35 million tons of waste are generated every year simply because products are thrown away too early instead of being repaired.1

A typical example is display damage on a cell phone. Due to their sensitive electronics and the fact that they are carried around a lot, smartphones are significantly more susceptible to damage than other devices. Electronics or cell phone insurance protects users from the costs of such repair services and ensures long-term use of the device. Costs for new purchases – and the purchase of a new device – are then no longer necessary. It is estimated that consumers in the EU lose around €12 billion every year because they choose new products instead of having their old ones repaired.

Shared Economy: Two electronics rental providers start a partnership with hepster

However, insurance and the right to repair are not only important for end customers, but also for companies that rent out electronic devices. Insurance companies also protect providers of such sustainable business models, which are still far too rare in this country. But some players have been playing along for a long time and are now expanding their own service offering for their customers in February 2024 - with electronics insurance from hepster:

• AVAD: As an Austrian service provider for network-based communication solutions and in the context of sustainability, AVAD has decided to enter the electronics rental sector in collaboration with the manufacturer SHIFT. This means companies can rent IT equipment and electronic devices such as laptops, cell phones, tablets, docking stations, PCs, monitors, headphones, touch displays and cameras, including hepster protection.
• Flexvelop: With FLEX rental, Flexvelop combines the advantages of leasing, rental and financing in one solution to ensure companies have easy access to their desired equipment. The Hamburg company's offering includes, among other things, electronic devices for office IT and hardware as well as catering equipment such as fully automatic coffee machines, dishwashers, refrigerators, cash register systems and dishwashers. All devices can be rented flexibly on an ongoing basis and are directly insured thanks to hepster.

Hanna Bachmann, co-founder and CRO of hepster, explains: “hepster insurance can be included directly in the rental of electronic devices, for example through the rental contributions. There are no additional costs for the end users - rather security for customers and partners. For this purpose, hepster, together with AVAD and Flexvelop, developed the product in such a way that it is specifically tailored to providers and customers in the electronics rental and rental sector.”

Michael Kremser, Managing Partner of AVAD, says about the cooperation: “We are looking forward to working with hepster. It is in the nature of rented devices that they are subject to particularly heavy use - the associated repair services are difficult to estimate in advance. Thanks to the insurance from hepster, we and our customers have planning security.”

This idea is also emphasized by Dr. Hans-Christian Stockfisch, Managing Director of Flexvelop: “hepster sustainably strengthens our business model. In this way, everything is clearly calculated – without any extra costs for the customer. hepster has already proven itself to be a suitable partner in advance – as flexible as the Flexvelop concept.”

1 https://www.tagesschau.de/wirtschaft/verbraucher/eu-recht-reparatur-100.html