As part of its programme of continuous improvement, French ICMIF member MAIF is keen to support all users and all audiences to best meet their needs. Faced with the fundamental growth trend in deliveries by bicycle and the difficulties in covering the risks associated with this activity, MAIF has launched a tailor-made offer, which is unprecedented on the French market. This, says the mutual insurer, is further proof of its commitment to supporting companies with a positive impact on the environment.
In 2020, the sports and cycles union in France noted a 354% increase in sales of cargo/delivery bikes compared to 2019. In the spring of 2021, the French government rolled out its action plan for the development of cycling logistics. Bicycles as a means of delivery have considerable benefits for the environment: a study by the French Ministry of Ecology observed that at equivalent capacity, a cargo bike emits 85% less CO² than a petrol vehicle*.
The cooperative world quickly invested in supporting this trend: around fifty delivery bicycle cooperatives are now active in France. Federated by CoopCycle, they have come together to create a collective solidarity to accelerate their development and guarantee the rights of delivery people.
MAIF meets the needs of cooperatives with a dedicated offer
Backed by its experience alongside cooperatives, with more than 500 structures insured, MAIF offers an insurance offer adapted to bicycle delivery. In this still very young sector of activity, finding an insurer is a real problem: those offering these bicycle delivery services face unsuitable insurance products or rates, or even refusal to provide insurance cover.
MAIF therefore decided to reinvent its range dedicated to cooperatives to offer innovative guarantees, covering the specificities of cycling logistics.
The insurance offered to CoopCycle members will include:
- Coverage (Professional Civil Liability, legal protection)
- Cover for employees and managers
- Property coverage (premises, bicycles and transported goods)
Thomas Ollivier, Head of B2B development and partnerships at the MAIF Group says: “This new offer reinforces our desire to support companies that are committed to contributing to the common good. Through this approach, we provide a product adapted to a booming activity, but also our historical know-how in supporting cooperatives. It also demonstrates our ability to adapt and innovate in a constantly changing world.”
In order to better understand the needs of this sector of activity, MAIF has been supporting “Les Coursiers Niortais”, a bicycle delivery cooperative based in Deux-Sèvres for the past year. Co-construction work on this offer was also initiated in 2021 with CoopCycle. These experiments and feedback have enabled the creation of this tailor-made insurance product.
Alexandre Segura, Founder of CoopCycle said: “Over the past year, we have found in MAIF an interlocutor attentive to our needs with whom we have been able to build a suitable insurance product. We also share the democratic nature of our organisations and are therefore delighted with this collaboration between the cooperative and mutualist worlds for a serene development of our activities on French territory.”
Finally, a MAIF team has been dedicated to these partnerships, allowing personalised support for each of the cooperatives that are insured.
*National Plan for the Development of Cyclologistics, Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion, May 2021
