What happens to your car club when the operator leaves?
Zipcar’s UK closure and the earlier exits of Getaround, Karshare and Ubeeqo stranded hundreds of thousands of members, and the councils, universities, NHS teams and developments whose travel plans depended on those schemes. If that is you, this page is the practical version of “what now?”.
The scheme failed; the need didn’t
The demand your car club served is still there: staff who need a vehicle for work, residents who gave up a second car, a Section 106 obligation that still binds the development. What disappeared was the operator’s balance sheet, not your requirement. Any replacement that depends on another operator’s vehicles carries the same structural risk: it can be withdrawn again.
The resilient answer is to anchor the scheme to a fleet under your control: vehicles your organisation or development owns or leases. Kerbway supplies everything the operator used to: the app, keyless access, driver verification, booking, billing and day-to-day service. The difference is that if anything ever changed, the vehicles and the data would stay under your control, and the scheme would still be yours.
If you have a planning obligation attached to the old scheme, act early: review what the S106 / S75 agreement actually requires, keep evidence of the operator’s withdrawal, and talk to the planning authority about a replacement before the gap becomes a compliance issue. A scheme on vehicles you control is straightforward to evidence. The obligation is met by assets under your control.
Two models, one decision
Replacing like-for-like with another operator
- Quick to arrange, but the same dependency you just got burnt by
- Coverage decided by the operator’s economics, not your needs
- Members and data transfer to another third party’s terms
- A second withdrawal is your problem all over again
Rebuilding on vehicles you control
- The scheme survives because the vehicles are under your control, so no operator can end it
- Sized to your actual demand, from day one, with the data to prove it
- Members join your scheme under a Kerbway-branded app
- Satisfies planning and travel-plan obligations with assets under your control
A practical path off the kerb
Audit what you lost
Members, usage patterns, bays, obligations and contracts. We help you scope what the replacement must cover.
Source the vehicles once
Use pool vehicles you already own or lease, or source more from your usual supplier or through our vehicle-supply partners. Either way they sit under your control, not an operator’s.
Relaunch under your scheme
Kerbway runs the technology and service; former members re-verify in the app and are driving again in minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Our car-club operator has left: what should we do first?
Audit what you lost: members, usage patterns, bays, contracts and any planning obligations. If a Section 106 / Section 75 agreement depends on the scheme, keep evidence of the withdrawal and speak to the planning authority early.
Does a Section 106 obligation survive the operator’s exit?
The obligation binds the development, not the operator, so a replacement scheme is still needed. One built on vehicles you control is straightforward to evidence.
Should we just sign with another operator?
It is quick, but it carries the same structural risk you were just exposed to: coverage decided by the operator’s economics, and a second withdrawal remains possible.
Where do the replacement vehicles come from?
Use pool vehicles you already own or lease, or source more from your usual supplier or through our vehicle-supply partners. Either way they sit under your control, not an operator’s, which is what makes the scheme resilient.
What happens to former members?
They join your scheme under a Kerbway-branded app: verify once in the app, then find, book and unlock, driving again in minutes.
Stranded by an operator exit?
Talk to us early, especially if a planning obligation depends on the scheme. We’ll help you scope a replacement that cannot be withdrawn.