Community protection
A shared reserve, not an insurance policy
A small, optional contribution on tracked payments — around 1% — goes into a community reserve local to your area, not into Town Works’ own revenue. That reserve exists to help when a job goes wrong in ways an ordinary transaction can’t absorb.
What it isn’t, yet
We deliberately avoid calling this “insurance.” A defined promise to compensate specific losses in exchange for contributions can trigger insurance regulation, and we intend to get that structure right — with actual counsel — before we describe it that way. For now, this is a community-governed discretionary reserve.
What it is
Money contributed by the community, held for the community, and spent on the community’s claims — reviewed by people, not an algorithm, and published openly so contributors can see where it goes.
Full transparency, always
Every local reserve publishes its own balance, contributions, and claims paid. See Oakland's reserve as a working example.