UK life insurer Friends Provident
has boosted its distribution capabilities significantly with the
launch of a bancassurance partnership with Tesco Bank, the retail
banking arm of Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket chain.
“The new arrangement opens up a whole new
market for the protection side of our business,” commented Benny
Higgins, CEO of Tesco Bank.
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Tesco branded protection products underwritten
by Friends Provident are available via Tesco Bank’s website and
dedicated call centre and include level or decreasing cover and
critical illness cover. According to Friends Provident, applicants
are required to answer 10 questions and can get cover in 20
minutes. Premiums start from £5 ($8) per month.
Tesco Bank, formerly Tesco Personal Finance
(TPF), came into being in October 2009 following Tesco’s
acquisition of the 50 percent held by its joint venture partner in
TPF, Royal Bank of Scotland, in July 2009. Tesco Bank has a
customer base of 6 million, with life insurance now adding to its
existing product line up of 28 financial products and services such
as general insurance, credit cards and personal loans and
savings.
In need of a shot in the arm, Friends
Provident’s sales on an annual premium equivalent basis in the
first nine months of 2009 totalled £505 million, down 28 percent
compared with £701 million in the same period in 2008. Friends
Provident became a wholly-owned subsidiary of UK insurer Resolution
on 5 November 2009 in a deal worth £1.86 billion.
