Post Office to sell insurance

The Post Office is hoping to capture five per cent of the UK's car insurance market.

11:34 22 July 2004

The Post Office has started to sell car insurance in a bid to capture five per cent of the UK market within the next three years.

Post Office Financial Services, a joint venture with the Bank of Ireland, unveiled an aggressive campaign in which it claims that it will undercut rivals by offering cheaper cover for three quarters of British motorists.

The Post Office insisted that it will offer customers average savings of 120 and published research involving 23,000 insurance quotes, which were compared with quotes from Britain's biggest insurers.

The Post Office is already the market leader in foreign currency exchange, with a 20 per cent share and is the largest independent supplier of travel insurance.

It has been forced to branch out since social security benefit cheques started to be paid directly into claimants accounts.

Patrick Waldron, chief executive of Post Office Financial Services, said: "It's clear that our customers want a car insurance product which is good value, easy to obtain and comes from a brand they know and trust. People have an incredible trust in the Post Office."