Engage Mutual Assurance

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Engage Mutual Assurance
Company type Friendly society
Founded1980;45 years ago (1980)
(as Homeowners Friendly Society)
Defunct2015;10 years ago (2015)
SuccessorOneFamily
Headquarters
Harrogate, North Yorkshire
,
United Kingdom
Area served
UK
Key people
Peter Burrows
(Chief Executive)
Total assets £900 million [1]

Engage Mutual Assurance (Homeowners Friendly Society Limited) was a financial products provider based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. It operated as a mutual friendly society with no shareholders, and was owned by its 500,000 members. [1]

Contents

In 2015, Engage Mutual merged with Family Investments to become OneFamily, moving its headquarters to Brighton, East Sussex. [2] [3]

Products and services

Engage Mutual provided a range of products, with a major emphasis on healthcare. Primary products included over-50s life insurance, health cash plans, tax-exempt savings plans and insurance bonds. It also provided new Child Trust Fund accounts until they were discontinued by the British government in 2011, and replaced with Junior ISAs.

Acquisitions and partnerships

During its 35-year history, Engage Mutual expanded through the acquisition of competitors. In 2010, it bought not-for-profit healthcare provider Provincial Hospital Services Association (PHSA), [4] and part of long-term insurance business Ecclesiastical Life Limited. [5]

It also engineered partnerships with Clydesdale Bank, [6] and its subsidiary Yorkshire Bank, to promote its life cover and tax-exempt savings products, and offered funeral funding options in partnership with The Co-operative Funeralcare.

Merger

In 2014, after gaining the backing of 95% of its members, Engage Mutual announced that it would be merging with Brighton-based Family Investments to create OneFamily, which began trading under its new name from April 1, 2015. Due to the larger operation at the Family Investments headquarters, the business was gradually moved to Brighton, with a full transition scheduled for completion by 2017. [1] [2] [3]

Sponsorship

Engage Mutual was the title sponsor of Super League, England's top-level rugby league club championship, from 2005 to 2011, taking over from Tetley's Brewery in a deal worth £1.65 million. [7]

It also supported a number of charitable initiatives connected with rugby league, including the RFL Benevolent Fund (also known as Try Assist), [8] which supports those injured while playing the sport.

Locally, Engage Mutual also had an association with Saint Michael’s Hospice in Harrogate.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Grainger, John (27 February 2015). "Job losses in Harrogate as Engage Mutual moves south". Yorkshire Evening Post . Archived from the original on 11 March 2017.
  2. 1 2 Walker, Peter (1 April 2015). "Mutuals rebrand after merger completion". FT Adviser . Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  3. 1 2 Smith, Thomas (1 April 2015). "Engage Mutual and Family Investments become OneFamily". Cover magazine. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  4. ↑ Robertson, Paul (25 November 2010). "Engage buys health insurer PHSA" . Professional Adviser (Press release). Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  5. ↑ Shoffman, Marc (9 December 2010). "Engage Mutual takes on Ecclesiastical members". FT Adviser. Archived from the original on 9 May 2016.
  6. ↑ "Over 50s Life Cover Plus | Helping to take care of the future". Clydesdale Bank. Archived from the original on 12 May 2016.
  7. ↑ "Super League seals lucrative deal". BBC Sport . 7 February 2005. Retrieved 21 October 2025.
  8. ↑ "Champion Steve completes Extreme Challenge". RFL Benevolent Fund (Press release). 21 June 2011. Archived from the original on 1 March 2021.
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