Esure

Last updated

Esure
ISIN GB00B8KJH563  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
IndustryInsurance
Founded2000
Headquarters Reigate, Surrey, England
Key people
Andy Haste, (Chairman)
David McMillan, (CEO)
Revenue £ 781.3 million (2017) [1]
£ 98.6 million (2017) [1]
£ 80.4 million (2017) [1]
Website www.esure.com

Esure Group plc (stylised as esure) is an Internet and telephone based insurance company based in Reigate, Surrey, England. It also has offices in Manchester and Glasgow. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Bain Capital in December 2018.

Contents

History

Esure was founded in 2000 by businessman Peter Wood, who also launched the Direct Line insurance company for the Royal Bank of Scotland. [2]

Esure is also known for its high-profile commercials with Michael Winner, used from 2002 to 2005 and resuming in 2007. The adverts spawned the phrase, "Calm down dear, it's a commercial". [3]

On 21 November 2007, it was announced that Esure would replace E.ON as the sponsor of ITV National Weather bulletins. The two-year deal, rumoured to be worth £10 million, was negotiated by Carat Sponsorship and began on 1 January 2008. [4] Lloyds Banking Group sold its 70% stake in Esure to Esure Group Holdings, led by Peter Wood on 11 February 2010. The share was valued at around £185 million. [5] The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange in March 2013. [6] On the 8 December 2014, Esure announced that it was acquiring the remaining 50% of shares in financial comparison website Gocompare.com having previously secured a non-controlling stake in the company. [7] [8] In November 2016, the company demerged Gocompare.com again. [9] [10]

In August 2018 the company agreed to be acquired by Bain Capital. [11] The takeover was sanctioned by the High Court in December 2018. [12]

In March 2020, Founder Sir Peter Wood stepped down as Chairman, and was replaced by Andy Haste. [13]

Operations

Esure offers motor insurance, home insurance and travel insurance. The company focuses on lower risk customers, offering cheaper premiums for customers with a current no claims bonus for its car insurance products. Esure car insurance also incorporates the First Alternative brand which in the past offered quotes to higher risk customers as a separately authorised insurer but now sits as a small-scale sub-brand of Esure. [14]

Criticism and concerns

Concerns were raised in 2013 about potential conflict of interest. Esure's Peter Wood donated tens of thousands to the Conservatives and Esure's initial public offering (IPO) of February 2013 highlighted that insurance-company-friendly legislation of 2012 offered Esure expansion potential. "Quite evidently, Esure itself thought it was benefitting from the changes under new laws, as did Peter Wood personally, who made some £198 Million from the flotation"; about a third of his shares. [15]

In October 2014, Esure faced criticism after it declined an insurance claim and offered only a ‘goodwill payment’ of £5,000 on behalf of a policy holder whose abusive husband had set fire to her home. The husband pleaded guilty to effectively torturing his wife with an axe over a period of three days, and the non-payment of the policy left the victim homeless. In a statement, Esure said they had "utmost sympathy for the horrific incident" but added that insurance was there to cover "unexpected events and accidents, not deliberate and unlawful acts by individuals destroying their property". [16]

Concerns were raised in 2014 about potential conflicts of interest when insurance companies own insurance comparison sites. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulations says such potential conflicts of interest must be 'flagged up'. An FCA report said "Small print on the Gocompare.com website informs customers that it is 50% owned by Esure" (Esure owned 100% of GoCompare as of December 2014). However, "the FCA found no evidence that such firms had profited as a result of their potentially conflicting ownership." [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NatWest Group</span> British banking and insurance holding company

NatWest Group PLC is a British banking and insurance holding company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aviva</span> British insurance company

Aviva plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It has about 18 million customers across its core markets of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada. In the United Kingdom, Aviva is the largest general insurer and a leading life and pensions provider. Aviva is also the second largest general insurer in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zurich Insurance Group</span> Swiss insurance company

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd is a Swiss insurance company, headquartered in Zürich, and the country's largest insurer. As of 2021, the group is the world's 112th largest public company according to Forbes' Global 2000s list, and in 2011, it ranked 94th in Interbrand's top 100 brands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Axa</span> French multinational insurance firm

Axa S.A. is a French multinational insurance company headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It also provides investment management and other financial services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MTN Group</span> Multinational telecommunications company based in South Africa

MTN Group Limited is a South African multinational corporation and mobile telecommunications provider. Its head office is in Johannesburg. As of December 2022 MTN recorded 289.1 million subscribers. MTN is among the largest mobile network operators in the world, and the largest in Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RSA Insurance Group</span> British multinational general insurance company

RSA Insurance Group Limited is a British multinational general insurance company headquartered in London, England. RSA has major operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Scandinavia & Canada. It provides insurance products and services in more than 100 countries through a network of local partners. It has 9 million customers. RSA was formed by the merger of Sun Alliance and Royal Insurance in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Powszechny Zakład Ubezpieczeń</span> Polish insurance company

Powszechny Zakład Ubezpieczeń Spółka Akcyjna, also known as PZU SA is a publicly traded insurance company, a component of the WIG30 stock market index and Poland's biggest and oldest insurance company. PZU is headquartered in Warsaw and is the largest financial institution in Poland. It is also the largest insurance company in Central and Eastern Europe.

BGL Group is a financial services company based in Orton Southgate, Peterborough, England. Its main lines of business are vehicle and home insurance, with a range of supplementary products such as breakdown cover, legal protection and personal accident cover.

Liverpool Victoria, trading since May 2007 as LV=, is one of the United Kingdom's largest insurance companies. It offers a range of insurance and retirement products.

Swinton Insurance is a UK insurance retailer that was established in 1957. The company offers a range of insurance products from a panel of UK insurers covering car, bike, home, commercial, taxi and caravan insurance.

Delta Lloyd Group was a Dutch insurer with operations in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. It consisted of Delta Lloyd, OHRA, ABN AMRO Verzekeringen and a few minor banks. The company was the sixth-largest insurer in the Netherlands, with a market share of approximately 8% before it was acquired by NN Group in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bupa</span> Company that offers health insurance and healthcare services.

The British United Provident Association Limited, trading as Bupa, is a British multinational health insurance and healthcare company with over 43 million customers worldwide.

Sir Peter John Wood is an English entrepreneur, most notable as the founder of the Direct Line and esure insurance companies. Wood was knighted in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to UK industry and philanthropy. In 2021 he was the 198th wealthiest person in Britain with an estimated personal fortune of £815 million, according to the Sunday Times Rich List 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lloyds Banking Group</span> British financial institution

Lloyds Banking Group plc is a British financial institution formed through the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB in 2009. It is one of the UK's largest financial services organisations, with 30 million customers and 65,000 employees. Lloyds Bank was founded in 1765 but the wider Group's heritage extends over 320 years, dating back to the founding of the Bank of Scotland by the Parliament of Scotland in 1695.

GoCompare.com Limited, trading as Go.Compare is a Welsh financial services comparison company based in Newport, Wales. Its website provides comparison details for financial products including car insurance, home and pet insurance and breakdown cover. Since 2021 it has been owned by Future plc. The company's advertising campaign in 2015 was voted as the "most irritating advertisement."

CPP Group plc is a provider of assistance and insurance products which reduce disruptions to everyday life for millions of customers across the world. It is headquartered in Leeds, UK and has about 11 million customers. It is listed on the Alternative Investment Market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Direct Line Group</span> British insurance company

Direct Line Insurance Group plc is a British insurance company based in the United Kingdom, formed in 2012 by the divestment of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group's (RBS) insurance division, through an initial public offering. The company owns a number of insurance subsidiaries, providing various insurance products, including Direct Line and Churchill, Darwin as well as the roadside assistance and vehicle recovery provider Green Flag.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Currys plc</span> British retail company

Currys plc is a British multinational electrical and telecommunications retailer and services company headquartered in London, England. It was formed on 7 August 2014 by the merger of Dixons Retail and Carphone Warehouse Group. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

Policybazaar is an Indian insurance aggregator and multinational financial technology company based in Gurgaon. The company was founded in June 2008 by Yashish Dahiya, Alok Bansal and Avaneesh Nirjar. It provides a digital platform—website and an app—where users can compare insurance policies and other financial services from major insurance companies. The company is India's largest insurance aggregator, and has expanded its operations to the United Arab Emirates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FWD Group</span> Insurance company based in Hong Kong

FWD Group is a multinational insurance company based in Hong Kong. Founded in 2013 as the insurance arm of Pacific Century Group, FWD Group sells life and medical insurance, general insurance and employee benefits in Asia. The company had USD$50.9 billion in assets under management in 2020 and in 2021 was managing US$63 billion in assets. On March 13, 2023, FWD Group refiled its Main Board listing application with The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. The initial filing was made on February 28, 2022. In 2023, FWD celebrated its 10th anniversary, and currently operates in Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Annual Results 2017" (PDF). esure. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  2. ↑ "Halifax to offer online insurance". BBC. 17 February 2000.
  3. ↑ Wilson, Giles, "Ad Breakdown: Calm down, dear. It's just a mouse that's got your job", news.bbc.co.uk. Article written 26 May 2006, retrieved 2 November 2006.
  4. ↑ "Esure becomes new ITV Weather sponsor". Digital Spy. 21 November 2007. Retrieved 21 November 2007.
  5. ↑ Lloyds sells 70% stake in Esure BBC News Online. 11 February 2010
  6. ↑ "Esure shares leap after its float to boost London IPOs". The Independent. 22 March 2013. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  7. ↑ "Insurer Esure buys rest of Gocompare for £95m". FT. 8 December 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  8. ↑ "eSure Group's Announcement to the City" (PDF). eSureGroup. 8 December 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  9. ↑ "Gocompare and insurer Esure to split". BBC News. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  10. ↑ "Esure shareholders approve Gocompare demerger". Reuters. 1 November 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
  11. ↑ "Bain reaches £1.2bn deal to take esure private". FT. 14 August 2018.
  12. ↑ "Esure board agrees £1.2bn takeover and nets Sir Peter Wood shares windfall". Insider. 19 December 2018. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  13. ↑ "Ex-RSA boss Haste takes on Peter Wood role at esure". Insurance Times. 30 March 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
  14. ↑ "First Alternative". Fairer Finance. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  15. ↑ Bobby Friedman (5 September 2013). Democracy Ltd. Oneworld Publications. ISBN   9781780742526.
  16. ↑ "Abused wife facing destitution after husband burned home". BBC News. 27 October 2014. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  17. ↑ "Insurance price comparison sites failing, says FCA". BBC News. 16 July 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.