Annual income now over 500m, with 442 branches and over 2m policies.

Swinton Group, the UK’s biggest High Street insurance chain, today purchased the high street insurance intermediary business Budget Retail from the Budget Group.

The deal continues the growth strategy of Swinton, giving the company an annual income of more than 500m and consolidating its position as a leading UK insurance intermediary.

Swinton’s existing 350 high street branches (including those of its brand Colonnade, acquired in 2002) are now joined by 92 Budget branches offering home insurance, car insurance, travel insurance, pet insurance and most other forms of personal and life cover.

The Budget Retail brand will be maintained for 12 months, after which the branches will trade under one of the Swinton brands.

Patrick Smith, Chief Executive of Swinton, says: “This deal means that we have over three times the national coverage of our nearest competitor. We are within easy reach of almost everyone in the UK. This gives us a huge advantage over our major competitors who only offer telephone or internet contact.”

“Research shows that when customers need assistance with their insurance impersonal interactive voice response is strongly disliked by most people. Our professional teams, working right across the UK, give us a great opportunity to capitalise on our personal service operated through local branches either face to face or on the telephone. Our successful growth has shown the clear benefits of providing this personal service.”

All Budget branch staff will remain employed by Swinton. The total number of Swinton employees is now 3,000, made up of staff working in the branches, call centres and head office functions.

As part of the deal Swinton will also take over Budget’s taxi and motor-home units based in Warrington and Coventry respectively.

Around 230,000 policies will be added to the Swinton database and the combined operation will hold more than 2m insurance policies.

Patrick Smith added: “We have strategic plans to continue this growth and enhance our current business capabilities by increasing our customer base through further improvements in direct marketing, increasing our diversification of product and enhancing the relationship between our branches and our online business.

“We intend to keep all the new branches open as we believe that Budget’s coverage is complementary to our existing network and the increased capacity will allow Swinton Group to handle our planned growth and further service our customers’ requirements.

“Our model has great capacity for expansion and we intend to take on the giants of our industry and show that, by caring more for our customers, we can become the leading provider in the personal insurance market.”

Last year Swinton had a gross premium income of 440m and expects premium income to grow to more than 600m next year following today’s purchase. The company has made over 250 broker acquisitions during the past five years.

Cobbetts LLP acted as legal advisors and Swinton received advice from Ernst & Young.

For more information and for interviews with Swinton Chief Executive Patrick Smith, contact Andrew Spinoza or Jaime Markey at SKV PR 0161 236 9909,

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Most people, when faced with this situation, would go outside, start their car, and leave it to warm up while they get ready inside. This also rings true if like me – you’ve got an older car that won’t run properly when it’s cold.

With so many people leaving the engines running while their car is unattended, car thieves are in heaven during winter. All it takes is for you to be away from a window for a minute and somebody could be off in your car which you’ve so considerately warmed up for them.

Naturally, this bumps up your car insurance. Even worse, if your car does happen to get stolen whilst warming up, your company may not pay out as it will be seen as your own fault for leaving your car unattended.

If you must warm your car up in this way, there are a couple of things you can do to deter theft.

Have a spare set of keys, leave one in the ignition and lock the car up with the other set. At least this will make it more difficult for a potential thief to get into your car. You can also have things like steering wheel locks fitted, which will prevent a thief from driving your car away. Having your VIN number etched onto your windows is a deterrent for most thieves, because they make it harder to sell a car afterwards. However, this may not stop the opportunist thief who just wants to drive aroudn in your car for a while.Fitting a device like a tracker will not only deter thieves, but will also help you get cheap car insurance.

Insurance can also be higher in winter due to the increase of accidents occuring because of icy roads, so make sure you always drive with caution if you suspect the roads may be hazardous. If you have younger, less experienced drivers named on your motor insurance, consider becoming a taxi service to avoid them having to face hazardous conditions which they may not be confident with. What you use in fuel you could save on your premiums!

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The distinction between vans is in more than just the name. The various types of vans usually require different types of insurance policies as well. Different vans have different risks and they perform different functions, which affect the amount of the premiums and the types of policies for these types of commercial fleet insurance.

Many people who want a family vehicle are choosing the minivan. Usually the insurance for this type of a van is quite a bit cheaper than other types of vans, since these vans are designed to do well when crashed. The insurance industry also provides lower rates for this type of a van because drivers driving this vehicle are less likely to take chances making your commercial fleet insurance a bit cheaper.

Another type of family vehicle is the full size van as well. The insurance premiums on these types of vans are a bit higher than that of minivans, mainly because these vans are so much bigger. They can do more damage in a crash and often have a tendency to roll as well.

Since cargo vans are used mainly for business industries, they have totally different policies. Usually they are more expensive to insure, since they are used for commercial use.

It is important that you take the time to find out what kind of commercial fleet insurance you are going to need. These includes knowing what kind of van you have and understanding the type of coverage you need and taking the time to do the research required.

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