Equity Insurance Partnerships bought by NMG

Equity Insurance Partnerships (EIP) has been sold to NMG Group (subject to regulatory approval), an international consulting and advisory group.

The sale of EIP had been expected since the change of ownership of its parent, Equity Insurance Group at the start of this year. EIP is a significant affinity broker with a number of motor manufacturer partnerships (including Renault, Honda and Mazda), as well as others with First Direct, Royal British Legion and Costco. 

One of the more interesting aspects of the purchase is that NMG currently has a major stake in iGO4, a specialist provider of insurance solutions for brands operating on the aggregators. The corporate press release mentions the "synergies" of the two businesses working closely together and it will be interesting to see what this means in practice. 

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks partner with Origen for financial advice...but only for private banking and business customers

Yorkshire and Clydesdale Banks have announced a partnership with Origen Financial Services to provide financial advice for their business and private banking customers. 

Origen, a subsidiary of Aegon, will act as a "referral partner" for the two banks and its advice service will cover corporate and personal pensions, investments, protection and retirement planning. 

The service does not extend to retail banking customers of Yorkshire and Clydesdale. Until April 2013, the banks offered an "in-branch retail advice service" in partnership with AXA, but this ended with the closure of AXA's bancassurance arm. The banks have stated that they have no plans to replace AXA. 

FirstAssist re-brands as Cigna with a new focus on health?

FirstAssist Insurance Services has re-branded as Cigna Insurance Services and, at the same time, has announced "ambitious growth plans for the UK affinity market". 

FirstAssist has over 160 partnerships, but has traditionally been best known for its activity in the travel insurance sector where it has some significant partnerships including Halifax Bank, Sainsbury's and esure. 

It appears that Cigna now sees particular opportunities for affinity partners in providing low-cost health products (as an alternative to NHS or PMI provision) and we believe that this is where much of its sales and marketing effort will now be focused. 

Virgin Money launches protection partnership with Friends Life...again

Virgin Money has announced the re-launch of a protection partnership with Friends Life, which is due to start in January 2014. This follows the launch of a similar partnership with Friends Provident as recently as September 2009. 

More information on the partnership is expected to follow, but cover will be available in-store (at the branches acquired from Northern Rock), online and over the phone. 

Virgin originally launched a protection partnership with Scottish Widows in 2006, which was marketed as "Cancer Cover" but which was criticised by some for its lack of coverage. 

Virgin Money continues to work with BDML for home and motor insurance, UK Insurance for pet insurance and Insure & Go (Mapfre) for travel insurance. 

M&S reappoints RSA for pet insurance

M&S has announced the renewal of its pet insurance partnership with RSA for a further 5 years. 

RSA has displayed a real appetite for pet insurance affinity deals in recent years; as demonstrated by its similar partnerships with John Lewis, Home Retail Group (Argos & Homebase) and Tesco.

M&S continues to partner with AXA for home and travel insurance and works with a Junction-led panel for car insurance. 

Sainsbury's Bank replaces AXA (and Capita) with Allianz for pet insurance

Sainsbury's Bank has announced a new partnership, set to launch in the autumn, with Allianz for its pet insurance products. The length of the deal has not yet been announced, but Sainsbury's has been active in this market since 1998. 

The decision is likely to come as a blow to AXA which currently partners with Sainsbury's Bank and for Thornside, the pet insurance arm of Capita Insurance Distribution. Since 2010, Thornside has been responsible for the sales, fulfilment and claims handling of the Sainsbury's  pet insurance partnership with AXA.

The partnership is another significant one for Allianz, which has recently secured the Ford motor insurance deal. UKI continues to partner with Sainsbury's Bank for home and motor insurance.