Insurance Groups For Cars - Royal Bank Of Scotland

This Group was founded in 1727 and is one of the largest banks in the UK and Europe. Ranking sixth in the world, it has a market capitalisation £49 billion as at 30th July 2004. It has more than 22 million UK personal customers, 2,273 UK branches and total assets at 30 June 2004 of £519 billion. The Group employs over 125,000 staff worldwide.

The group consists of famous financial brands that operate in both banking and insurance markets. These include The Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest, Ulster Bank Coutts Group, Direct Line, Privilege, Churchill, NIG, Citizens Financial Group (USA) and Lombard. In addition the Group has formed a joint venture with Tesco Personal Finance who ranks as one of the main supermarket banking brands in the UK.

The Direct Line Group commenced trading in April 1985 selling car insurance direct to UK customers over the telephone. Direct Line is now an international company operating in Germany, Italy, Japan and Spain. It has a wide range of financial products and services and has over 5 million customers. Direct Line is also a key player in the UK breakdown insurance market having acquired Green Flag in 1999.

Churchill started selling car insurance policies direct to the public in 1988 under the ownership of Winterthur. In January 2002 Churchill staged an industry coup by acquiring Prudential's home and car insurance business. Another milestone achieved by Churchill was the fact that it had 1 million live direct brand car insurance policies in force by February 2003. The Royal Bank of Scotland secured the purchase of Churchill in September 2003.

Please note, conditions will apply for all of the car insurance group products mentioned above, please contact the insurer concerned for more information.