Fortis UK Insurance Division Not To Be Sold

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October 2, 2008

In spite of Fortis taking on a similar fate to UK and US banks, they are not planning on selling their UK insurance division despite pledging to sell some of its other assets as part of the bailout deal.

Fortis said the group’s partial nationalisation had not affected its UK division and told their clients not to be concerned by saying, “Their policies will not be impacted in any way and we remain committed to putting their needs first”.

Joint funding efforts from the governments of Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands amounted to an 11.2 billion euro bailout plan to save Fortis from collapse. Compared to the UK and US, Fortis is Europe’s first bank to require rescue efforts as it becomes one of the latest victims of the approximately 14 month credit crisis.

Last year Fortis’ UK group accounted for £757.8 million in gross written premiums with nearly half that amount (£375.3m) written the first half of this year alone. Profits so far this year have been strong with first-half figures around £43 million, an increase from last year’s overall profit of £29.5 million.

Fortis UK has over 6.7 million customers and claims to be within the top 5 insurers for products ranging from car insurance to travel insurance and life cover.

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