A brokerage which has been in business, and making news, since the late 1950′s. They took their name from the small town near Salford, Manchester where the first branch was opened and have always been trendsetters – being the first to offer new options on car insurance, such as motor cover for young drivers, women drivers, and for specialist cars. Then in the 1960′s they became the first broker to advertise on national television. Today they offer policies for touring caravans, static caravans, motor homes, motorcycles, moped and taxi’s with accompanying breakdown cover.
At the beginning of the 1980′s they decided to improve their efficiency by computerising their customer records and quotation system. This led to their expansion throughout the whole UK. They became a subsidiary of Sun Alliance in the 1990′s, and by 1995 their advanced computer technology allowed them to provide motor insurance by trading with all the major car insurers electronically. Soon after they introduced a free phone link to all their branches from the Service centre in Manchester.
Swintons brand became even stronger and gained a new corporate identity in 2001 when they were taken over by the French insurer La Mutelle Du Mans. At the end of 2002 decided to market life insuring products through business-to-business company LifeQuote. Special insurances in this range include accidental death benefit and personal accident.
In November 2004, the home protection department of Waveney Brokers was acquired including, not only provide buildings and contents coverage, but also home emergency and extra cover. If you are a landlord, or live in an area that is at risk of flooding, they state they will still be able to find a policy for you.
Necessary for any discerning owner – Swinton’s pet insurance can offer cover for complementary treatment, as well as regularly veterinary care, in the event of an accident or illness. This type of cover extends to pay the cost of advertising, and allows you to offer a reward if your pet goes missing.
Buying travel protection from your travel agent may be the easiest option, but it is likely to be more expensive than going direct to an insurer due to increased commission charges. When you are travelling it is always important to make sure that you have cover for your baggage, passport, loss of money, or travel delay but these days you also need to ensure that you will be covered should your chosen airline go bankrupt whilst away.
Business protection policies for shops and retailers, offices factories, or if you work from home to cover liabilities, contents and interruptions to your business are available. They even find insurers that will cover hard working commercial vehicles.
In 2007 they merged with its4me in a move planned to improve its online business and web presence with their own website located at www.swinton.co.uk (www.swintoninsurance.co.uk redirects to the main site but www.swinton.com is not owned by them so keep an eye on where you are). At the time of writing, they have more than 3000 employees, 442 branches and two UK call centres. They are accountable for two million polices of varying types. With Endsleigh closing down their high street stores in favour of the more cost-effective web sales strategy you would expect others to follow suit quite quickly – however, we have only heard of more stores opening and more staff being hired from this company.
Specialist Cover Providers
