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Admiral's online quote search site trebles growth
(Western Mail Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)One of the Admiral insurance group's boldest ventures has generated profits of pounds 9m this year and experienced 300% growth. Confused.com, an internet search engine which finds the cheapest quotes online, now plans to expand its Cardiff-based team of 30.
Since its launch in January 2003 it has grown to become the United Kingdon's biggest price comparison site. Last year it generated more than four million quotes.
The company believes it is responsible for 65% of the sales made through insurance comparison sites and people pay an average of pounds 150 on their car insurance and pounds 120 for home contents and buildings insurance.
Confused.com's managing director, Debbie Williams, from Neath, was appointed in January.
She joined the company in September 2005 having worked in business development roles for several IT companies.
She said, 'Confused.com has grown rapidly in just the short time that I have been with the company, generating record profits in the face of staggering demand, expanding its headcount by 40% and launching a home insurance price comparison service in August last year. We've also seen increased interest in our proposition from the insurance provider market, with many big-name brands coming on board in the past 12 months, including Quinn and Swiftcover.'
Predicting intensifying competition, she said, '2006 will likely be a period in which we face increased competition from other online insurance price comparison services looking to adopt our business model.'
The search company works by compiling quotes from the parent companies of most of the UK's various brands.
A spokesman said, 'A lot of people think there are hundreds of insurance companies. But while there are hundreds of brands selling insurance there are actually 40 underlying motor insurers - that is the company that actually underwrites the policy.
'Underlying insurers are split between companies like Admiral and Direct Line who sell direct to the public and companies like Royal Sun Alliance and CGNU who sell direct and through brokers. There are also Lloyds syndicates who can also sell direct and through brokers.'
Henry Engelhardt, Admiral's chief executive, is named in the Sunday Times Rich List as the seventh wealthiest person in Wales.
In the past year his fortune was calculated to have risen from pounds 145m to pounds 240m.
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