Privilege Insurance

Founded in 1994, Privilege Insurance is another of the successful insurance brands to have come out of the Peter Wood dynasty. Famed for revolutionising the insurance market in 1985 with the introduction of the first direct insurer (Direct Line Insurance), Peter Wood went on the launch Privilege Insurance, before moving on to start up Esure Insurance in 1999.

Privilege Insurance was launched with the help of The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC (The RBS Group) - also a backer of Direct Line Insurance. In fact, Direct Line underwrite the insurance business for the Privilege Insurance brand. This also extends to the breakdown cover (sold as a stand alone product and included in the Privilege Car Insurance policy) which is provided by Green Flag Motoring Assist (also a Direct Line company).

The initial aim of Privilege Insurance was to cater for "non-standard" customers i.e. those who have historically been forced to pay higher than average premiums. This could be because of the driver profile or the car they drive. In serving the needs of their customers, Privilege Insurance will look at these details careful to provide a competitive quote, based on their knowledge and assumptions about non-standard risks.

Nowadays, Privilege Insurance is famed for providing competitive quotes to drivers with a good no claims bonus history (drivers holding 4 or more years no claims bonus). The strength of the infamous Privilege Insurance advertising campaigns (fronted by Joanna Lumley) has seen the Privilege Insurance brand become a household name.

Privilege Insurance is underwritten by Direct Line Insurance plc. Direct Line in turn is part of UK Insurance Limited (the insurance division of the RBS Group). This puts Privilege Insurance in the same stable of UK insurance brand names such as Churchill Insurance, Prudential Insurance and Tesco Insurance.