Virgin Money will offer life insurance in Australia, expanding on its superannuation and credit card offers early next year. Virgin Money will deliver life insurance through a freshly minted alliance with TOWER Australia.
Virgin Money already offers car insurance in Australia, but adds life insurance through its alliance with TOWER as the company progresses towards its goal of offering a wide range of financial services products in Australia.
Managing Director of Virgin Money Australia, Matt Baxby speaking in Sydney this morning hinted that life insurance will be at the core of a broader insurance offering for Virgin Money in 2011.
“Our new partnership with TOWER Australia is good news for the insurance sector and better news for Australian consumers. I see a lot of opportunity for Virgin Money in this sector given that research shows 95 percent of families in Australia don’t have adequate insurance cover. Ensuring life insurance is accessible to more Australians will be at the core of our product offering early next year.”
TOWER Australia’s Managing Director, Jim Minto, sees this as a beneficial relationship for both Virgin Money and TOWER Australia.
“There is no doubt that Virgin Money will be highly attractive to sections of the Australian community and now, through this partnership, consumers will be able to obtain wealth protection through life insurance in a simple and easy format. It’s a part of our overall plan to ensure greater accessibility of life insurance to everyday Australians and this also fits in with the company’s growth strategy. With TOWER Australia at the forefront of the Australian life insurance market and with Virgin’s brand power – I’m confident this is a winning formula.” he said.
Virgin Money will lend its brand, customer service and marketing expertise to the alliance, while TOWER Australia will manufacture the life insurance products and provide the ongoing infrastructure to manage all policies. There is no word yet whether the Virgin Money alliance with TOWER Australia will deliver life insurance products tailored for businesses to offer their employees, however if Virgin Money’s history is any indication the Virgin Money life insurance product will be predominantly a direct to consumer play for the financial services company.
