The New York firm will be called Unemployment Vanguard.
British Money director Simon Burgess will shut down the UK firm and set up a new one in the New York because of the tarnished reputation of payment protection insurance.
British Money, which was established in 1896, has applied to deregister its Financial Conduct Authority permissions and Burgess said he is looking at interest from banks to take ownership of the company.
Burgess’ New York firm will be called Unemployment Vanguard and provide unemployment insurance which will be distributed by affiliates.
He said: “I am committed to unemployment insurance and I think it has a lot of merit, but the reputation of PPI is so tarnished in the UK that no credit provider is brave enough to go anywhere near it. It’s different in the states and people know they need support if they lose their job.
“Because of what the FCA has done there is a free-for-all with claims management companies. We have had to pay tens of thousands of pounds in fees despite being completely innocent so we have decided to go to an economy that is five times the size to exploit an opportunity which is substantially bigger.”
Burgess is hoping to fully deregister British Money by February and start up Unemployment Vanguard in spring, which will have the domain name www.uv.com
The new firm will have a management team of 12, consisting of friends and family including Burgess’ wife Sara-Ann Burgess.
Simon Burgess’ daughter and son including fellow British Money director Alexander Burgess will not join the team or be a shareholder.
Simon Burgess is currently looking for a suitable buyer for British Money, which was formerly called the British Life Office.
He added: “There is interest from new banking entrants – British Money would be a great name for a bank.
“It’s a dormant company but we will sell if we get a sensible offer.”
