In addition, Paymentshield’s sister company Towergate Home & Protect will provide non standard cover products from its panel of RSA, Zurich, Norwich Union and Axa, for clients of Home of Choice intermediaries and Towergate Risk Solutions will provide a commercial service to the Network. The exclusive deal is the first of its kind for both Paymentshield and Towergate and will last for an initial period of three years.
Gerry O’Brien, Chief Executive Officer of Home of Choice, explains: “Our business strategy has been built around a core principle - to remain the number one network for business professionals. We can only do this by constantly reviewing our proposition: all our products and services and other network benefits including seamless technology as well as enhanced development packages.
“Significant volumes of our GI sales are Paymentshield products and our intermediaries have been impressed with their innovation, flexible commission options and professional sales support team. Indeed, intermediaries join Home of Choice because of our technological expertise that allows them to process business far more quickly. Paymentshield has the same technological capability and attitude to innovative technology and this synergy has produced greater volumes of business. In our current market environment, a professional intermediary’s life is all about increasing sales volumes. Appointing Paymentshield as our single GI provider makes commercial sense for our members and we will be working closely with them over the coming months to ensure that all of our members and their clients reap the benefits of this deal.
“Although we have taken a strategic decision to move from a multiple arrangement to single supplier on general insurance products, we have no plans at this moment to seek a similar relationship with a protection provider. The marketplace in 2009 is a vastly different one to 2005 when Home of Choice started and many of our peers have been forced out of the industry. Home of Choice has always placed its focus on intermediaries and face to face advice and that’s why we continue to grow our business in the face of global economic disaster.”
The commercial relationship with Paymentshield means that HOC intermediaries will now have access to Towergate’s other specialised products enhancing the GI proposition for the members.
Stuart Pender, Chief Executive Officer of Paymentshield, said: “We are obviously delighted that Home of Choice selected us for this exclusive deal in the face of fierce competition. The fact that they did choose us is testament to all the hard work we have put in over the past 18 months to improve our overall proposition to the broker community.”
