UK General Insurance has formed a partnership with Thistle Insurance Service to launch a new travel insurance product for British cyclists.
 
The new product will be distributed through British Cycling, the UK’s largest biking organisation that has 126,000 members.
 
“They can struggle to find adequate travel insurance to cover themselves, their bikes and equipment for cycling events,” said Nick Rawlings, UK General’s strategy and innovation director.
 
Thistle Insurance Services, which is owned by Jardine Lloyd Thompson, worked with British Cycling to find a bespoke product and platform to meet cyclists’ niche requirements.
 
“We knew we had to find an agile insurance partner who could not only underwrite the product but also provide the technological expertise to deliver this to the market rapidly,” said Chris Barclay, head of affinity and direct at Thistle.
 
For UK General, the partnership with Thistle shows the insurance firm’s transition into a business with a string of digital offers to clients.
 
“We’ve been working hard over the past 12 months to create a digital distribution business that complements our underwriting expertise, and benefits affinity partners and broker organisations,” Rawlings said.
 
“We’re very pleased with its performance to date and we look forward to making digital a growth engine for UK General in the affinity market.”
 
 
Related stories:
Insurer warns: Bike thieves hitting UK homes
QBE bike event raises over £67,000 for breast cancer victims