History
Churchill Insurance was launched by founder Martin Long in June 1989 as a direct car insurance provider. Long was backed by Winterthur, at that time a Credit Suisse subsidiary. One of Long’s early team members, Henry Engelhardt, went on to found Admiral. Home insurance was added to the Churchill product range a year later.
The company grew over the next few years and in October 1993 signed a three-year deal to sponsor the World Indoor Bowls Championship. It began the use of a bulldog as the company's mascot in 1994. A year later Churchill launched its first website and a credit card. It also became the first UK insurer to offer motor insurance estimates via interactive media kiosks. In 1996 Churchill was awarded Investors in People and ISO9002 accreditation. This was also the year that the nodding dog was introduced to its advertising. A new product was also launched in the shape of breakdown cover, provided in association with Green Flag.
Churchill Insurance was named in Britain’s Best Employers for the first time in 1997, the year the company moved to its current headquarters, Churchill Court. Travel insurance and pet insurance products were also introduced. Motorcycle insurance broker Devitt Insurance was acquired in 1999. The company also launched its first e-commerce facility, enabling online car and home insurance quotes. The following year it acquired the Churchill.com name for online activity and acquired NIG. 2000 also saw it win its first Your Money Awards and it became shirt sponsors of Crystal Palace FC, the football team Martin Long supported and would eventually share the chairmanship of.
Churchill bought Prudential’s insurance business in 2002 before being purchased by the Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) for £1.1bn the following year. This brought Churchill into RBS' insurance division alongside Direct Line – another company Long had been involved in launching.
In 2006 the high profile "Challenge Churchill" campaign was launched, involving the people of Britain challenging the brand mascot to find them cheaper car and home insurance. A new look website went live in October 2008. The following year the company adopted a new strapline: "Count on Churchill". Television adverts were launched featuring the Churchill dog alongside celebrities including Rolf Harris CBE and Roy Walker. Martin Clunes has been a regular companion of Churchill in recent years, with Clunes taking the dog in his motorbikes sidecar and threatening to bath the dog after finding shampoo in a magazine.
Following the bail-out of RBS by the UK government in 2008, the EU demanded that certain Group assets be sold off, including the company's insurance division. Churchill became part of the new Direct Line Group in early 2012, which was created ahead of the planned divestment.
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