I'm interested in finding out as much as I can about the online
insurance market in the UK.  Specifically, I'd like a list of the
top 10 or so big insurers/brokers and the names they trade under; (for
example screentrade.co.uk being an online trading arm of Lloyds-TSB
Insurance); which type of insurance they offer (motor, travel, home
etc.); any ideas as to the amount of business they do / market share
etc.

I would like any information you can find about the volume of offline
as well as online business – and any discussion as to what their
online/offline targets may be. I appreciate that specific trading
details might be difficult to ascertain as I'm sure they guard details
quite carefully - but any discussion in the press, stock market
releases, trade publications etc would be very useful.

Also, any details as to which types of insurance are most profitable,
which are growing etc would help me a great deal.

Basically, I need to get clued up on the market in the shortest
possible time – and I need your help.

Please note that at this time I am ONLY interested in the UK insurance
industry.

Good Day, dgster-ga

Searching www.google.com with terms "online insurance" +UK +market, I
found a site which seems to provide the information you need.

A complete list of online insurance companies in the UK is offered at
a site by UK-Insurance.  I have clicked on a few of these companies to
discover whether they do, indeed, offer online service, and they do. 
For www.chubb.com, I did notice that I had to go to their E-solutions
category.  That might be the case with some of these, but the on-line
service appears to be available on the all the companies I entered.

http://uk-insurance.org.uk/ukinsurancelist.html
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The next website offers:

"Finance 2002 Report analyzing the current size ... their businesses
in the online insurance ... a
serious competitor in this market ... provides unbiased analysis of
the UK ... "
Looks like a site with much analysis of the online insurance industry,
but it is too expensive as you'll notice.  Some of the reports I
clicked wanted $995 for the full report....probably has corporate
purchasers of these articles rather than individuals.

http://www.datamonitor.com/~729fb3fa18d444f19aaa70d7f028d07f~/financial/reports/product_summary.asp?pid=BE_211
*****************************************
The next website offers interesting details in an article titled "The
Future of European Insurance. For example,:

"Can traditional insurance intermediaries repel the familiarthreats of
bancassurance and direct selling, and the emerging threat from
eCommerce"
http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:46SGcEB134wC:www.ciilo.org/research/rbi/rbfs0030m.pdf+%22online+insurance%22+%2BUK+%2Bmarket+size&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

********************************************************
Another interesting site that discusses the massive UK insurance
business also mentions online insurance, but no lists:

"online insurance is likely to grow as more and more people become
acclimatised to this method of insurance buying and as the insurers
put in place the necessary technical initiatives. "

"Technologically, there are many changes taking place in the insurance
industry. Online insurance is growing, as IT is becoming increasingly
important and outsourcing is being seen as a sensible option to deal
with the challenges of the market in the future."
"Key Note estimates that the total UK insurance market will grow by
35.3% between 2001 and 2006 and that long-term insurance will grow by
39.8%."
"2001  MARKET LEADERS 
Income (£m), 1999  
Aegon UK PLC 
Provincial Holdings PLC) 
Barclays Life Assurance Company Ltd 
BUPA Ltd 
CGNU PLC 
Cornhill Insurance PLC 
Credit Suisse First Boston 
Direct Line Insurance PLC 
Society 
GE Insurance Holdings Ltd 
Legal & General PLC 
Lloyds TSB Group PLC 
Society Ltd 
Prudential Assurance PLC 
Group PLC 
Standard Life Assurance Company 
Zurich Financial Services "

http://www.the-list.co.uk/acatalog/kn66011.html
******************************************

At the Reuters site, the expansion of ECommerce insurance is
discussed:

"Insurers Are Reaping Benefits of an Emerging Single European
Insurance Market
According to a report produced by Datamonitor for Reuters Business
Insight, The Future of European Insurance, cross border activity is
leading to the emergence of a single European market for insurance.

Key findings* to emerge from the report reveal:

ECommerce in European insurance is set for rapid expansion "
**
Table 1: Evolution of online insurance markets in Europe, 1999

Country   
 % who have work & home Internet access
 % who have requested a quote* 
 % likely to quote online in future* 
 Online insurance quote requesting population (000s)
 
UK 
 29% 
 9% 
 47% 
 1,224
 

http://www.mad.co.uk/reports/story/reuters.asp?ID=RE0022

*************************************************
dgster-ga,
This is by no means a long list of websites, but a sample that
provides the kind of information you are seeking.
For an exhausting review of this business, just start a search with:
www.google.com with terms "online insurance" +UK +market,
and you will be overwhelmed with websites and information.


Brad-ga