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Direct Line
Direct Line is an insurance company based in Bromley, England. Founded in 1985, as the country's first direct car insurance company, it has since expanded to offer a range of general insurance products. Its policies are underwritten by the regulated subsidiary UK Insurance Limited, and it is owned by the Direct Line Group. Company history Founded in Croydon by Martin Long and Peter Wood with £20 million from the Royal Bank of Scotland, Direct Line sold its first motor insurance policy in 1985. It was the first insurance company in the United Kingdom to underwrite using computers and sell insurance directly by telephone, thus removing the need for a broker and reducing costs. The company was also the first insurer in the United Kingdom to open its office in the evenings and weekends, and the first to offer a twenty four hour helpline. In 1988, it started to sell home insurance. Direct Line is renowned for having transformed financial services in the United Kingdom.(1 Mar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insurance
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent or uncertain loss. An entity which provides insurance is known as an insurer, insurance company, insurance carrier, or underwriter. A person or entity who buys insurance is known as a policyholder, while a person or entity covered under the policy is called an insured. The insurance transaction involves the policyholder assuming a guaranteed, known, and relatively small loss in the form of a payment to the insurer (a premium) in exchange for the insurer's promise to compensate the insured in the event of a covered loss. The loss may or may not be financial, but it must be reducible to financial terms. Furthermore, it usually involves something in which the insured has an insurable interest established by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Bank Of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Scotland has around 700 branches, mainly in Scotland, though there are branches in many larger towns and cities throughout England and Wales. The bank is completely separate from the fellow Edinburgh-based bank, the Bank of Scotland, which pre-dates the Royal Bank by 32 years. The Royal Bank of Scotland was established in 1724 to provide a bank with strong Hanoverian and Whig ties. Following ring-fencing of the Group's core domestic business, the bank became a direct subsidiary of NatWest Holdings in 2019. NatWest Markets comprises the Group's investment banking arm. To give it legal form, the former RBS entity was renamed NatWest Markets in 2018; at the same time Adam and Company (which held a separate PRA banking ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Financial Services Authority
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) was a quasi-judicial body accountable for the financial regulation, regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2013. It was founded as the Securities and Investments Board (SIB) in 1985. Its board was appointed by the HM Treasury, Treasury, although it operated independently of government. It was structured as a company limited by guarantee and was funded entirely by fees charged to the financial services industry. Due to perceived regulatory failure of the banks during the financial crisis of 2007–2008, the Cameron–Clegg coalition, UK government decided to restructure financial regulation and abolish the FSA. On 19 December 2012, the ''Financial Services Act 2012'' received royal assent, abolishing the FSA with effect from 1 April 2013. Its responsibilities were then split between two new agencies: the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority (United Kingdom), Prudent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Green Flag
Green Flag or Green Flag Rescue, is a British roadside assistance and vehicle recovery provider, which is part of the Direct Line Group. Formed in 1971, as the National Breakdown Recovery Club, as an alternative to the AA and RAC, it used a network of local garages and mechanics to deliver recovery and repair services, instead of patrolling mechanics. Originally based in Low Moor, Bradford, their operations are now controlled in Operations Centres in Leeds and Glasgow, within the Direct Line Group. History Green Flag started as an idea between two friends, Bob Slicer and Jeffery Pittock, in a pub in Bradford. At the time, the AA and RAC were well established, and offered assistance at the roadside. Slicer and Pittock's National Breakdown Recovery Club operated under a different model, using a network of garages and mechanics that would recover and fix members' cars. The mechanics' local knowledge was meant to provide a swifter response to calls, than the established competit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Churchill Insurance
Churchill Insurance is a British insurance company based in Bromley, London. Founded in 1989, as one of the country's first direct to customer car insurance companies, the company has expanded to offer a range of general insurance products. Since February 2012, Churchill is part of the Direct Line Group; policies are underwritten by the parent United Kingdom Insurance Limited. Churchill is notable for its advertising that features a talking nodding dog mascot. 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. Home insurance was added to the Churchill product range a year later. In 1994, the company began to use a bulldog as its mascot. In 1995, Churchill launched its first website, and a credit card. It also became the first United Kingdom insurer to offer motor insurance estimates via interactive media kiosks. In 1996, Churchill achieved ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RBS Group
NatWest Group plc is a British banking and insurance holding company, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The group operates a wide variety of banking brands offering personal and business banking, private banking, investment banking, insurance and corporate finance. In the United Kingdom, its main subsidiary companies are National Westminster Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, NatWest Markets and Coutts. The group issues banknotes in Scotland and Northern Ireland; , the Royal Bank of Scotland was the only bank in the UK to still print £1 notes. Before the 2008 collapse and the general financial crisis, the Group was very briefly the largest bank in the world, and for a period was the second-largest bank in the UK and Europe and the fifth-largest in the world by market capitalisation. Subsequently, with a slumping share price and major loss of confidence, the bank fell sharply in the rankings, although in 2009 it was briefly the world's largest company by both assets (£1.9 trillion) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unit Trust
A unit trust is a form of collective investment constituted under a trust deed. A unit trust pools investors' money into a single fund, which is managed by a fund manager. Unit trusts offer access to a wide range of investments, and depending on the trust, it may invest in securities such as shares, bonds, gilts, and also properties, mortgage and cash equivalents. Those investing in the trust own "units" whose price is called the "net asset value" (NAV). The number of these units is not fixed and when more is invested in a unit trust (by investors opening accounts or adding to their accounts), more units are created. In addition to the UK, trusts are found in Fiji, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Guernsey, Jersey, New Zealand, Australia, Kenya, Uganda, Namibia, South Africa, Singapore, Malaysia and Zimbabwe. History The first unit trust was launched in the UK in 1931 by M&G under the inspiration of Ian Fairbairn. The rationale behind the launch was to emulate the comparative robu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Personal Equity Plan
A personal equity plan (PEP) was a form of tax-privileged investment account in the United Kingdom, available between 1986 and 1999. History The plans were introduced by Nigel Lawson in the 1986 budget to encourage equity ownership among the wider population. PEPs were allowed to contain collective investments such as unit trusts. The ''single company PEP'', which was allowed to contain shares of a single company, was introduced in 1992. PEPs were superseded by individual savings accounts in 1999, and remaining accounts were converted to individual savings accounts in 2008. Types and privileges Growth in a PEP was free from capital gains tax within the fund and on encashment. Income was free from income tax. There were two types of PEP: the "general PEP" with an annual allowance of £6,000 and the "single company PEP" with an annual allowance of £3,000. Investments in a general PEP were limited to qualifying collective investments. Qualifying investments had at least half of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Life Insurance
Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer or assurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death of an insured person (often the policyholder). Depending on the contract, other events such as terminal illness or critical illness can also trigger payment. The policyholder typically pays a premium, either regularly or as one lump sum. The benefits may include other expenses, such as funeral expenses. Life policies are legal contracts and the terms of each contract describe the limitations of the insured events. Often, specific exclusions written into the contract limit the liability of the insurer; common examples include claims relating to suicide, fraud, war, riot, and civil commotion. Difficulties may arise where an event is not clearly defined, for example, the insured knowingly incurred a risk by consenting to an experimental m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. Since 2018, the paper's main news ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Campaign Magazine
''Campaign'' is a global business magazine covering advertising, media, marketing and commercial creativity. Headquartered in the UK, it also has editions in the US, Asia-Pacific, India, the Middle East and Turkey. ''Campaign'' is published by Haymarket Media Group, which owns more than 70 brands worldwide, including ''FourFourTwo'', ''Stuff'', '' Autocar'', ''What Car?'' and ''PRWeek''. Overview ''Campaign'' publishes a monthly print magazine in the UK as well as daily news and analysis on its websites: campaignlive.co.uk, campaignlive.com, campaignasia.com, campaignindia.in, campaignme.com, and campaigntr.com. Each spring ''Campaign'' releases its School Reports, an assessment of how the biggest advertising agencies performed over the past year. In December, as part of its Annual issue, it names the top agencies, advertising and media networks, advertisers, campaigns, media, and production companies of the year. ''Campaign'' also publishes the A-List, a directory of leading ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pulp Fiction
''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhames, and Uma Thurman, it tells several stories of crime in Los Angeles, California. The title refers to the pulp magazines and hardboiled crime novels popular during the mid-20th century, known for their graphic violence and punchy dialogue. Tarantino wrote ''Pulp Fiction'' in 1992 and 1993, incorporating scenes that Avary originally wrote for ''True Romance'' (1993). Its plot occurs out of chronological order. The film is also self-referential from its opening moments, beginning with a title card that gives two dictionary definitions of "pulp". Considerable screen time is devoted to monologues and casual conversations with eclectic dialogue revealing each character's perspectives on several subjects, and the film features an ironic combina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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