Staysure buys ROCK Insurance Group

According to Staysure’s CEO Ryan Howsam, the deal will be ‘mutually beneficial’, allowing both companies to expand their customer bases and giving Staysure access to the products and services in which Rock specialises. Although the exact figure has not been disclosed, it has been reported that it is ‘in the tens of millions of pounds’, and will increase Staysure’s customer base to over four million people.

Howsam has demonstrated his confidence that the travel market will bounce back after Covid, and with it, the travel insurance sector. He believes that people need the peace of mind that travel insurance provides now more than ever: “We have seen across the industry that the numbers of people using travel insurance have almost doubled on pre-Covid levels,” he said, “and that will continue.” in the week following the UK Government’s announcement that travel will be opening up to more destinations from the end of July and the loosening of quarantine requires for those who have received both vaccinations, Staysure stated that there was a spike in travel insurance sales of around 60 per cent week-on-week.

Bringing travel insurance businesses together

Speaking on the deal, Howsam stated: “Bringing our businesses together … allows us to dominate across both B2B and B2C arenas offering quality innovative policies to a much wider range of consumers. ROCK captures sections of the market which Staysure currently doesn’t operate in, so this new partnership continues to cement our strategic growth plans. We’re extremely excited to be working with the ROCK team and exploring new opportunities to grow and expand our businesses together.”

ROCK Insurance Group, which began trading in 2001, provides technology-led partnership solutions to travel and financial services companies such as budget airline Jet2, OnTheBeach and Tesco Bank, with a focus on travel, gadget and commercial insurance. It will continue to be managed as a standalone business under the leadership of current Managing Director, Antony Martin, who said of the deal: “We are delighted to be joining the Staysure Group in a synergistic partnership that combines our knowledge and expertise. We have invested heavily in technology and growing our customer base but this strategic move will allow us to grow the business faster and increase market share. I will continue to run the company with my team but look forward to evolving it further in a partnership that all our customers will benefit from.”

With a competitive market and downward pressure on pricing, despite the demand for insurance increasing, questions remain over the longevity of some of the smaller travel insurance providers. And what effect will this deal have on the variety of policies out in the market? It will be interesting to watch the long-term effects of this deal play out in the marketplace. ITIJ will be sure to bring you more analysis soon.