Celebrating a record year

Celebrating a record year

For the first time in Paymentshield’s 30-year history, we’re on track to reach half a million customers in the first quarter of 2022. It follows 2021 being a record year of growth for us.

Last year we saw over 120,000 new GI sales generated – the most we’ve ever achieved in a single year. On average, we’re seeing 10,000 sales per month, and we finished last year with over 490,000 customers.

Our home insurance sales for first-time buyers and house movers were up 20% and 19% respectively in 2021 compared to the previous year, helped in large by the stamp duty holiday which provided the backdrop for a strong house-buying market.

Over 5% of all our GI quotes for 2021 were generated by advisers who had never previously quoted for a Paymentshield policy – suggesting that advisers are increasingly attempting to recoup lost commission from overlooking GI opportunities. In 2019, we calculated this loss at £47.8 million.

In 2022, we’ve now set our sights on increasing our activity relating to remortgages, looking to capitalise on expert predictions that the remortgage lending market will grow significantly this year. The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association has forecast an increase in remortgage lending from £82bn in 2021 to £89bn in 2022.

Commenting on approaching the new customer milestone and on our performance last year, CEO Rob Evans said:

“This achievement is testament to how resilient Paymentshield and our partners have been throughout another tumultuous year. We have a very solid understanding of what our partners need and want, and crucially, what consumers need – a quality product that doesn’t skimp on cover.

“It’s fantastic to see such considerable growth in the intermediary market as this suggests that consumers are rightly driven by overall value rather than price alone. Indeed, this is reflected in the current performance of comparison sites, which are down on GI sales year on year.

“This year, the expected scale of the remortgage market is a huge opportunity for us. We’ll be working closely with advisers to encourage them to review their remortgage clients’ GI needs. To surpass 100,000 GI sales again this year is something we’re also aspiring for, and would be a monumental achievement given that we don’t have six months of stamp duty holiday in 2022.”