Amazon is getting into the insurance business by launching a home insurance comparison portal in Britain.

Called Amazon Insurance Store, the service shows shoppers quotes for policies from third-party insurance providers including Ageas and Co-op.

The tech giant has signed up three big-name insurers as it pushes further into financial services across the globe.

Ageas UK, Co-op, and LV= General Insurance, a unit of German insurer Allianz, will provide third-party services initially, Amazon said on Wednesday, and it hopes to add more insurers ‘early next year’.

The Jeff Bezos-owned firm will compete with comparison sites like Uswitch, Compare the Market and GoCompare.

The new portal will also include customer reviews and ratings on insurance companies and the rate at which the claims were accepted for policies offered, Amazon said.

Last year, 29.4% of UK consumers bought household insurance through price comparison sites in Britain, according to analytics firm GlobalData.

Insurers worry that tech firms will steal a march on their business, and are keen to partner with them, offering them commissions for selling their products.

The Amazon portal was ‘an exciting move for the industry’, said Simon Hird, partnerships director at LV= General Insurance.

The site would give insurance customers more choice over how they buy cover, said Charles Offord, managing director, Co-op Insurance, while Ageas UK CEO Ant Middle said the insurance market needed ‘new and progressive digital distribution platforms’ like Amazon.

Last year, Amazon partnered with Lloyd’s broker Superscript to offer insurance to small and medium-sized UK business customers. It also launched a buy-now-pay-later scheme in Britain with Barclays.

It started offering motor insurance in India in 2020 and also provides product warranty insurance in Europe.

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