NIG's Thornton steps into MD post as redundancies are expected in London and Peterborough offices

Finsure boss Trevor Brittain has left the premium finance provider, part of Royal Bank of Scotland Insurance, after the business was finally put into run-off.

Brittain, who was appointed managing director of Finsure in July 2005 and also held a number of senior roles within Churchill and NIG, left the company recently to seek new opportunities.

He has been replaced by NIG’s head of personal lines, Ben Thornton, who will also become head of Finsure.

Finsure, a subsidiary of insurer NIG, stopped writing new business and renewals on 1 April and is set to remain in run-off until the end of March 2011.

Last year, RBS Insurance announced proposals to close Finsure – which has around a 6% market share – because of the effect of the recession on lending businesses.

The company did not believe it could sustain a sufficient level of profitable growth. A sale was ruled out because of competition regulations.

The announcement came just days after RBS was told to dispose of its insurance business, including both Direct Line and Churchill, by the government. RBS, however, denied that the two developments were linked.

A spokesman for Finsure said: “As of 1 April 2010, Finsure has ceased accepting new and renewal business, with an expected run-off over a 12-month period to 31 March 2011.

"This decision does not affect NIG’s commercial credit scheme, which will continue its operation as normal."

Up to 80 staff in Finsure’s offices in London and Thorpe Wood, Peterborough, are affected by the move into run-off.

The spokesman said: “While there will sadly be some redundancies, a number of staff have successfully been redeployed into other areas of the business.”

A handful of other premium finance providers, including Close Premium Finance and Premium Credit, are set to compete for Finsure clients.

In February, Close sales director Tim Wilson left the business. The company had conducted a strategic review that led to a decision to split the management roles for personal lines and commercial lines.

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