New Hastings aggregator to make charity donations

Hastings Direct has launched a new insurance comparison site, www.peopleschoice.co.uk, which will make a donation to charity for every policy taken out online.

The website will be the first price comparison site in the UK to donate its profits to charity, the company claims.

In addition to the donation per policy, all other surplus profit will also go to charity.

Neil Utley, Hastings Direct chairman, said: “The new website is the perfect solution for those who want to search for cheaper insurance and do something worthwhile at the same time. By simply choosing to purchase their insurance on People’s Choice rather than a competitor comparison site, customers will be helping to raise money for charity without having to pay a penny more.”

Charities already on board include The Pink Ribbon Foundation, Combat Stress, Global Cool, SASBAH and FACT.

“We are in talks with many charities and selecting them carefully. We are looking for charitable organisations that can be proactive and inventive in their promotion of this new way to raise money at a time when donors are feeling the squeeze," added Utley.

Fiona Mcrae, charity director at Hastings Direct, said: “Charities have really embraced this. If you think of where we can go with this idea, it is tremendously exciting; this is a way for people to shop online and raise money for their favourite charities. In the past charities have been wary of being too closely linked to a particular insurance company - price comparison is the perfect vehicle for this, and as we are not-for-profit, there is no conflict and the charities have opened their doors to us.

“We raise on average £1,000 per week through our Insure Pink brand for the Pink Ribbon Foundation and think that we can multiply this figure with People’s Choice.”

People visiting the site and purchasing their insurance policies will be invited to choose which charity they would like to donate to via a drop down box on screen.

The technology platform is being supplied by Insurance Wide. Its chief executive, James Harrison said: “We have a comparison service that matches the best out there, we deliver great choice, great quotes and a great service for customers. We have been selected to provide our technology to many well known brands including AOL, eBay, Tiscali and Yahoo! but this is something different and we are very excited to be part of the team.’