Virgin has entered the general insurance market with offerings for pet, car, home and travel insurance.

The company said this was the first wholly-owned Virgin offering and called it the start of an exciting new chapter in Virgin Money's development.

Virgin Money insurance products are underwritten by UK Insurance.

Through aggressive pricing and scrapping interest charges for monthly instalments, Virgin said it was able to offer customers up to a 48% reduction on their car insurance premiums and up to a 40% reduction on home insurance.

It said additional discounts would be available to customers who already had insurance policies with Virgin Money.

The policies will be sold direct through phone and internet sales.

The Virgin Group took full control of Virgin Money last month after financial services group HHG sold its 50% stake in the group for £90m.