Devitt Insurance Services is a British privately owned

insurance broker An insurance broker is an intermediary who sells, solicits, or negotiates insurance on behalf of a client for compensation. An insurance broker is distinct from an insurance agent in that a broker typically acts on behalf of a client by negoti ...

based in

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

, England founded in 1936. , Devitt had circa 130,000 customers, and employed around 130 staff. Devitt is an

specialising in

vehicle insurance Vehicle insurance (also known as car insurance, motor insurance, or auto insurance) is insurance for automobile, cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other road vehicles. Its primary use is to provide financial protection against physical damage or bo ...

for

cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

vans Vans (originally called the Van Doren Rubber Company) is an American apparel, accessories, and skateboarding shoes brand, established in Anaheim, California, and owned by VF Corporation. The company also sponsors surf, snowboarding, BMX, and ...

and

motorcycles A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

, but also arranges

home insurance Home insurance, also commonly called homeowner's insurance (often abbreviated in the US real estate industry as HOI), is a type of property insurance that covers a private residence. It is an insurance policy that combines various personal insur ...

and

business insurance Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessari ...

. They compare quotes from a panel of

underwriters Underwriting (UW) services are provided by some large financial institutions, such as banks, insurance companies and investment houses, whereby they guarantee payment in case of damage or financial loss and accept the financial risk for liability ...

, which includes

Ageas Ageas is a Belgian multinational insurance company co-headquartered in Brussels. Ageas is Belgium's largest insurer and operates in 13 countries worldwide. The company was renamed from Fortis Holding in April 2010 and consists of those insuranc ...

Aviva Aviva plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It has about 19 million customers across its core markets of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada. In the United Kingdom, Aviva is the largest general ...

, KGM, LV and

Sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

History

Devitt's roots began with Thomas Henry Devitt who founded

Devitt and Moore Devitt and Moore was a British shipping company formed by Thomas Henry Devitt and Joseph Moore in 1836. They became shipowners and entered the passenger and cargo trade to Australia managing and owning many clipper ships such as and . With the a ...

in 1836. His grandson Howson Foulger Devitt formed the company that would eventually become Devitt Insurance Services. In 1936, the Devitt 'DU' motorcycle was launched. It was an innovative idea to sell motorcycle insurance through motorcycle dealers. It allowed customers to ride away from the dealers on their motorcycle on the same day. The scheme was launched in conjunction with "H.P." Motor Policies at Lloyd's. Devitt 'DU' changes to Devitt 'DA' (Dealers Association) in 1955 and made a massive impact on marketing campaigns for years to come. 1965 saw the creation of Devitt Langton & Dawnay Day Ltd, formed as a holding company for the Devitt broking interests. This meant a shareholding in Langton Underwriting Agencies at Lloyd's and backed by Dawnay Day, a small merchant bank. The holding company established in 1965 changed its name to Devitt Group Ltd in 1979, due to the expansion of the Devitt broking operations, the sale of the Langton interests and the demise of Dawnay Day. Steel Burrill Jones Group plc (SBJ) purchased Devitt Group Ltd in 1989. In 1990, Devitt Insurance Services Ltd was formed, merging the personal lines and affinity group business which had been developed within the Devitt Group Ltd by its subsidiary companies; Howson F Devitt & Sons Ltd, Devitt DA and Double Cox Tyrie. Churchill acquired Devitt Insurance Services in 1999. In 2003,

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Sco ...

bought Churchill group, including Devitt, for £1.1 billion. Keep Britain Biking (KBB) is an online biking community site launched in 2010 and sponsored by Devitt Insurance. Devitt Insurance completed a management buy-out in 2011 and was owned by William Hughes (Managing Director) and Tony Chapman (Finance Director). Following this, Devitt bought Screentrade from

Lloyds TSB Lloyds Bank plc is a major British retail and commercial bank with a significant presence across England and Wales. It has traditionally been regarded one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Established in Birmingham in 1765, Lloyds Bank e ...

. Devitt were arranging car insurance for Screentrade whilst they were both owned by Lloyds. Screentrade was one of the first online insurance/brokers comparison sites. 2016 marked the 80th anniversary of Devitt arranging motorcycle insurance for UK bikers. In 2017, Devitt sponsored the "As Seen From The Sidecar" team who circumnavigated the globe in 18 months raising awareness on

modern slavery Contemporary slavery, also sometimes known as modern slavery or neo-slavery, refers to institutional slavery that continues to exist in the 21st century. Estimates of the number of enslaved people range from around 38 million to 49.6 million, d ...

in their

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

scooter and sidecar. In 2018 Devitt worked with road safety charity

Brake A brake is a machine, mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for Acceleration, slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of ...

to sponsor their Road Safety Week campaign. In February 2022, Devitt was purchased by Gallagher for an undisclosed sum. William Hughes and Tony Chapman, who oversaw the management buyout from the Royal Bank of Scotland in 2011, have remained with the business. As Seen From The Sidecar

Gordon Stuart, also known as "The Arctic Rider", has been sponsored by Devitt since 2014 Stuart holds fundraising rides on his motorbike to raise money for charity, including riding the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

in 2014, Iron Butt Challenge in 2016 and a Dalton Highway challenge in summer 2018. Other brands include Screentrade, which arranges car, van and motorbike insurance. With offices in Romford and

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

, Devitt has around 130 members of staff.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Keep Britain Biking
Financial services companies established in 1936 Insurance companies of the United Kingdom 1936 establishments in the United Kingdom