8m launch for Boots’ new in-store insurance products

Boots the Chemist is launching health and travel insurance policies in a tie-up with Royal & Sun Alliance.

The scheme, which launches in mid-April, will offer instant insurance cover. Customers fill in a policy form, pay for it at the till and receive instant cover.

The launch will be supported by an 8m marketing spend, which will include TV advertising, through

J Walter Thompson, appearing in June. Press ads will begin at the end of April. There will also be direct mailings, using the mailing list of the Boots Advantage Card, and in-store promotions.

Royal & Sun Alliance will carry the insurance risk and supply the underwriting and claims services. The product will be Boots-branded, and the chemist chain will look after the retail and marketing side of the business.

There are five health cover options: family health, pregnancy, dental, child injury and accident. Travel insurance is available in four categories: gap-year travel, annual travel, single-trip travel and winter travel.

The scheme also offers the unique service of flying a relative out to a policy holder who is being held in a foreign prison.