Engage Mutual Assurance

Engage Mutual Assurance (Homeowners Friendly Society Limited) was a financial products provider based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. It operated as a mutual friendly society with no shareholders, and was owned by its 500,000 members.[1]

Engage Mutual Assurance
Friendly society
SuccessorOneFamily
Founded1980 (as Homeowners Friendly Society)
Defunct2015
Headquarters
Harrogate, North Yorkshire
,
United Kingdom
Area served
UK
Key people
Peter Burrows
(Chief Executive)
Total assets£900 million[1]

In 2015, Engage Mutual merged with Family Investments to become OneFamily, moving its headquarters to Brighton, East Sussex.[2][3]

Products and services

Engage Mutual provided a range of products, with a major emphasis on healthcare. Primary products included over-50s life insurance, health cash plans, tax-exempt savings plans and insurance bonds. It also provided new Child Trust Fund accounts until they were discontinued by the British government in 2011, and replaced with Junior ISAs.

Acquisitions and partnerships

During its 35-year history, Engage Mutual expanded through the acquisition of competitors. In 2010, it bought not-for-profit healthcare provider Provincial Hospital Services Association (PHSA),[4] and part of long-term insurance business Ecclesiastical Life Limited.[5]

It also engineered partnerships with Clydesdale Bank,[6] and its subsidiary Yorkshire Bank, to promote its life cover and tax-exempt savings products, and offered funeral funding options in partnership with The Co-operative Funeralcare.

Merger

In 2014, after gaining the backing of 95% of its members, Engage Mutual announced that it would be merging with Brighton-based Family Investments to create OneFamily, which began trading under its new name from April 1, 2015. Due to the larger operation at the Family Investments headquarters, the business was gradually moved to Brighton, with a full transition scheduled for completion by 2017.[1][2][3]

Sponsorship

Engage Mutual was the title sponsor of Super League, England's top-level rugby league club championship, from 2005 to 2011, taking over from Tetley's Brewery in a deal worth £1.65 million.[7]

It also supported a number of charitable initiatives connected with rugby league, including the RFL Benevolent Fund (also known as Try Assist),[8] which supports those injured while playing the sport.

Locally, Engage Mutual also had an association with Saint Michael’s Hospice in Harrogate.

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See also

References
  1. Job losses in Harrogate as Engage Mutual moves south, Yorkshire Evening Post, 27 February 2015, retrieved 26 April 2016
  2. Mutuals rebrand after merger completion, FT Adviser, 1 April 2015, retrieved 26 April 2016
  3. Engage Mutual and Family Investments become OneFamily, Cover Magazine, 1 April 2015, retrieved 26 April 2016
  4. Engage Mutual buys PHSA, Private Healthcare UK, 25 November 2010, retrieved 26 April 2016
  5. Engage Mutual takes on Ecclesiastical members, FT Adviser, 9 December 2010, archived from the original on 9 May 2016, retrieved 26 April 2016
  6. Over 50s Life Cover Plus, Clydesdale Bank, retrieved 26 April 2016
  7. Super League seals lucrative deal, BBC Sport, 7 February 2005, retrieved 26 April 2016
  8. Champion Steve completes Extreme Challenge, Try Assist, 21 June 2011, retrieved 26 April 2016
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