COMPANY PROFILE: JLT Online

Can you tell us about JLT?
Cycleguard is a key specialist insurance offering from JLT Online – a division of Jardine Lloyd Thompson UK, which is a subsidiary of JLT Group –a FTSE 250 company and the UK’s fifth largest insurance broker.

What can Cycleguard offer the average cycle retailer?
Through our Cycleguard Affiliate Scheme – which is free to join – we offer a service that provides easy additional revenue for retailers and a value added benefit to the store’s customers. The scheme is endorsed by ACT and is in place with almost 1,000 UK cycle retailers. There’s no need for any staff to ‘sell’ or discuss the insurance and we are always careful to ensure the scheme supports the retailer’s core business.

In the next few weeks we will also be launching our online Cycle Shop Insurance which will provide cycle retailers with an opportunity to buy their business insurance through our sister brand Insurantz.com.

What in-store material do you offer IBDs to get customers interested?
We provide the retailer with material for website and ‘in-store’ promotion. This includes website banners, posters, POS leaflets and dispensers.

Can you describe how offering this scheme benefits the retailer?
The Cycleguard Affiliate Scheme provides a number of benefits to the cycle retailer, most notably for their bottom line. Promotional leaflets and website banners carry a code unique to the retailer which tracks every policy that customers buy.

Commission is paid on premiums on result of your promotion. Another benefit is that in the unfortunate event of one of their customers requiring a bike replacement as a result of making a claim on their policy, Cycleguard looks to place that business back with the original store – so the store gets a ‘second bite of the cherry’.

What has feedback been like from current JLT retail partners?
We have a lot of satisfied retailers, who are benefiting from the revenue our referral system has created.

One of our most successful retailers, Putney Cycles, commented: “Over the past two years we’ve earned financial benefit by simply displaying Cycleguard leaflets in our London store. The insurance really suits our customers. We have a great working relationship and continue to reap the revenue benefits for minimum effort.”

How’s business?
Our business continues to grow year-on-year and, despite the bleak economic outlook, we are confident that will continue. We are excited about the addition of our Online Cycle Shop Insurance and believe many of our partners will benefit from this.

Why is specialist insurance important to the cyclist?
Home insurers might limit the amount of cover provided for bikes taken out of the home and many would be unable to offer ‘non-standard’ cover options, e.g. custom built bikes, cover while competing in trials, in-vehicle cover. So we are able to pick up where many household insurers leave off.