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Local employer, Fortis Life UK nominated for more awards!

17th August 2009

The only way is up for this successful local business

Reigate based employer Fortis Life UK has been short-listed for two awards at the ifs Financial Innovation Awards1, a prestigious event in the financial services calendar. Winners will be announced on Thursday 3 December at the Grand Connaught Rooms in Covent Garden.

Fortis' unique protection propositions, YourLife Plan and Real Life Cover, have been nominated in the 'Most Effective Insurance Initiative or New Product' category. These innovative products address the protection gap by creating affordable solutions that address real customer needs, with the aim of increasing consumer confidence and trust in the life protection industry.

The second nomination, 'Most Innovative Application of Technology for Employee / Systems' recognises Fortis' eBusiness Model, which harnesses the latest technology to empower financial advisers and help them improve the efficiency of their new business processing.

Since opening its new Head Office in Reigate in May 2009 - which now houses over 100 employees - Fortis has celebrated a successful first year of trading in the life protection market, has been recognised as the 'Best Protection Newcomer' by The Financial Technology and Research Centre, and has received 'The Innovation Award 2009' for its Real Life Cover proposition at the recent Protection Review.

Commenting on being a finalist, Martin Werth, Managing Director of Fortis Life UK said:

I am absolutely delighted with the positive response that our products and services have generated among distributors and customers alike. The ifs nominations provide further recognition of the fact that we are delivering on our promise - to provide innovative solutions that challenge the market and meet the real needs of our customers. I look forward to the outcome of the awards in December.

Notes to editors

1The ifs Financial Innovation Awards are held by the ifs School of Finance, an international organisation incorporated by Royal Charter, providing qualifications to the financial services industry since 1879. Today the ifs School of Finance has over 80,000 students in 100 countries.

About Fortis

Fortis UK is a leading provider of award-winning personal and commercial lines insurance solutions in the UK. Fortis UK has two main divisions, manufacturing both non-life and life products, which are distributed through a range of channels including brokers, IFAs, intermediaries, affinity partners and the Internet, as well as various wholly or partially-owned companies (RIAS, Fortis Insurance Solutions, Affinity Solutions Ltd, Text2Insure and InsureTECH Systems).

In previous years Fortis has been awarded the following accolades by the Financial Services body:

• 'Most Promising New Product' 2008 - awarded for the insurer's launch of an innovative 'reverse auction' price comparison website.
• 'Most Effective Insurance Initiative' 2007 - awarded for the insurer's continuous improvement of customer service through a new initiative with its motor claims suppliers.
• 'Most Innovative Application of Technology' 2007 - awarded for the insurer's innovative introduction of SMS technology in the sale of travel insurance.

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About Fortis

Fortis (Insurance UK) is a leading provider of award-winning personal and commercial lines insurance solutions in the UK. Fortis UK provides both non-life and life products, distributed through a range of channels including brokers, IFAs, intermediaries, affinity partners and the Internet, as well as through its retail strategy via its wholly or partially-owned companies (RIAS, Fortis Insurance Solutions, Affinity Solutions Ltd, Text2Insure and InsureTECH Systems).

Insuring in excess of 6.7 million customers and working with a range of partners, Fortis is recognised for delivering consistent and high-quality customer experiences. It employs almost 3,000 people with a head office based in Eastleigh and others in Belfast, Bournemouth, Gloucester, Haywards Heath, London, Redditch, and Stoke-on-Trent. In 2008, its non-life profit before tax and interest was GBP 76 million and its non-life GWP was GBP 760 million.

Fortis (Insurance UK) is part of Fortis Insurance International, a global insurance group of significant scale with over EUR14bn turnover, 20 million customers and 10,000 employees worldwide.

Press Contacts:

Fortis Press Office, Tel: 023 8035 2754, E: press.uk@fortis-uk.com