Fortis confirms January date for protection rebrand

Fortis has confirmed its UK protection operation will be renamed Ageas from January.

The move is part of a phased approach to the rebranding which sees the provider's general insurance arm now under the new name.

All changes are expected to be complete by the end of the first quarter of 2011, following the approval of shareholders earlier in the year to adopt the new name reflecting the company's status as a standalone global insurance group after the disposal of its banking assets in 2009.

Speaking earlier to COVER, Martin Werth, managing director of Fortis Life, expanded on the reason for the name change but believes it will not take long to adjust.

"BNP Paribas bought Fortis in Belgium and thus the name," he said.

"We have the name until 2011, but why Ageas - pronounced a-g-eas? Well AG was the original Fortis name, so we have over 100 years of trading as AG. Then we looked at our markets and we are in Europe and Asia.

"The most important thing is that we are who we are and we may have changed the name on the tin but we have not changed the contents of the tin. Soon people will be used to the name," he added.

The company's legal entities will change as follows:

• Fortis UK will become Ageas UK;
• general insurance arm Fortis Insurance Limited will become Ageas Insurance Limited;
• wholly owned intermediary Fortis Insurance Solutions (formerly the OutRight Company) will become Ageas Insurance Solutions (UKAIS);
• the UK Protection business, Fortis Life will change to Ageas in January 2011;
• and RIAS and Kwik-Fit Insurance Services will retain their brand names.