A NORTH Yorkshire insurance company has received £75,000 of investment to bring new products to market and create jobs.

Malton-based ALA Insurance Brokers received the investment from Finance Yorkshire, a seedcorn and venture capital fund backed by the European Regional Development Fund.

The company provides gap insurance, which bridges the gap between the amount of money owed in a vehicle finance agreement and the insurance payout – usually the market value of the vehicle – in the event a vehicle is written off or stolen.

Managing director Simon England, who has been in the vehicle financing industry for 21 years, said the market for gap insurance had grown in the last couple of years, as consumers had begun to realise they could shop around for the policies rather than get them from the dealer.

ALA Insurance Brokers are now the largest online provider of gap insurance, selling to individual customers and the trade through links with AutoTrader, Exchange and Mart and JCB.

Mr England said he saw particular potential for products for rural businesses, covering farming machinery and trucks, which were often stolen. He also hoped to broaden their existing policies, with cover for tyres, alloy wheels, dents and scratches, and other items not covered by general insurance.

The business has been growing at 60 per cent a year, and expects to grow by 80 per cent this year thanks to the funding from Finance Yorkshire, which will be invested in developing new online systems, marketing and initial cashflow to set up more commercial contracts with large insurance brokers.

The business, which employs 15 people in total, with about four on the gap insurance business, expects to employ five more local people, including trainees, as it grows.

Mr England said: “We were being approached by large insurance brokers who wanted to supply our new truck, tractor and plant gap insurance products to their own commercial clients and were aware that this would be a good route to market.”