Bradford & Bingley

Bradford & Bingley is a major UK provider of home insurance despite being a casualty of the credit crunch. In September 2008, it was part-nationalised and split into two parts. 

Its mortgage book remained with the now publicly-owned Bradford & Bingley plc. This is also the section of the bank which offers B&B’s home insurance deals.

The other part of the bank – namely B&B’s £20bn savings book and the branch network – was sold to Abbey National, which itself is owned by Spanish bank, Santander.

From January 2010 the B&B branch network was rebranded to Santander – along with Abbey and Alliance & Leicester - and the Bradford & Bingley name now only applies to the nationalised section of the bank.

Its home insurance policies offer a 24-hour home emergency service as standard, a claims helpline that is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and discounts for customers who buy both buildings and contents cover together.