Friends Provident are hoping that every little helps when it comes to their new deal with supermarket giant Tesco.

The insurer is set to provide Tesco Personal Finance insurance protection products and will utilise its I.T. infrastructure as part of the deal.

Friends Provident hopes this will extend their foothold in the protection market and looks forward to extending their I.T. capability to one of the best known brands in the U.K.

The well-known insurer might feel in need of friends, as it confirmed at its recent results announcement that for the first three months in 2009, it’s sales of life and pensions products dropped by 40%. Sales were down at £108.9m, down from £176.6 in the comparable period last year. Sales of individual cover products held up better – £9.1m down from £9.9m – with the housing market being blamed for the decline.

Supermarket Tesco is set to become a major player in the finance industry over the coming years.

Guest Article by Neil Camp