Sheila's Wheels

"Yes, it's an interesting name! And no, we're not Australian and we don't sell insurance in Australia... But when we were thinking about launching car insurance designed especially for women in the UK we were struck by the fact that Australia is one of the only places in the world where one woman's name is an expression used to refer to all women. We also liked the rhyming feel of "Sheilas' Wheels" and the scope for a great ad. And so the name was born.

Sheilas' Wheels is a division of esure - the UK's fastest growing insurer ever. esure has always recognised the importance of ensuring that women get a great deal when buying insurance. In 2004, esure strongly opposed an EU directive that would have seen women forced to subsidise men through their car insurance premiums. The idea for Sheilas' Wheels grew from research we carried out at that time.

We found that women claim less, are responsible for far fewer driving convictions and have attitudes towards cars, driving and other road users that are often more considered than those of their male counterparts. We wanted to reward these differences and decided that we needed a new brand and a whole new look at car insurance for women to make it happen.

An all-female management team helped to provide insights to create a brand and a product that would give more back to women buying car insurance - in price, benefits and service.

Price was relatively easy. By focusing on women, we know that our customers are likely to make less costly claims and we have reflected this in our premiums. A Sheilas' Wheels quote should be competitive through and through.

We recognised that women are far more likely than men to carry a bag containing their purses and valuables with them when driving. Yet with most insurers there's limited cover to reflect this. Stolen, lost or damaged handbags often have to be replaced by very low "personal belongings" limits (often just £100). Sheilas' Wheels was designed with special handbag cover as standard and our limit goes up to £300.

Repairers were another bone of contention. Many women hate the idea of the stereotypical teeth-sucking, tyre-kicking garage mechanic, so we set all of our repairers standards that guard against patronising attitudes.

So... a new brand, new benefits, competitive cover designed from the bottom up for women (and by the way, does my bum look big in this cover?) That's Sheilas' Wheels!

Sheilas’ Wheels, a division of esure, was launched in October 2005 providing competitive quotes for women.

Sheilas’ Wheels has designed its policy especially for women – handbag and contents cover to the value of £300 (terms and conditions apply), a 24-hour confidential counselling line for policyholders and the option to add other important services such as legal protection

Sheilas’ Wheels offers cheaper car insurance for women.

Sheilas’ Wheels is a car insurance brand designed to offer women a truly competitive price with multiple benefits for their money."

If you have been tempted by this, here's the link: