UK insurance company Axa has announced that it is to acquire the internet only insurer Swiftcover car insurance.

Currently owned by international insurer Primary Group and Swiftcover's management, the acquisition is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions including regulatory approval.

Swiftcover.com is one of the most dynamic businesses on the UK personal direct market, with net inflows of 120,000 policies in 2006. This performance is based on a combination of successful marketing and competitive offers, which benefit from the efficient cost structure of Swiftcover's 100% internet model.

Peter Hubbard, Chief Executive of AXA Insurance, said: ?We are extremely pleased to have agreed terms for the purchase of Swiftcover, which further strengthens our distribution platform and gives us greater access to personal lines customers. We have underwritten a significant proportion of Swiftcover's business since its launch and know the potential of this franchise. We intend to build on Swiftcover's strong brand and powerful operating model to deliver an additional revenue and earnings stream for AXA UK.?

Andrew Blowers, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Swiftcover, said: ?We identified a gap in the UK insurance market to offer consumers a totally online experience and, by cutting out the cost of call centres, save them money too. With swiftcover.com, we have built a successful brand that has recently achieved a prompted awareness level of 24%. We have made enormous strides with the help of the Primary Group but, going forward, I firmly believe that AXA are the right partner to help us grow the business and achieve our objectives.?

Philip James, Chief Executive of Primary Group, said : ?We are pleased to have been able to support Swiftcover to the point where its future development potential will be enhanced by a close association with AXA.?

Swiftcover.com claims to save 70% of people money on their insurance because it is totally internet based enabling efficient management of the insurance process, and allows customers full control of their insurance needs any time of the day or night.