Consumption Denied?

Abstract

This article explores the rise and fall of a distinctive form of financial services consumption within the UK: industrial branch, or home service, insurance. It developed in the 19th century as one of the first generally available financial services products, and was targeted at working-class and lower-middle-class households through agents who sold products, and collected premiums, door-to-door. However, this industry is now in terminal decline, which is in part a product of long-term social processes, the rise of ‘at-a-distance’ delivery systems for financial services, but also due to the unintended consequence of government regulation in the 1990s. This article draws upon research into this industry as it withdraws from this market, reveals the ways in which such firms interact with their customers, throws light upon their strategies of market withdrawal, and reflects upon the implications of the demise of this market for their former customers.