Sky moves in to home insurance to steal a march on its streaming competitors

SKY is to sell home insurance as it tries to branch away from TV amid fierce competition from streaming rivals.

It is understood the media giant will begin selling insurance products on price comparison sites from this week, ahead of a full rollout in January.

The venture, dubbed Sky Protect, will be underwritten by Zurich UK.

The launch marks Sky’s first move into Britain’s £7 billion home insurance market and reflects efforts by bosses to broaden its customer base.

It follows a similar move by BT’S mobile network EE, which linked up in a deal with Verisure earlier this year to provide home security services.

The launch comes at a challenging time, after Sky’s valuation was written down by $8.6billion (£7.4billion) – or roughly a quarter – by US owner Comcast in October. Sky’s sales plunged almost 15 per cent in the third quarter, dragged down by a weaker pound, while the deepening cost-of-living crisis cast doubts over future cash flow.

Sky has increasingly looked to diversify amid a steady decline in the number of subscribers for its lucrative offering in recent years. Most of Sky’s customer growth comes from its Now TV streaming service and its mobile and broadband packages, while it has sought to cut costs in negotiations with sports rights holders and channel providers.

It has also invested in new products such as the Sky Glass television, which brings together different streaming services into one platform, and its satellite-free Sky Stream box.

Growing competition from rivals such as Netflix, Apple and Disney has prompted it to step up its production budget as it seeks to cash in on the success of original shows such as Chernobyl. Sky Studios has spent more than £500million in the UK this year.

It has also benefited from series such as Game of Thrones and Succession, to which it holds rights through a content partnership with HBO.

However, the move into insurance signals a fresh push by UK chief executive Stephen van Rooyen to expand the Sky brand into new areas and reach more customers.