"I am delighted to come to Australia once again and officially launch one of Virgin Money's fantastic new products, Virgin Car Insurance. Australian motorists aren't getting a fair deal when only two giant players own 75 per cent of the car insurance market. The time is ripe to give the industry a complete overhaul," he said.

In a direct challenge to the major two players, Virgin Car Insurance is introducing capped premiums for the first two years, challenging the notion that car insurance premiums usually rise each year while the value of cars fall.

In another provocative move, Virgin Car Insurance is also offering 13 months for the price of 12 months when customers sign-up to comprehensive cover online.

"Just this week we did a price comparison of Virgin Money's comprehensive car insurance policy compared to four of our bigger competitors, " Sir Richard Branson said. "Using a standard car and driver as criteria, Virgin Car Insurance comes up 35 per cent cheaper than the average policy price of AAMI, GIO, NRMA and QBE," he said.

"Most Australians don't know they can cancel their current car insurance policy and usually get a refund. So Aussies have every reason to changeover and get better mileage out of their car insurance with Virgin!" he said.

Matt Baxby, Managing Director of Virgin Money Australia also challenges the industry norm. "Most people just accept that their car insurance goes up every year, even though they know their car is worth less. It just didn't make sense to us. On average premiums across the industry are on the rise and by capping these premiums for two years it could save the 88 percent of Australian motorists who have comprehensive cover more than $200 million," according to Mr. Baxby.

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Notes to editors: