The company was founded in the UK in 1992 by South African entrepreneur
Douw Steyn as the Budget Insurance Company, an
underwriter. Steyn had previously established Auto & General Insurance in
South Africa in 1985, pioneering a model of selling insurance directly over the telephone. The UK operation was established to replicate this direct-to-consumer model. In 1997, Budget Insurance Services Limited (BISL) was founded. The following year, the company ceased its own underwriting operations to become an intermediary, marketing policies underwritten by a panel of third-party insurers. In 1998,
Telesure Investment Holdings (TIH), was established to house Auto&General and other insurance brands to come. In 1999, the group acquired Arnott Century and rebranded to Budget Retail. Further acquisitions followed, including Dial Direct and
Bennetts in 2001. In 2002, the group launched an affinity business called Junction, which managed insurance products for partners such as
Post Office,
M&S Money, and
Bradford & Bingley. In 2003, the company launched its own uninsured loss recovery business, ACM ULR, and in the same year it ran a PR and marketing campaign for Bennetts, helping to establish the bike insurer as a leading brand in the United Kingdom market. In 2004, Budget was noted as providing the most competitive home insurance, that compares insurance and other personal finance products from a range of South African brands. Before Hippo.co.za, consumers had to call around for hours trying to find the cheapest quote to suit their needs. This was a market changer for the South African market. The year 2009 saw the creation of comparethemeerkat.com – online
meerkat comparison website as part of a spoof advertising campaign featuring a CGI meerkat character named
Aleksandr Orlov. French price comparison sites LesFurets.com and CreditMieux.com were acquired in 2010, and Dutch site Verzekeringssite.nl was acquired in 2012. The latter was rebranded as hoyhoy.nl in 2014. In 2013, BGL group launched
Beagle Street, the first online-only life insurer in the UK. In 2022 Beagle Street was acquired by OneFamily. In 2015,
Bennetts was sold to
Saga Group. The
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a 30% stake in BGL in November 2017 for £675 million. In January 2022, BGL sold its insurance business to Markerstudy, leaving Comparethemarket as its primary remaining business. BGL was advised by Dentons on the transaction. The BGL Group, part of the greater TIH (Telesure Investment Holdings) have subsequently grown their portfolio of sites across the globe which now include, Compare the Market Australia, LesFurets.com in France, Koalay and Hesapkurdu in Turkey, Hoyhoy in Holland. ==Today==