Sainsbury’s Bank is to launch a multi-million pound campaign to help highlight its insurance cover, after the supermarket chain said that competition in the car insurance marketplace had never been greater.

The sector’s advertising spend could top £200m for the first time. The campaign will include its first national TV advert that focuses on car insurance.

Sainsbury’s Bank estimates that each year, as many as 18.3mn motorists paying up to £6.7bn in premiums obtain more than one quote for their car insurance and therefore consider switching insurers.

Jonathan Hewitt, director of Insurances at Sainsbury’s Bank, says: “The car insurance sector is one of the most competitive in retail financial services. We have a market leading product that offers a great combination of competitive premiums and quality cover and hopefully with our new TV advertising, we can take this message to a much wider audience.

"We believe that we are well placed for strong growth in the car insurance marketplace.”