Lender Liberty Financial has expanded into general insurance with the launch of LFI Group.

It secured an Australian Prudential Regulation Authority licence earlier this year, and will initially focus on credit insurance to complement its lending operations.

LFI Group GM Dean Cullen says offering mortgage protection, loan protection and vehicle equity insurance enables Liberty to give customers a more complete service.

“It just makes sense for a customer taking out a mortgage to take out protection as well,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“We could just put them on to another organisation, but that is not optimal. We are very committed to looking after our customers’ best interests. We didn’t just take the easy route but went out there and got the licence ourselves.

“We believe we can bring insurance to our customers in a simplified manner.”

He says the Liberty Financial customer base will be the starting point, but longer-term ambitions are broader.

LFI also offers home and motor cover through a partnership with CGU.

“Again, it is linked to the lending,” Mr Cullen said. “If you buy a home then you need to insure it. It’s a pretty simple referrer model [and] CGU writes the business.”

LFI says it will start trading with an initial capital investment of double the minimum prudential requirement, and can offer “unmatched finance and insurance integration”.