The Territory Insurance Office (TIO) has confirmed it will close all its branch offices in the NT, with nine employees affected.

The branches in Darwin, Palmerston, Alice Springs and Katherine will shut over the next six months.

TIO, which was sold to Allianz by the NT Government in 2014, says the number of people using the branches has significantly reduced.

“The number of customers now coming into branches is as low as one or two a day in some locations,” a spokesman said.

“Our customers have shown they prefer other ways of getting in touch with us. For example, 200 customers per day contact us through our call centre.”

TIO says it will carry out a “significant upgrade” of its online service capacity, but it is not economical to keep branches open “when only a handful of people are using them”.

“All TIO calls and claims will continue to be handled by our staff here in the Territory,” the spokesman said.

“Our call centre is based in Darwin and our local staff understand local issues and conditions.”

The nine affected staff may be redeployed within TIO or the broader Allianz network.