Supermarket giant Coles will trial home and car insurance products in its Tasmanian stores from this week.

The products will be underwritten by the general insurance arm of Coles parent company Wesfarmers.

The move is believed to be a “first” in Australian retailing, and will be rolled out across the country if the Tasmanian trial is successful.

The decision by Wesfarmers to introduce direct insurance products through Coles was predicted by insuranceNEWS.com.au in a July article. The group hopes to emulate the success of insurance products sold by overseas supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s in the UK.

A Coles spokesman confirmed today that the supermarket will be launching a home and car insurance offer in its Tasmanian stores and that the products will be underwritten by Wesfarmers General Insurance, who tendered for the business.

“Supermarkets have successfully offered insurance products in other countries,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“The Coles-branded insurance offers will be reviewed over six months to assess customer response. Any broader rollout will be determined after we’ve assessed customer feedback.”

Wesfarmers General Insurance COO Corporate Partners David Richards told insuranceNEWS.com.au the insurer works with a number of Australian retail businesses to help them deliver insurance products to their customers.

“We are delighted to apply our specialist knowledge and expertise to support Coles,” Mr Richards said.