Travelers has aquired Simply Business, a UK-based online insurer for £400m, more than three times the price the company was sold for less than 12 months ago. 

The deal comes as incumbent insurers are scrambling to secure a spot in the digital world, investing in start-ups and more established online insurers. 

Simply Business, which was founded in 2005, sells insurance to small businesses such as builders, hairdressers and thousands of other trades. 

The company’s annual premiums come in at around £93m and it has grown by 20% a year. Last April the company was sold to Aquiline Capital Partners, a private equity group, for £120m. Travelers, the large US insurance group, bought it from Aquiline, paying 50 times Simply Business’s 2016 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £8m. 

Alan Schnitzer, chief executive of Travelers said, “Simply Business is a profitable and growing technology company with impressive strategic digital capabilities, leading digital commerce talent and proven small-business insurance expertise.”