MUTUALLY owned Royal London is launching a new direct to consumer insurance business.

The pensions and investment house is also making a return to television advertising for the first time in more than 10 years.

Those moves come as Royal London starts to begin an 18 month process to phase out its brands, such as Scottish Life and Scottish Provident, in favour of the group name.

Chief executive Phil Loney said the new insurance venture was an attempt to capture customers from a range of age groups.

He said: "We think there are several areas where customers are not well-served by the current market for financial services with poor value products or incomprehensible jargon-filled buying processes."

Mr Loney confirmed new life insurance products will be available to buy online from July.