Esure, the home and car insurer, is not up against any "idiot competitors" in the marketplace.

This is according to esure founder Peter Wood, who stressed that the competition is "not being stupid".

He said there aren't any new players in the market and that esure is comfortably the UK's fastest growing insurer.

"Esure is at the position Direct Line was after it had been in business for four years," he said.

Esure was launched 14 months ago and Wood said he would have the option to float the company in four years time.

Wood and esure chief executive Peter Graham also announced that the company is to begin offering home insurance in some areas of Scotland it had previously declined to cover, due to flood risk. Last month, esure announced it was not offering home insurance for houses in flood risk areas.

Following this announcement, customers in previously excluded Scottish postcodes will be offered esure home insurance quotations within the next two years as defences are implemented in their areas.

Graham said esure had assembled data from a wide range of sources. "We are working to revise our risk-ratings across Scotland because of the speed with which the Scottish Executive and local authorities have acted to improve planning and defences," he said.

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