Sainsbury has confirmed that Legal & General will market life assurance policies to its customers.

Policies will be sold over the phone with information also available online and in all of Sainsbury's stores.

Chief executive of Sainsbury's Bank, Tim Pile, said: “We are entering this market now because we believe we can make a difference and exceed the expectations of our customers.

“The overall price of life insurance has fallen considerably over recent years but many people are still unaware of this and are overpaying by as much as 40%.”

Pile said by working with L&G it had developed “one of the best policies in the market in terms of cost and benefits”.

He added that the supermarket group would inform people about falling premiums and “the importance of shopping around so that they can make better decisions”.