Hamish Ogston has built up a multi-million pound business insuring other people’s plastic.

Yesterday he put his faith in the hands of other people when he floated Card Protection Plan (CPP), his credit card and identity insurance group, on the stock market.

Mr Ogston, who ranked 127 on last year’s Sunday Times Rich List, is estimated to be worth £428 million, largely through his ownership of CPP. He is likely to pocket about £180 million from the deal.

It is thought he will sell about 40 per cent of the group as part of the float, which analysts expect will value the company at about £450 million.

The business is best known for its card protection service, which cancels and reissues lost or stolen credit and debit cards, replaces handbags and even advances emergency cash, all for about £30 a year.

CPP offers a similar service for mobile phones and personal identities, in case of a lost or stolen passport.

Mr Ogston, 61, founded the business in 1980 and it now handles about 10 million policies across 14 countries for more than 200 business partners including HSBC, Barclays and T-Mobile. The vast majority of CPP’s sales are made through its business partners.

As part of the listing, the York-based group will also raise as much as £50 million in new equity, which will be used largely to pay down debt.

Mr Ogston, who decided to sell part of the business to allow him to partly cash in on his investment and help the group develop, will continue to be a non-executive director of the company, advising on strategy, and remain its majority shareholder.

Eric Woolley, CPP’s chief executive, said the float would help to raise the group’s global profile with its business partners as it continues to expand abroad and offer new products such as cover for household emergencies such as a boiler breaking down.

Mr Woolley said the group remained unfazed about going ahead with the IPO amid problems for others such as Travelport, the travel reservations group, and Merlin Entertainments, the Madame Tussauds and Alton Towers operator.

“An IPO now is absolutely right for the company,” he said. “If you wait for everything to be perfect you could be waiting for some time.”

CPP, which has been considering a float for a number of years and turned down a sale to private equity in the past, has held up well during the recession, with revenues rising 13 per cent to £292.1 million last year.

Mr Woolley said it had been a difficult two years but that the group had avoided the worst of the downturn because of its simple, affordable and relevant products and the fact that consumers were still concerned about fraud, which has been on the up, likening some of CPP’s products to “housekeeping for the digital age”.

The group has recently introduced its products in new markets such as Turkey, India and Mexico and Mr Woolley said the next big step this year was to expand in China.

However, while the group is upbeat about successfully completing its IPO next month, consumers are often not as positive about the likes of CPP as investors may be, due to its “auto-renewal” policy. The group, as stated in its terms and conditions, automatically renews its new card protection policy on the renewal date unless told otherwise by the customer.

Insurance is an alien concept

Those who like to be prepared for the worst have never had a greater array of insurance policies to choose from. It is possible to obtain cover for almost anything — from rain on your wedding day, to alien abduction.

But it can be an expensive pursuit. Protection for your dog will cost £334 per year, dental insurance for your smile, £155, and to insure your central heating will burn away £132. To keep you on your cycle come hell or high water will be another £60.13. Those additional insurances alone will set you back £681.13.

Although some insurance cover is essential, including car, home and life cover, experts say other policies can be a waste of money. Which?, the consumer champion, cites extended warranties, identity theft cover, payment protection insurance (PPI), mobile phone cover and accidental death and injury cover as the five biggest rip-offs in the insurance industry.

Many are persuaded by their bank or insurer to take out policies for events they are already covered against – for example, mobile phones are usually covered under home contents insurance. Many policies are expensive and riddled with exclusions, making them almost impossible to claim against.