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The account was moved from media agency Initiative without a pitch.

The online specialist is set to use finance and automotive sites to advertise the dotcom brand, with creative featuring call centres that are staffed by chickens, in order to increase car and travel insurance requests.

Swiftcover.com will look to promote its offer of an online quote in under a minute, with banners, integrated links and buttons on a range of sites, including comparison service MoneySupermarket, Fish4 Money, What Car? and Exchange & Mart.

Emma Wilson, partner at Harvest Digital, said: "Swiftcover.com has a simple position aimed at time-poor 25 to 45-year-olds who want to manage their finances themselves and are attracted to a brand that's disrupting the traditional model in the financial services sector. The online media plan complements the offline drive-to-web activity with placements on the key financial portals."

Tina Shortle, Swiftcover.com marketing director, added: "No call centres means we can offer a cheaper online quote in under a minute.

"We have hired Harvest Digital to select the media that will target our key audiences," she said.

"Their market knowledge, strong financial services experience and their good understanding of our brand was key to that decision."

The insurance company, which is backed by Primary Group, launched in June last year and is currently also marketed through TV and search.

The company spent £3.1m on all marketing last year.

Although Harvest Digital has just relinquished its hold on the Norwich Union account, following the Aviva pitch, its still does work with other financial services clients including Chelsea Financial Building Society, CMC Markets and Zopa.

Partner Mike Teasdale said: "We see ourselves as a specialist in this area. Swiftcover has gone for agencies who understand financial services."

Harvest Digital was formed in 2001 as a full-service online marketing agency specialising in customer acquisition and retention programmes.