This week the snappily named Salaam Insurance announced it was taking its "halal car insurance" to a wider audience than Britain's 2 million Muslims. And with good reason - this sharia-compliant product is attractive enough to give many established insurers a run for their money.

For years the UK has had sharia-compliant mortgages engineered so that borrowers pay for their loan without incurring interest charges - something outlawed by sharia rules. But until now, according to Farrukh Raza of Islamic Finance Advisory & Assurance Services, Muslim car owners have had to put their beliefs to one side when buying a policy. "These new products are sharia-compliant but the insurance works in exactly the same way as conventional policies."

Salaam says its car policies conform to the principle of takaful - a form of sharing risk. Any surplus is returned to customers as discounts on their next renewal.

You'll know the money was invested ethically, too. It cannot, for example, be sunk into businesses that are prohibited to Muslims - such as casinos or pornography.

The big question is, will it undercut your current premium? Yesterday I got a quote from Salaam to insure my 10-year-old Toyota estate. It came it at £233 - almost exactly the same as we pay our current insurer, the Co-op. So it certainly looks competitive. Next time your car insurance renewal comes through, it could be worth going halal.