Aviva general insurance premiums rise 19% to £11.8bn after the Direct Line deal
The insurer expects earnings per share to grow broadly in line with its 11% target this year and its solvency ratio to reach the high 180s by the end of the year, including the last Direct Line capital savings.
By Daily Oracles News Team2 min read
Aviva wrote £11.8bn of general insurance premiums in the nine months to 30 September, 19% more than a year earlier, as the Direct Line acquisition lifted its UK personal lines book. In a trading update on Friday the insurer kept its targets for 2026 and beyond.
UK and Ireland premiums rose 27% to £8.5bn. Within that, UK personal lines grew 57% to £5,256m, helped by Direct Line, broker business and a home insurance partnership with Nationwide. Third-quarter UK personal lines premiums on their own were 5% higher. UK commercial premiums fell 5% to £2,768m, which Aviva said reflected its decision to put profit ahead of volume while rates soften. Canada was up 2% at constant exchange rates to £3.3bn.
The group's undiscounted combined operating ratio, the share of premiums paid out in claims and costs, improved to 93.8% from 94.4%. Aviva said UK claims costs had gone up because of more subsidence claims after an unusually dry third quarter, and Canada had a run of severe weather. It still expects a UK and Ireland ratio below 94% for the full year.
Wealth and retirement
Wealth took in £10.9bn of net new money, 31% more than a year earlier, and assets under management rose 19% to £267bn. Workplace pension schemes bring in about £1.1bn a month in regular contributions, and further money from the Mercer Master Trust is due in the fourth quarter. Aviva is aiming for at least £280m of operating profit from Wealth in 2027 and more than £500m by 2032.
Bulk annuity deals with pension schemes, including ones where Aviva is the preferred provider, have reached £5.8bn so far this year, ahead of the £4.6bn written in the whole of 2025. Individual annuity sales rose 7% and equity release 11%.
What comes next
- Earnings: operating earnings per share are expected to grow broadly in line with the 11% annual target for 2026.
- Cash: subsidiaries sent £1.5bn to the group in the first half, with about £0.8bn expected in the second, making about £2.3bn for the year.
- Capital: the Solvency II cover ratio stood at 179% at the end of September, up from 176% in June, and is expected to reach the high 180s by the year end.
- Direct Line: about £130m of annual cost savings and the remaining £350m-plus of an expected £500m-plus in capital benefits should be delivered by the end of 2026.
Health is expected to make about £90m of operating profit this year.
