Aviva bosses vow to tackle commercial motor woes

Aviva’s UK general insurance chief executive David McMillan expects a better commercial result in 2012 after motor losses pushed its 2011 commercial combined ratio to 105%.

Back in 2010, Aviva’s UK commercial combined ratio was a profitable 96%. The deterioration since then has been driven by poor performance in the commercial motor book, where the combined ratio increased 15 percentage points to 113% from 98%.

Aviva had to pump £37m into its UK GI reserves in 2011 because of higher than expected claims on some van, taxi and scheme accounts. The reserve strengthening also related to one professional indemnity account.

Aviva’s commercial result compares unfavourably with those of its peers: RSA’s overall commercial combined ratio was 100%, and its commercial motor combined ratio was 104.8%.

However, Aviva’s personal lines book outperformed RSA’s, posting a 91% combined ratio to RSA’s 95.7%.

McMillan is confident that remedial action will improve the commercial results. The company boosted commercial motor rates by 13% in 2011. “We have moved on those [events] quite purposefully in the second half of 2011, putting up rates and also exiting schemes where appropriate. We are expecting 2012 for our commercial result to improve quite significantly.”

Overall UK chief executive Trevor Matthews (pictured above), who took up the role at the end of last year, said the UK commercial business was on his list of concerns for 2011.

“We are concerned about the commercial market,” he told Insurance Times. “We have already taken strong action and we will continue to pay a lot of attention to that,” he said.

Also on Matthews’ plate is the combination of the UK and Ireland operations, which is due to take place on 31 March. He will run the combined division. Among other things, the company also has to tackle new regulation such as the Retail Distribution Review on the life side of the business and Solvency II across the company.

“There is a lot on our agenda,” Matthews said. “What I’m impressed with here is the capacity and capability of the organisation not only to cope with that level of change but to use it to our advantage and I think we really can win.”

Asked whether Aviva would renew its sponsorship of football team Norwich City when it comes up for renewal this August, Matthews said: “Watch this space”.