Aviva wants GI growth return in the UK

Aviva wants to return to top-line growth in its UK general insurance business, the insurer said today.

Reporting its Q4 results, Aviva said: "Returning to top-line growth is a priority in our UK general insurance business. Through the year we invested in building the Aviva brand in the UK. This has established us well in customers’ minds and already the Aviva brand is as strong as Norwich Union was a year ago. Through our "Aviva deal" direct marketing campaign we sold more motor policies in the fourth quarter than in the same period in the previous three years.

The insurer added: "We continue to write business for profit not for volume, with the trends in business volumes broadly in line with the first nine months of the year. However, we have seen exceptional weather claims of around £100m in the final quarter of the year which will impact the combined operating ratio for the full year. This has been driven particularly by the storms in both Ireland, where exceptional claims were around £80m, and in the UK."

Aviva also noted that its Corporate Risks business, launched in January, had already secured a "number of contracts".

Meanwhile, Aviva made life and pensions sales of £8bn in the fourth quarter, an increase of 21% on the previous quarter.

Andrew Moss, Aviva’s group chief executive, said: "In the fourth quarter we increased sales across all our regions and saw the first signs of an improved appetite to save among our customers. European bancassurance was particularly strong.

"In 2009 as a whole we have successfully managed new business to ensure the right balance between volume, capital efficiency and profitability. This means we have deliberately foregone sales in some areas.

"We also achieved a number of important milestones in the final three months of the year, in particular the IPO of our Dutch subsidiary, Delta Lloyd, building further momentum in the delivery of our ‘One Aviva, twice the value’ strategy.

"We start 2010 in a strong position. Our focus remains on growing our business profitably and improving our operational efficiency so that we can fully benefit as our major markets return to economic growth."