Actuaries are earning more than £1,000 a day as insurance companies prepare for Solvency II, according to a recruitment company.

Recruitment company ReThink said that it has recently placed actuaries on Solvency II projects on contracts worth £1,100 per day - equivalent to around £275,000 a year. These salaries have almost doubled from last year, when £600 per day was more typical.

ReThink said in-demand candidates, such as actuarial systems modellers, have received pay rises of over 20% in the last six months alone.

Candidates on contracts worth £900 per day are now receiving offers from rival firms of up to £1,100 a day, it said, with candidates offered bonuses of up to 25% just to stay in their current job for six months.

These bonuses, which are designed to stop rival insurers poaching key workers, are only given to the contractor on completion of the contract and usually amount to a five figure sum.

The surge in demand for actuaries stems from insurers upgrading their systems to be fully prepared for Solvency II requirements, which is still officially due to come into force on 31st December 2012 although a delay of a year is in the offing following the announcement of proposed transitional measures by the Council of Ministers this week.

Guy Stubbing of ReThink said: “The rush to comply with Solvency II is creating enormous demand for candidates with both actuarial and IT skills. These ‘hybrid’ candidates, who are qualified actuaries with IT skills and experience in areas like risk modelling and reporting systems, are in very short supply. What we are seeing now is a bidding war, which will only intensify as the deadline draws nearer.

“The market is now almost entirely candidate-led – with four offers per candidate typical. Candidates have so much choice that one even rejected a £1,100 per day contract because the hirer was not prepared to allow her to work from home.

“With retention bonuses becoming much more prevalent, it is becoming far harder for employers to poach staff from competitors.”

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