Aviva's general insurance premiums climbed 19% to £11.8bn in the first nine months of the year, helped by its £3.7bn acquisition of Direct Line, which has strengthened its position in the UK market.
Total group premiums rose from £10bn during the same period last year. UK and Ireland premiums surged 27% to £8.5bn, while its personal lines division—covering motor, health and travel insurance—jumped 54% to £5.5bn, buoyed by the Direct Line takeover. The deal, completed in July 2025, has handed Aviva control of a fifth of the UK motor insurance market.
Growth opportunities and expansion plans
Chief executive Amanda Blanc said she is eyeing "many opportunities to continue our profitable growth in general insurance". She highlighted further expansion of Direct Line policies, the rollout of pet insurance, and broadening its footprint in international markets Canada and Ireland, where it ranks among the leading providers of general and life insurance.
However, commercial lines insurance, serving business customers, posted a 5% decline to £2.9bn, reflecting "softer market conditions".
Wealth division and retirement pressures
Its wealth division recorded net flows of £10.9bn, compared with £8.3bn the previous year. Assets under management also rose 19% to £267bn, while customer numbers climbed to 6.1m—a development Blanc said had strengthened its wealth business and established it as the "number one UK player".
"We see significant opportunities for Aviva to expand further, across our workplace, adviser and direct businesses, giving us confidence that we will achieve at least £280m in operating profit in wealth by 2027," Blanc said.
Despite robust headline growth, the insurance giant found itself under pressure across a number of divisions. Its retirement arm saw nine-month bulk purchase annuity (BPA) volumes—insurance policies used by defined benefit schemes to transfer liabilities to insurers—drop by half to £1.9bn, as competition in the market intensified.
BPA pipeline and health sales decline
However, Aviva highlighted that BPA deals either signed or in the pipeline, where the insurer is named as the "preferred provider", reached £5.8bn, surpassing the £4.6bn written across the whole of 2025.
Elsewhere, health insurance sales dropped 31% to £81m amid a slowdown in market growth across both consumer and small-business channels. Severe weather and catastrophe claims in Canada, Aviva's second-largest market, placed a drag on underwriting profits, while year-to-date premiums edged up by just 2% to £3.2bn.
