Hugh Fairclough, partner and head of financial services at RSM UK, comments on Aviva’s quarterly results:

“Aviva’s significant growth in revenue and written premiums reflects an insurance industry giant that continues its rapid expansion through significant recent acquisitions, including Direct Line Group, Probitas and AIG’s UK life insurance business. Aviva is now by far the largest UK insurer, skyrocketing in terms of GWP (Gross Written Premium).

“We are typically seeing strong consolidation at the top of the general insurance market, driven by the pursuit of scale and efficiency, enhancing market power, and the ability to meet increasing regulatory and technological demands. This consolidation continues the trend of concentration and dominance by the top 10 global insurers, across multiple lines of business. In 2024 the top 10 UK insurers increased GWP by a staggering 36.9%, up to £48.9bn from £35.4bn in 2023. Scale allows the largest insurers to create operational and cost efficiencies, and to pool resources to invest in technology, product development and customer experience.

“Efficiency of integration is vital, and Aviva has repeatedly demonstrated its strength in this area. It’s aiming to make £225m a year in cost savings and £500m of capital synergies over the next three years, more than originally expected, through improving efficiencies and streamlining its business. It’s no longer enough to just aggregate and ‘roll-up’ businesses to deliver shareholder value. To unlock true value requires deep operational, systems and cultural integration.

“Consolidation is expected to continue as providers navigate economic uncertainty, persistent inflation and disruptive technologies such as AI-driven underwriting, alongside evolving regulatory requirements.”

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