Aviva saw a drop in new business completions in both its protection and health insurance operations in the first nine months of 2024.
However, the insurer has contrasting projections for the sectors with a positive outlook for health insurance but a more cautious one for protection.
On a like-for-like basis the insurer reported a 5% fall in protection sales from £207m to around £196m on an annual premium equivalent (APE) basis up to September, as the individual protection market continued its slide.
Aviva completed the acquisition of AIG Life UK in April and when including the AIG business in its figures, sales grew 44% to £298m for the nine-month period.
Notably, Aviva has closed almost all of AIG’s products to new business since completing the deal.
For its health insurance arm, new sales of £105m were 15% down from the £123m a year earlier, which Aviva said was expected after a strong 2023 in the corporate sector due to a competitor leaving the market.
On a value of new business (VNB) basis health insurance sales were 8% higher “reflecting sales growth”, it added.
However, Aviva said that its in-force health insurance premiums had seen “double-digit” growth compared to the previous year and it expects this to continue, although protection is less positive.
“In our health business we anticipate further growth in line with our ambition for double-digit growth in in-force premiums, with some moderation in protection growth expected,” it said.
Aviva did not publish an updated profit figure with the nine-month results, however group chief executive officer Amanda Blanc (pictured) said the third quarter performance had been “very strong“.
“Trading continues to be extremely positive right across the business,” she said.
“Aviva’s large and growing customer base is a major advantage, contributing to our excellent performance. Over the last four years we have increased customer numbers by 1.2m to 19.6m.
“We now have five million UK customers with more than one policy and the potential to grow this further is huge.
“Aviva is financially strong, trading well each quarter and has significant opportunities for further growth.
“We are confident about the outlook for the rest of 2024 and beyond, growing the dividend and achieving the group’s financial targets.”