The prospect of AIG’s protection cover for British expats disappearing following Aviva’s acquisition of its rival insurer is “concerning”, according to Andrew Wilkinson, director of Moneysworth.
Addressing delegates at Health & Protection’s third annual IPMI Summit last week, Wilkinson (pictured) said the the $64m question is whether Aviva will keep the AIG product and terms for expats or ditch them following finalisation of its £453m acquisition of AIG Life UK from Corebridge Financial, a subsidiary of American International Group.
In the immediate aftermath of the deal, protection advisers – including Wilkinson – told Health & Protection they hoped Aviva would retain ‘unique’ AIG aspects following acquisition.
“Looking back at Aviva, they’ve grown a lot through acquisition, different companies and over a prolonged period of time,“ Wilkinson said from the Summit stage.
“And the only example that sticks out in my mind where they have embraced a particular contract of a company they have taken over is Friends Provident with the group income protection (IP).
“But it’s difficult to look for any other examples.
“We’re quite concerned about it, because we think there’s a good chance that this quite valuable proposition might well disappear in the next few months,” Wilkinson continued.
“So it’s probably a good time for those of you who are able to, if you have clients that fit into that and who may benefit, don’t assume it will still be around in a year’s time or six months’ time.”
For their part, Aviva said it was “too early” to comment on plans for the business.
An Aviva spokesperson said: “It is too early for us to comment on any plans and as at today it is business as usual.
“With the recent completion of the deal we have now begun working with AIG Life to understand and combine the businesses. We will inform the market of any changes as soon as we can.”
