Direct Line drives 19% premium surge at Aviva

13th Nov 2026 07:14

(Sharecast News) - Aviva said it expected earnings per share to grow broadly in line with its 11% target this year after general insurance premiums grew 19% to almost £12bn in the first nine months of the year driven by Direct Line and the new home insurance partnership with Nationwide.

General insurance premiums in the UK and Ireland were up 27% to £8.5bn with 54% growth in personal lines which covers areas such as motor and health, supported by the £3.7bn acquisition of Direct Line and continued growth in intermediated business, Aviva said in a trading statement on Friday.

"Commercial lines were 5% lower as we maintained underwriting discipline to focus on profitability in current market conditions," the company said.

Group undiscounted combined operating ratio (COR) improved 0.6 percentage points to 93.8% co pared with 94.4% in the same period a year ago as strong rate adequacy and favourable prior year development were partly offset by elevated weather-related activity in Canada in the third quarter. The discounted COR was 89.8% compared with 90.4% a year earlier.

Wealth net flows rose 31% to £10.9bn representing 6% of opening assets under management with strong growth in the workplace and platform operations.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com