Serco Group, the international service company, has signed a contract for an outsourcing partnership that will provide customer contact and support services for AEGON, the Dutch life and pensions company. The contract starts on November 1st and marks Serco's entry into this segment of the financial services market. The contract is worth an estimated £170m over an initial 10-year term.Serco will deliver a wide range of services for AEGON's UK-based protection business. These include initial underwriting of a new customer's business through to claims management for the AEGON Individual Protection suite. Serco will look after all aspects of policy servicing and claims for some small "closed books" of pension and life assurance policies that are no longer sold but require ongoing management. Serco will be responsible for the administration of around 0.5m current and closed book policies in total. JH