Protection insurance: Aviva signs new five-year distribution agreement with Countrywide plc

LONDON, 31-Jul-2017 — /EuropaWire/ — Five-year exclusive partnership agreement to provide market-leading protection insurance to the UK’s largest mortgage broker

Aviva announces that it has secured an exclusive new five-year distribution agreement with Countrywide plc to provide its mortgage and rental customers with protection insurance.

The new deal, which replaces a former distribution agreement with Friends Life¹ that began in 2002, is testament to the success of that partnership and to the confidence in Aviva’s market-leading protection proposition following the insurer’s acquisition of the Friends Life business.

Through Countrywide’s extensive network of more than 900 branches, which arranged more than 90,000 mortgages last year, customers will be able to access Aviva’s market-leading life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection cover simply and conveniently.

The deal will see new protection business underwritten through Aviva’s ALPS platform, (Aviva Life Protection Solutions), providing home-buying and rental customers with a simpler customer journey, faster underwriting decisions and secure digital storage of important policy documents.

Daren Boys, Strategic Partnerships Portfolio Director at Aviva, said: “This is a significant distribution agreement with our long-standing partner Countrywide, which will see customers benefitting from Aviva’s strong digital capabilities.

“Customers’ protection needs rightly come into sharp focus during the house buying or property rental process and our market-leading digital ALPS protection proposition will help protect more lives, more easily through an enhanced customer experience.”

Ends

Media enquiries:

Aviva Press Office: Melissa Loughran on 07800 691947 or Melissa.loughran@aviva.com

Notes to editors:

1. The former distribution agreement was with Friends Life and Pensions Limited which was acquired by Aviva in April 2015.

About Countrywide:

Countrywide is the UK’s largest estate agency group and helped more people to buy a home in the UK than any other agent in the UK last year. Countrywide is also the UK’s largest single mortrgage broker and helped arrange over £15.7bn worth of mortgages in 2016 alone.

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SOURCE: Aviva plc