Norwich Union

Norwich Union was a long-established British insurance business whose origins lay in a mutual fire insurer created in Norwich in 1797. Merchant and banker Thomas Bignold founded the Norwich Union Society for the Insurance of Houses, Stock and Merchandise from Fire, an organization owned by its policyholders and designed to distribute profits among them. A separate Norwich Union Life Insurance Society followed in 1808, giving the organization an early presence in both property and life insurance. The business developed during a period when insurers often maintained their own fire-fighting resources. Norwich Union’s fire operations used identifying insurance marks on insured buildings and operated private brigades intended to protect policyholders’ property. The fire business later absorbed the Norwich General Assurance Company and demutualised in 1821. Its last private fire brigade was transferred to municipal authorities in 1929, illustrating the gradual shift from insurer-operated emergency services to public fire provision. By the twentieth century, Norwich Union had become one of the United Kingdom’s best-known composite insurance businesses. Its activities included life assurance, general insurance, motor cover, healthcare products, pensions and related savings services. The breadth of the offering supported the company’s historic consumer positioning as a provider able to protect customers across many areas of personal and household risk. In 1997, its bicentenary year, Norwich Union demutualised and became a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange. It was treated by the market primarily as a life-insurance company and at one point formed part of the FTSE 100 Index, although it continued to operate substantial general-insurance activities. The company’s strategic direction changed in 2000, when Norwich Union merged with CGU. CGU had itself been formed through the 1998 combination of General Accident and Commercial Union and brought a broader international platform to the resulting group. The merged organization was initially named CGNU. It subsequently adopted the Aviva name, creating a unified international insurance group while retaining Norwich Union as an important United Kingdom customer-facing brand for several years. During the Aviva period, Norwich Union continued to offer motor, life, pensions and other insurance products. In October 2006 it introduced Pay as You Drive, a telematics-based motor policy that used a vehicle-mounted GPS device and mobile communications to assess factors such as mileage, journey timing and road use. The product was an early example of usage-based insurance in the consumer motor market, but new-business volumes were below expectations and the service was withdrawn in 2008. Aviva announced in April 2008 that it would phase out the Norwich Union name in favor of a single global Aviva identity. The rebranding was completed in the United Kingdom on 1 June 2009. Norwich Union therefore survives primarily as a historical business name and legacy brand rather than as an operating brand. Its corporate history forms part of the lineage of Aviva’s British insurance operations.

Norwich Union originated in Norwich in 1797, when merchant and banker Thomas Bignold established the Norwich Union Society for the Insurance of Houses, Stock and Merchandise from Fire. It was structured as a mutual society: policyholders owned the organization and were entitled to share in its profits. The enterprise later became known as the Norwich Union Fire Insurance Office. Bignold created a second mutual organization, the Norwich Union Life Insurance Society, in 1808. This gave the Norwich Union name a presence in both fire and life assurance at an early stage. The fire society expanded by absorbing the Norwich General Assurance Company and demutualised in 1821. Like many fire insurers of the period, it maintained private fire brigades intended to protect insured properties. Buildings covered by the society could be identified by fire insurance marks. The last of Norwich Union’s private brigades, in Worcester, was not handed over to municipal authorities until 1929. The organization gradually developed into a substantial composite insurer. Its United Kingdom business eventually covered life assurance, pensions, motor insurance, household and commercial general insurance, healthcare and related financial products. The breadth of its product range helped establish the brand as a general provider of protection rather than a specialist serving only one insurance category. A major corporate milestone came in 1997, the company’s bicentenary year. Norwich Union demutualised and floated as a public limited company on the London Stock Exchange. It was classified by investors primarily as a life company and became a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Although its general-insurance arm remained significant, analysts later debated whether the business should focus more narrowly on life and long-term savings activities. In 2000, Norwich Union merged with CGU. CGU had been formed in 1998 through the merger of General Accident and Commercial Union and had a larger international presence than Norwich Union’s historically United Kingdom-centered business. The combined company initially used the name CGNU. It subsequently became Aviva, placing Norwich Union within the corporate history of one of the United Kingdom’s largest international insurance groups. The Norwich Union name continued to be used in Britain after the merger. In 2005, two Aviva companies still operated under the brand: Norwich Union Insurance and Norwich Union Life. The brand also had overseas associations. In Canada, a Norwich Union operation marketed life insurance directly to consumers through television advertising before being sold to American International Group and renamed AIG Assurance. That business was later sold to Bank of Montreal and became BMO Insurance. In Australia, Norwich Union Australia was rebranded as Aviva in October 2003; its activities included life insurance, the Portfolio Partners fund-management business and the Navigator master-trust and financial-planning service. Norwich Union also experimented with usage-based motor insurance. In October 2006 it launched Pay as You Drive after an extensive pilot. The service placed a GPS receiver and mobile communications technology in the vehicle and transmitted information about mileage, journey timing and road use to the insurer. Drivers whose patterns were assessed as lower risk could receive discounts. Despite the product’s technological novelty, the service was withdrawn in 2008 because new-business volumes were lower than expected. The company faced regulatory and customer-service problems during its final years under the brand. In December 2007, the Financial Services Authority imposed a £1.26 million fine over weaknesses in the handling of an issue that had exposed life-assurance customers to fraud risk. Norwich Union also agreed to compensate customers after discovering that an error dating from 2001 had resulted in charges above a government one-percent limit. The reported compensation was £300 per affected customer, with the total expected to exceed £11 million. Aviva announced on 29 April 2008 that it would retire Norwich Union as part of a worldwide move toward a single Aviva identity. The transition was completed in the United Kingdom on 1 June 2009. Norwich Union is consequently a defunct operating brand, although its businesses, customer relationships and institutional history remain part of Aviva’s continuing insurance operations.

• 2009

  United Kingdom brand retirement

  [1]Norwich Unionen.wikipedia.org

  Norwich Union was rebranded as Aviva in the United Kingdom on 1 June.

• 2006

  Pay as You Drive launched

  [1]Norwich Unionen.wikipedia.org

  The company introduced a GPS- and mobile-enabled usage-based motor-insurance product in the United Kingdom.

• 2003

  Australian operation adopts Aviva identity

  [1]Norwich Unionen.wikipedia.org

  Norwich Union Australia was rebranded as Aviva.

• 2000

  Merger with CGU

  [1]Norwich Unionen.wikipedia.org

  Norwich Union merged with CGU, creating CGNU, the group that later adopted the Aviva name.

• 1997

  Bicentenary demutualisation and stock-market flotation

  [1]Norwich Unionen.wikipedia.org

  Norwich Union demutualised and became a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange during its 200th anniversary year.

• 1929

  Final private fire brigade transferred

  [1]Norwich Unionen.wikipedia.org

  Norwich Union relinquished its last private fire brigade, located in Worcester, to municipal authorities.

• 1821

  Fire business demutualises

  [1]Norwich Unionen.wikipedia.org

  The fire society demutualised while absorbing the Norwich General Assurance Company.

• 1808

  Creation of the life insurance society

  [1]Norwich Unionen.wikipedia.org

  Thomas Bignold founded a separate Norwich Union mutual dedicated to life insurance.

• 1797

  Founding of the Norwich Union fire society

  [1]Norwich Unionen.wikipedia.org

  Thomas Bignold established a policyholder-owned mutual society in Norwich to insure houses, stock and merchandise against fire.

A broad-based British insurer serving household, motor, life, health, pension and other personal-risk needs, with historic roots in mutual fire insurance and a later role within Aviva’s United Kingdom operations.

• Life insurance · 1808

  Life assurance

  Life assurance was one of Norwich Union’s foundational and most important businesses, tracing back to the separate Norwich Union Life Insurance Society established in 1808. Later offerings formed part of the long-term savings and protection activities for which the listed company was principally classified by investors.

• General insurance

  Motor insurance

  Norwich Union sold motor insurance as part of its broad United Kingdom general-insurance portfolio. The business served ordinary personal motor customers and later provided the platform for the experimental Pay as You Drive product, which attempted to connect premiums with actual driving patterns.

• Usage-based motor insurance · 2006

  Pay as You Drive

  Pay as You Drive was a telematics-based motor policy introduced in 2006. A GPS receiver and mobile technology recorded information such as distance, journey timing and road use, allowing lower-risk or lower-mileage drivers to qualify for discounts. The service was withdrawn in 2008 after attracting fewer new customers than expected.

• Property insurance · 1797

  Home and property insurance

  Property protection was central to Norwich Union’s original business. The founding mutual insured houses, stock and merchandise against fire, and the company later developed broader household and general-insurance products for personal and commercial customers.

• Retirement and long-term savings

  Pensions

  Pension products formed part of Norwich Union’s life and long-term savings activities. They complemented insurance protection by addressing retirement provision and helped reinforce the company’s position as a broad financial-services provider in the United Kingdom.

• 2007

  Financial Services Authority fine over fraud-risk controls

  The Financial Services Authority fined Norwich Union £1.26 million in December 2007. The regulator said the company had failed to address a problem adequately after becoming aware that life-assurance customers could be exposed to fraud.

  Source

• 2007

  Compensation for charges above the permitted cap

  Norwich Union discovered an overcharging error dating from 2001 involving charges above a government-imposed one-percent cap. It agreed to compensate affected customers, with reported payments of £300 each and an expected total exceeding £11 million.

  Source

Read more

• The Faster the Speed, the Bigger the Mess

  Europe

  Norwich Union supported a European public-service advertising campaign warning against careless driving at excessive speed. The campaign used the consequences of crashes to communicate that greater speed produces more severe harm.

  Source

• 2008

  Retire the Norwich Union brand in favor of AvivaStrategy

  Background

  Aviva believed that a unified identity would strengthen its international visibility and provide a consistent customer-facing brand across markets.

  Action taken

  Aviva announced a phased two-year withdrawal of the Norwich Union name and transitioned the United Kingdom business to Aviva on 1 June 2009.

  Aftermath

  Norwich Union ceased to operate as an active customer brand, while its businesses became part of Aviva’s continuing United Kingdom operations.

  Source

• 2006

  Introduce Pay as You Drive telematics insuranceProduct launch

  Background

  Norwich Union sought to use vehicle data to create a more individualized motor-insurance product and to distinguish premiums by mileage, journey timing and driving-risk conditions.

  Action taken

  The company launched a policy using GPS hardware and mobile communications to transmit driving information for underwriting and discount purposes.

  Aftermath

  The service was withdrawn in 2008 after new-business volumes were lower than expected.

  Source

• 2000

  Merge with CGUM&A

  Background

  Norwich Union was heavily oriented toward the United Kingdom, while CGU brought a broader international insurance platform inherited from General Accident and Commercial Union.

  Action taken

  The companies combined to form CGNU, which later adopted the Aviva name.

  Aftermath

  Norwich Union became a major legacy brand within the Aviva group before being retired.

  Source

1. 1Norwich Unionen.wikipedia.org