’We have quickly improved DLG’s profitability, grown PCW sales and maintained excellent levels of customer service,’ says group chief executive
Aviva has revealed that it grew its UK personal lines premiums by 98% in the six months to 30 June 2026.
In a trading update published today (14 August 2026), the insurer said its secured £3.68bn in personal lines during HY 2026, up from £1.86bn during the same period last year.
Aviva credited the increase to continued growth in intermediated business and its acquisition of Direct Line Group (DLG).
The insurer completed its £3.7bn purchase of DLG in July 2025 as part of its plans to expand in the personal lines market.
“DLG’s performance continues to improve, with stronger profitability supported by improved written combined operating ratios (COR) and a return to growth in motor on price comparison websites (PCW), where policies grew 7% this year,” Aviva said.
Amanda Blanc, group chief executive at Aviva, added: “We are making very good progress with the integration of DLG. We have quickly improved DLG’s profitability, grown PCW sales and maintained excellent levels of customer service. We are well on track to deliver all the financial benefits of the acquisition.”
UK commercial lines premiums, meanwhile, saw a slight dip from £2.01bn to £1.93bn year-on-year.
This was put down to “deliberate underwriting discipline to manage profitability in softer market conditions, prioritising profitable growth over volume”.
Jason Storah, chief executive for UK and Ireland general insurance, said: ”Commercial Lines continues to perform well despite softer market conditions. We’re staying focused on underwriting quality and making deliberate, disciplined decisions.
”We’ve introduced new digital products to help brokers quote and place risks online quicker, and our strong renewal rates demonstrate the trust our broker partners and customers place in us.”
Overall, UK and Ireland general insurance premiums were up by 42%, increasing from £4.14bn in HY 2025 to £5.91bn in HY 2026.
In turn, operating profit was 50% higher at £643m, while in the UK specifically, undiscounted COR improved by 0.3 percentage points to 93.4% from 93.7%.
Group results
Across the group, general insurance premiums were up 29% year-on-year to £8.09bn, while operating profit increased 24% to £1.33bn.
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The firm said it would continue to invest in the business “to support long-term growth, capture opportunities across our markets and accelerate transformation through artificial intelligence (AI) and data”.
The insurer also noted that it was delivering ”tangible benefits” from AI, from faster review times in medical underwriting to automated quality assurance in wealth.
“There is more to come later in the year as we are set to launch our virtual assistant, as well as rolling out our AI-enabled claims agent. Both of these solutions will be able to support our customers,” the insurer said.
Blanc added: “Our broad and now expanded range of products, 25 million strong customer base, market leading brand and the rich and extensive data we have, are major competitive advantages which will drive our future growth.
“Together they represent a significant opportunity for Aviva to apply AI to deliver an even better service to customers, meet more of our customers’ needs over their lifetime and drive even more value for our shareholders. Aviva’s long-term prospects are very bright indeed.”
His career began in 2019, when he joined a local north London newspaper after graduating from the University of Sheffield with a first-class honours degree in journalism.
He took up the position of deputy news editor at Insurance Times in March 2023, before being promoted to his current role in May 2024.View full Profile
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