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Liverpool Victoria
Liverpool Victoria, trading since May 2007 as LV=, is one of the United Kingdom's largest insurance companies. It offers a range of protection, savings and retirement products as well as financial advice.
The first known meeting of the Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society was in March 1843 but there is no record of the members of the committee or its incorporation or rules. The anniversary history described it as starting without any subscribed capital, or influence and little experience. All that is known is that its president was a William Fenton, who also became treasurer and is believed to be the driving force behind the Society's early growth. However, its objectives were clearly set out in its first report in September 1843. “The great object of this Society is to afford the poorer classes of the community the means of providing for themselves and their children a decent interment at the trilling expense of a halfpenny, a penny or three pence, according to the age of the member” For the remainder of the nineteenth century the Society was associated with what simple life assurance or the ‘penny policy’. Door-to-door agents collected these penny premiums, allowing people to provide for the costs of a decent funeral. After eighteen months the Society had provided for over 200 funerals.
Within the space of three or four years, the Society had collectors operating outside Liverpool, in towns such as Chester and Runcorn. By the 1860s, Liverpool Victoria was operating across England from Newcastle to Plymouth with collectors also in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. An increasing amount of business was being transacted in London and in 1884 the Chief Office was moved there – an early example of a commercial head office moving out of Liverpool. A wider range of product was being offered to customers and in 1906, to recognise this, the Society proposed to convert to a limited liability company. This was fiercely contested through the courts and it was not until 1907 that arbitrators ruled that a subsidiary could be formed “for the transaction of business outside the Society’s scope”.
The development of new business lines was a continuing feature of the Society's expansion. A particularly important introduction followed the National Insurance Act 1911 that created a contributions-based system of health insurance. Friendly societies which had their own schemes were given a major role in administering health insurance and in 1912 the Liverpool Victoria established its own approved National Insurance Society. Another example was that by the 1930s, the Society was offering complete home insurance policies through its link with the Commercial Insurance Company.
In May 2013, LV= issued subordinated bonds priced at £350 million. This debt, which carries interest at 6.5%, is due for repayment in 2043, although LV= has the option to repay it from 2023. The debt counts as lower tier 2 capital and is expected to be eligible as capital under the Solvency 2 capital regime which will apply to all EU insurance companies from 1 January 2016.
Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society Limited was deregistered as a friendly society and registered as Liverpool Victoria Financial Services Ltd. on 2 January 2020 with the company focusing on life insurance, pensions and investments. It remains a mutual organisation owned by its members. Liverpool Victoria General Insurance was sold to Allianz in 2019 and is no longer part of Liverpool Victoria though the name continues to be used under a brand licence agreement.
Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society Limited was deregistered as a friendly society and registered as Liverpool Victoria Financial Services Ltd. on 2 January 2020 with the company focusing on life insurance, pensions and investments.
After members rejected the sale to Bain Capital in December 2021, LV= (as it is now known) removed chief executive, Mark Hartigan and the mutual came under new leadership. Former Bupa chief executive, David Hynam, joined as Chief Executive in September 2022. Hynam was noted for his values-driven leadership style and a background in business transformation.
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Liverpool Victoria
Liverpool Victoria, trading since May 2007 as LV=, is one of the United Kingdom's largest insurance companies. It offers a range of protection, savings and retirement products as well as financial advice.
The first known meeting of the Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society was in March 1843 but there is no record of the members of the committee or its incorporation or rules. The anniversary history described it as starting without any subscribed capital, or influence and little experience. All that is known is that its president was a William Fenton, who also became treasurer and is believed to be the driving force behind the Society's early growth. However, its objectives were clearly set out in its first report in September 1843. “The great object of this Society is to afford the poorer classes of the community the means of providing for themselves and their children a decent interment at the trilling expense of a halfpenny, a penny or three pence, according to the age of the member” For the remainder of the nineteenth century the Society was associated with what simple life assurance or the ‘penny policy’. Door-to-door agents collected these penny premiums, allowing people to provide for the costs of a decent funeral. After eighteen months the Society had provided for over 200 funerals.
Within the space of three or four years, the Society had collectors operating outside Liverpool, in towns such as Chester and Runcorn. By the 1860s, Liverpool Victoria was operating across England from Newcastle to Plymouth with collectors also in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. An increasing amount of business was being transacted in London and in 1884 the Chief Office was moved there – an early example of a commercial head office moving out of Liverpool. A wider range of product was being offered to customers and in 1906, to recognise this, the Society proposed to convert to a limited liability company. This was fiercely contested through the courts and it was not until 1907 that arbitrators ruled that a subsidiary could be formed “for the transaction of business outside the Society’s scope”.
The development of new business lines was a continuing feature of the Society's expansion. A particularly important introduction followed the National Insurance Act 1911 that created a contributions-based system of health insurance. Friendly societies which had their own schemes were given a major role in administering health insurance and in 1912 the Liverpool Victoria established its own approved National Insurance Society. Another example was that by the 1930s, the Society was offering complete home insurance policies through its link with the Commercial Insurance Company.
In May 2013, LV= issued subordinated bonds priced at £350 million. This debt, which carries interest at 6.5%, is due for repayment in 2043, although LV= has the option to repay it from 2023. The debt counts as lower tier 2 capital and is expected to be eligible as capital under the Solvency 2 capital regime which will apply to all EU insurance companies from 1 January 2016.
Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society Limited was deregistered as a friendly society and registered as Liverpool Victoria Financial Services Ltd. on 2 January 2020 with the company focusing on life insurance, pensions and investments. It remains a mutual organisation owned by its members. Liverpool Victoria General Insurance was sold to Allianz in 2019 and is no longer part of Liverpool Victoria though the name continues to be used under a brand licence agreement.
Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society Limited was deregistered as a friendly society and registered as Liverpool Victoria Financial Services Ltd. on 2 January 2020 with the company focusing on life insurance, pensions and investments.
After members rejected the sale to Bain Capital in December 2021, LV= (as it is now known) removed chief executive, Mark Hartigan and the mutual came under new leadership. Former Bupa chief executive, David Hynam, joined as Chief Executive in September 2022. Hynam was noted for his values-driven leadership style and a background in business transformation.