Gender pay gaps at UK insurers revealed – the best and worst performers

Since April 2017, the UK government has required companies with 250 or more employees to publish data on their gender pay gap – defined as the “difference between the average pay of men and women in an organisation” – as well as the gender balance of their pay quartiles and bonus payments.

Choose an insurer from the dropdown below to explore their gender pay gap data.

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All data has been sourced from the UK government’s gender pay gap service. Displayed figures relate specifically to the employees of the displayed legal entity name, as registered with Companies House. If an insurer is based outside of the UK, the most relevant UK subsidiary was chosen.

The businesses included above are the largest firms from Insurance Times’ Top 50 Insurers 2024 report, which was published last October.

Lack of female filled senior roles driving pay gap

On average, across the 22 insurers analysed by Insurance Times, insurers reported a mean gender pay gap of £0.21, meaning that for every pound sterling paid to men across these firms, women received £0.79.

This disparity was largely driven by the proportion of men and women in different pay bands. On average, women made up 55.4% of the lowest paid quartile of earners, 51.2% of lower-middle earners, 41.9% of upper-middle earners and just 33.6% of upper quartile earners.

Insurance Times understands that the majority of insurers are confident their pay gaps are due to a higher proportion of female staff being employed in lower salaried positions, with a higher proportion of men working in higher salaried positions, rather than disparity between men and women employed in the same roles.

Across the insurers reviewed, men and women received bonuses at a nearly identical rate, with 85.4% of women and 86.6% of men employed by these firms receiving bonuses.

Men, however, received larger bonuses on average. For every £1 received by men, just £0.56 was paid to women – a mean bonus pay gap of £0.44, again reflecting the lower percentage of women employed in senior positions that are more likely to attract generous bonus schemes.

Room to improve

Axa had the smallest gender pay gap of the major insurers – but the firm believes there is still room to improve its figures.

Chief people and corporate responsibility officer at Axa UK and Ireland, Suzanne Scott, told Insurance Times: “At Axa UK, we are committed to equal opportunities for all and fairness in our policies and approaches. The gender pay gap is one of our priorities and we have introduced a variety of initiatives to address it, including collaborating with inclusion partners.

”We are proud that, as of April 2025, the female representation in our management committee is 50% and the percentage of women in senior management roles across the business is 42%.  

“In 2022, we were one of the first insurers to be accredited as a menopause friendly employer. The accreditation demonstrates Axa UK’s commitment to supporting the health and wellbeing of its employees and highlights our dedication to educating people on the issues female colleagues may be facing at work and in their personal lives.  

“We currently have more men in higher paid roles, such as data and artificial intelligence (AI), which is why – in 2024 – we formed a new partnership with Women in Data, an organisation that aims to empower and support women pursuing a career in data and technology. This partnership provides development and networking opportunities and supports our objective of promoting gender and pay equality.  

“Our commitment to inclusion and belonging extends to all and we recognise that our people have needs beyond work. This is why we provide flexible working, additional paid leave for carers and eight weeks paid leave for co-parents.

”In March 2024, we built on this further with the launch of Axa Cares, which provides health and wellbeing support to our people during significant life moments, including flexible paid leave for those who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth or domestic violence. 

“These efforts collectively work towards creating an environment where all colleagues feel valued and have equal opportunities for advancement based on their skills and contributions.”

In contrast, Ageas UK had the widest gender pay gap of any insurer in this analysis.

In its 2024/25 gender pay gap report, Ageas explained: “Our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion remains a high priority at Ageas, as we continue to deliver best practices that support our business objectives, as well as investing in opportunities to support skills and career growth for all our colleagues. We deliver this by creating a workplace that advocates fairness, openness and ongoing improvements.

“We acknowledge that the pay gap hasn’t closed quickly enough and recognise [that] the under-representation of women in management, senior and technical roles, along with most junior roles being filled by women, are the main drivers of our gender pay gap. We remain confident that it is not an equal pay issue.”