LV= 2014 GWP shrinks as motor income drops by 10%

LV= reported general insurance gross written premiums of £1.39bn in 2014, down 4% on the £1.45bn the insurer wrote in 2013.

The cause of the decline was a 10% drop in private motor gross written premium (GWP) to £948m in 2014 from £1.05bn in 2013.

Private motor is LV=’s biggest general insurance line, accounting for 68% of its GWP.

LV= group chief executive Mike Rogers said: “Due to the current weak rating environment, we have chosen not to grow in this line of business and have focused on profitability rather than top line income.”

On a positive note, LV= saw growth in its other general insurance lines. Home GWP increased by 17.4% to £182m from £155m, commercial GWP, including SME, rose by 12.9% to £227m from £201m, and other business grew 5.7% to £37m from £35m.

Also, the total number of general insurance in-force policies increased by 4% to £4.6m from £4.4m.

Rogers said: “2014 was a challenging year for general insurance with depressed motor premiums affecting the business. However despite this our sales have continued to be buoyant and we have grown our business by over 180,000 new policies.

“We now have 4.6 million in-force policies with the majority of our recent growth in non-motor lines, primarily home and SME, reflecting our desire to diversify our business and build a balanced portfolio.”

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