Biba 2026: Financial workers call on insurers to improve pay outside conference

Representatives from Unite the Union gathered outside the 2026 Biba Conference to pressure insurers over pay, warning that workers are prepared to “push back” against below-inflation salary increases.

Union members handed out leaflets to delegates attending the conference, targeting major insurers including Axa, Aviva, Intact Insurance and Allianz.

Unite is calling on insurers to increase pay budgets, offer Retail Prices Index (RPI)-linked settlements, remove performance-related pay structures and prioritise worker pay over shareholder dividends.

Speaking outside the conference, Ben Graves, organiser for Unite, said insurers represented at the event were continuing to offer pay rises below inflation despite employees helping deliver significant profits.

“Workers throughout Axa, Aviva, Intact, Allianz and others who are represented at this conference over the next two days are making billions of pounds of profit for these employers,” he said.

“Year-on-year, when we start to discuss pay, employers come back with a pay pot of 2% or 3%. It’s below RPI inflation. It’s not good enough.”

Sending a message

Graves argued that staff continued to face cost of living pressures while insurers failed to pass profits on through salaries.

“These people are making the profits for them. Yet these employers are refusing to pass those profits on. People are struggling,” he said.

Referencing recent pay negotiations, Graves claimed some workers had received offers of 2.8%, below both RPI inflation of 4.1% and Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation of 3.3%.

“If workers are not keeping up with the cost of inflation, then any offer below that is a real terms pay cut,” he said.

Graves added that Unite wanted to send a message ahead of 2027 pay negotiations later this year that workers expected stronger settlements.

“We’re not protesting, we’re simply leafleting delegates,” he said. “We want to remind these chief executives that our members are around, that they will be demanding better and that they’ve got to do better themselves.”