Jennifer Rudden
Research Lead Financial Services & Real estate
The United Kingdom is one of the largest insurance markets in the world, being home to both a very large domestic market, and many multinational insurers who provide insurance services around the world. In 2022, the UK was ranked third by life and non-life direct premiums written globally – surpassed only by the United States and China. However, the number of insurance companies the UK has dropped significantly over the past decade. One reason for this is M&A activity in the sector. Financial services, including insurance, is one of the most active M&A sectors in the UK.
UK household spending on insurance
In its simplest terms the insurance industry can be broken down into two main categories: life and non-life insurance. The life insurance sector provides coverage not only in the event of death, but also for other major, life-changing events such as disability or terminal illness. Household spending on life insurance peaked in 2006 and fell slightly between 2020 and 2022. Conversely, the non-life sector includes motor insurance, property insurance, insurance for businesses, as well as private health insurance (according to most definitions). Motor insurance accounted for more than half of weekly household spend on insurance in 2022.Who are the UK’s market leaders?
Many of the leading companies participating in Europe's insurance industry were located in the United Kingdom. Three of the top ten life and health insurance companies in Europe are headquartered in the UK, with Aon, Prudential, and Willis Tower Watson leading the pack with a combined market value of over 130 billion U.S dollars as of May 2023. The other leading European insurers by gross written premiums hail from Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, and Belgium.
