Aviva has been given the green light by the Competition and Markets Authority to complete its £3.7bn takeover of Direct Line Group (DLG), a deal the financial services giant claims will deliver “cost synergies” of £125m.

Aviva Group CEO, Amanda Blanc, says the takeover “brings together some of the country’s best-known and admired insurance brands” to “better serve” the needs of 20 million UK customers.

She adds the company is “excited at the further opportunities this creates for Aviva’s growth”.

The takeover comes as Aviva reported growth in Q1 across its general insurance, retirement sales, and health and protection businesses. In a trading update in May, Blanc said Aviva had “got off to a great start in 2025”, benefitting from the “resilience” of its “diversified” business.

From a Direct Line perspective, the insurer branched out into the price comparison market in December, in an effort to “move at pace” to meet changing consumer needs. At the firm’s Capital Markets Day in July 2024, managing director of motor business Lucy Johnson said underperformance in customer acquisition had led to the group’s share of the motor insurance market declining.

Outperforming the market

According to YouGov BrandIndex data, Aviva has achieved strong customer satisfaction compared to Direct Line and DLG stablemate Green Flag. Aviva scores 17.3 for customer satisfaction over the year to date, compared to Direct Line at 9.8 and Green Flag at 6.1.

Aviva saw value perceptions rise to 8.1 for the year to date, compared to 5.3 the year prior. Green Flag and Direct Line remained mostly stagnant in their ratings at 6.8 and 3, respectively, compared to 6.7 and 2.9 the year prior.

Aviva’s ranking for quality hit 21.9 for the year to date, whereas quality perceptions declined for Direct Line and Green Flag compared to the previous year, coming in at 14.7 and 9.8, respectively.

‘Amplify the magic’: Aviva on the ‘evolution’ behind its brand refresh

Aviva also saw a 2.5 increase in its overall brand index score for the year to date compared to the year prior, while Direct Line and Green Flag saw decreases of 0.4 and 0.3, respectively.

Over the year to date, Direct Line registered a 3.7 drop in ad awareness compared to Aviva and Green Flag, which notched up increases of 1.2 and 1.4, respectively.

Aviva launched a refreshed brand expression in October last year, with group brand director Phoebe Barter telling Marketing Week the goal was to present Aviva as a “joyous, optimistic brand”, compared to the “fear” and “anxiety” felt in the rest of the category.

“Companies serve a role to their customers, but also have to be a responsible member of society. Trust, awareness, recognition and consideration are all interconnected from a brand perspective,” she said.