Company history

Aviva can trace its history back to the formation of the Norwich Union by Thomas Bignold in 1797, the Commercial Union in 1861 and Hand in Hand in 1696 and General Accident. Commercial Union bought Hand in Hand in 1905. CGU plc was formed as a result of the merger between Commercial union and General Accident.  Norwich Union operated as a mutual society until 1997 when Norwich Union plc demutualised and became an English public limited company.

Aviva was created by a merger of Norwich Union and CGU plc in 2000. CGU plc was renamed CGNU after the merger and subsequently on 1 July 2002, the Aviva name was adopted. The rebrand was completed in July of 2009 supported by a £9 million advertising and £150mn marketing campaign. In January 2010, the process of Aviva's rebrand was formally recognised when they appeared on the shortlist of the Transform Awards for rebranding and brand transformation in a number of categories

Since 2002 Aviva has withdrawn from lines of business and markets that did not offer the potential for market-leading positions or superior returns, or did not otherwise meet strategic objectives, principally through the disposal of property and casualty businesses in the UK London Market, the US, Australia, New Zealand and certain European countries.

Aviva has grown in part due to the acquisitions of RAC plc breakdown recovery operation for around £1.1 billion, in March 2005 Aviva. It acquired AmerUs, a financial services company in July 2006 which was later rebranded to Aviva. It also acquired River Road Asset Management, a US equity manager, to support the expansion of Aviva Investors business, on 5 January 2010.