Mutual bonus scheme

Rewarding our members

LV= is a mutual insurer which means we're owned by our 1.1m members. The mutual bonus scheme is designed to reward eligible members for their ownership of LV= and the risks taken in supporting the establishment and growth of our trading businesses in life and general insurance.

Why pay a mutual bonus?

LV= has been through a major turnaround in the last few years, witnessing significant growth in the number of policyholders, employees and profits. We believe the business will continue to grow and go from strength to strength. Because of this and our continuing financial strength we have announced a mutual bonus for the second year running. Our key financial figures for 2012 are:

2012 mutual bonus £20.9 million

Our second mutual bonus declaration of £20.9 million was based on the financial performance of the LV= group for 2012. As a result policyholders benefit from a further 1.1% mutual bonus uplift within their with-profits payouts.

It will typically add £110 to an eligible with-profits policy currently worth £10,000 and will ordinarily form part of the amount payable when the policy matures or is cashed in (eligible annuitants will receive an increase in their income). It will be on top of the existing regular and final bonuses which our with-profits members already receive.

This followed our first mutual declaration of £18.6 million for 2011 which resulted in policyholders benefiting from a 1% mutual bonus uplift within their with-profits payouts.

Currently the mutual bonus is used to increase the value of with-profits policies that are invested in the LVFS with-profits fund. The funds from policies that we acquired from the Royal National Pension Fund for Nurses (RNPFN) in 2001 are not invested in the LVFS with-profits fund, so these members are not included in the mutual bonus scheme.