Each year the LV= Board considers whether or not to declare a mutual bonus and how much to give. The board will always consult with the With-Profits Actuary and With-Profits Committee.
Being a mutual
Being a mutual means we're owned by our 1.3m members
We know that when it comes to us and our members, we're better together. And, when we do well, we're able to give eligible members something extra.
- The mutual bonus is our way of rewarding eligible members for their support of the development and growth of our trading businesses.
- We currently do this by increasing the value of their policies by a percentage. In recent years, this has been between 0.2% and 1.0% (depending on the type of policy they hold).
- Since we introduced the mutual bonus in 2011 we’ve given a total of £210m back to eligible members.
- In 2019 we sold one of our trading businesses. We plan to use some of the sale proceeds to maintain the mutual bonus, for most of our eligible members, for years to come. You can read more information about this on our dedicated page.
It works like this
More information
The mutual bonus is not guaranteed to be paid each year and the amount can vary.
The decision to give a mutual bonus is at the sole discretion of the LV= Board, and is currently only offered to certain eligible with-profits members.
The LV= Board frequently review the member benefits and who is entitled to take advantage of these, including the mutual bonus.
Our goal is to protect the mutual bonus from most business risks. In extreme situations, such as if the solvency of the company is reduced to an unacceptable level, the future bonus rates could drop below the levels we are aiming for or be stopped. Any past mutual bonuses could be reduced or removed, although we think that’s unlikely to happen.
What’s different about the mutual bonus from 2020?
Since 2011, the mutual bonus has been partially funded from the success of our trading businesses. As we have sold one of our largest trading businesses – LV= General Insurance, there are fewer sources from which to pay future mutual bonuses.
Therefore, for the majority of eligible members, we will aim to use some of the proceeds of the sale to help maintain this bonus at similar levels to those that members have come to expect in the past.
We are using this approach except for members with newer policies, specifically those who hold Flexible Guarantee Bonds Series 3 or Flexible Guarantee Funds Series 2 policies, which since 2018 have received a mutual bonus of 0.2%. For more information about this please read through the FAQs below.
Your mutual bonus questions answered
Mutual bonus frequently asked questionsThe 2019 mutual bonus was £27 million
Our performance in 2019 meant we could award a discretionary mutual bonus of £27m (2018: £26m). We applied the mutual bonus by uplifting the payouts of LV= with-profits policies as follows:
| Policy group | Uplift % 2019 | Uplift % 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| LV= conventional with-profits policies and with-profits annuities | 1.0% | 1.0% |
| LV= accumulating and unitised with-profits policies except Flexible Guarantee policies | 1.0% |
1.0% |
| Flexible Guarantee Bonds Series 1 and 2 / Flexi Guarantee Plan / Flexible Guarantee Funds Series 1 | 0.5% | 0.5% |
| Flexible Guarantee Bonds Series 3 / Flexible Guarantee Funds Series 2 | 0.2% | 0.2%* |
| Policy group | Uplift % 2019 | Uplift % 2018 |
|---|---|---|
| LV= conventional with-profits policies and with-profits annuities | 1.0% | 1.0% |
| LV= accumulating and unitised with-profits policies except Flexible Guarantee policies | 1.0% |
1.0% |
| Flexible Guarantee Bonds Series 1 and 2 / Flexi Guarantee Plan / Flexible Guarantee Funds Series 1 | 0.5% | 0.5% |
| Flexible Guarantee Bonds Series 3 / Flexible Guarantee Funds Series 2 | 0.2% | 0.2%* |