The Best Equity Release Providers In The UK

Aviva

Who is Aviva?

Aviva is the largest equity release provider in the UK. Over 15.5 million people in the UK have worked with Aviva. £30.6 billion was paid out in benefits and claims to Aviva’s customers in 2020, giving it a great track record. 250,000 people released more than £8billion since 1998 which is the reason for so many of its awards. Some of these awards include Personal Finance Awards winner of Best Equity Release Lender and What Mortgage Awards winner of Best Equity Release Lender. Aviva is also part of the Equity Release Council. The equity release council is a consumer-centric trade body that sets high standards for consumers and creates awareness for how housing wealth can help you.

How are Aviva rated?

On Trustpilot, Aviva has received 15,944 reviews claiming that the business is excellent. The reviews state that Aviva is ‘easy to use’, ‘The price is very good’, ‘Excellent and quick’ and ‘Very simple process’. However, there are also 2,322 reviews claiming that Aviva is bad. These negative reviews state that the company is ‘Awful’, ‘Painful’, ‘Terribly frustrating’ and ‘Disappointing’. Aviva also offers pension annuity schemes on top of equity release.

Who is the CEO of Aviva?

Amanda Blanc has been the CEO of Aviva since 6 July 2020. She is a Welsh businesswoman who is the first woman to chair the Association of British Insurers. Amanda Blanc set out to improve the customer’s experience by digesting, automating, and simplifying the business. She has also set out goals based on climate change.  One of which is to become a net-zero company by 2040. This goal stands out amongst the competitors in the insurer world as they are the most ambitious.

What products and services do Aviva offer?

Aviva offers many other products such as motor insurance, home insurance, life cover, health insurance and protection, investments, and retirement.

Does Aviva have social media?

Aviva has social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Facebook has just over 1,000,000 people who follow their page. Their Instagram account has just over 5,000 followers. The Twitter page has 34.6k followers and LinkedIn has 217,000. On their different social media channels they post mostly promotional information for their brand.

When was Aviva established? 

Aviva was established in 1696 London as Hand in Hand. Hand in Hand was the world’s oldest fire insurance office. In 1699 firemen were hired to deal with fires in London. In 1700 Hand in hand founded Amicable Society. Amicable society had a purpose of making sure widows and children of members were provided for after their death. Throughout the years this gradually reached the Aviva that is known today.

Types Of Equity Release

Legal & General

Who are Legal & General?

Legal & General are one of the largest insurance and asset management groups within Europe. Moneyfacts awarded Legal & General five stars in 2021 and they were also awarded Later Life Lender of the Year in the Mortgage Awards 2021.

Who is the CEO of Legal & General?

Sir Nigel Wilson has been the Group Chief Executive of Legal and General since 30 Jan 2012. He was knighted for Finance and Regional Development in the 2022 New Year’s Honours List. Before being appointed as Group Chief Executive in 2012 he had joined Legal & General as Group Chief Financial Officer in 2009.

Sir John Kingman KCB FRS was appointed as chairman on October 24, 2016. John Kingman is also chairman of Tesco Bank and Deputy chair of the National Gallery. Kingman was part of the UK’s response to the financial crisis where he handled the resolution of Northern Rock and lead negotiations with RBS, Lloyds, and HBOS on their £37bn recapitalization.

When was Legal & General founded?

Legal & General was founded by six lawyers in June 1836. With the goal to build a better society, it did not take long until they were having a major impact upon the world around them. £20,000 was invested into the Stockton and Hartlepool Railway to help connect cities and improve the economy. Over 150 years later £1 billion was invested in 15 towns and cities across England. From 1940 to 1970 Legal & General relocated their offices from London to Surrey where their listed building would later receive approval to be transformed into a £215 million retirement company. Later in the same decade, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company of New York was acquired. Approximately 40 years later Legal & General America was established. Currently Legal and General’s pensions business support 629,00 people in the UK and USA. From 1995 to 2011 the Mortgage club was established. And around 25 years later it would go on to be involved with one in three of all intermediated mortgages. 2014 was the year that saw the UK’s average exceed 40 for the first time. Because of this Legal & General entered the lifetime mortgage market to help fund retirement through the release of money from their homes. They went on to help clients release more than £4.5 billion of equity from their homes.

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LV=

Who are LV=?

LV= is an insurance company that was founded in 1843 with over 1.28million customers. Offering services such as life insurance, income protection, investments, and retirement income solutions.

What services do LV= offer?

LV= was commonly known as a penny policy service. This penny policy referred to how LV= had door-to-door salesmen collecting penny premiums which allowed people to leave a small amount behind to help cover the costs of a funeral. LV= offers a much broader service now including car insurance, life insurance, home insurance, travel insurance, and pension & retirement services.

What is LV=’s history?

LV= has had a 175-year history. In 1843 the first office was moved into. In 1868 an office was bought in Islington, Liverpool for £2,000. This then later became the head office. The head office was moved to London in 1930. 1996 was the year in which LV= moved to Bournemouth.

In 2015 LV= was put into a ranking for the best customer service in the UK. This ranking was known as the UK Institute of Customer Service Satisfaction Index. It was ranked as the best insurance company in the UK for customer satisfaction. And it ranked 7th place for customer service across all UK businesses.

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Sunlife

Who are sunlife?

Sunlife is a UK-based financial services company that aims to make later life easier by offering a high standard of financial services. Sunlife has one of the UK’s most popular over 50s plans. As well as 800,000 people choosing Sunlife over other providers.

What is Sunlife’s history?

Having a history dating back to 1810 they are one of England’s best-known financial services companies. In 1810 they opened their first office across from the Bank of England. Sunlife became the first company to offer life assurance without a medical in 1900. They offered the first over 50s life cover plan that was introduced in 1979, which resulted in many people planning for their future with Sunlife to this day. The guaranteed over 50 plan is the UK’s most popular plan with over 850,000 policyholders. In 2014 a new look and products were brought to the company. With them now offering a modern look with products appealing to a wide range of different people. 2017 was the year that Sunlife joined the Phoenix Group as one of the largest providers of Insurance in the UK.

Has Sunlife won any awards?

Sunlife has won many awards for its high standard of work. Sunlife was named one of the 2022 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World. This award has been given to Sunlife for the 13th consecutive year and is currently tied for the number one position among insurance companies globally.

Who is the CEO of Sunlife?

Mark Screeton is SunLife’s CEO. Mark Screeton joined the company in 2021. During his time as CEO, he has continued to push to make later life easier by offering a high standard of financial support.

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More2Life

Who are More2Life?

More2Life is a company that fully focuses upon equity release and nothing else. Launching in 2008 More2Life has had a major part in the industry. They are currently helping over 1,000 people a month release money from their homes. More2Life is based in Preston, just north of Liverpool and Manchester.

What is More2Life’s history?

In 2008 More2Life was founded with the goal to create a larger focus upon the customer’s needs. And from this point, it was not long until they started to receive awards and got recognized. In 2012 their first industry award was secured. More2Life continued to grow in 2013 and received more industry awards. 2014 was the year when More2Life received its first rating in the Financial Advisor Service Awards. In 2015 the FASA 5-star award was held. And in 2016 they received their first online service award, which was 5 stars, and their third 5-star FASA. In 2017 More2Life moved office space to Fleming House. Also, they held their perfect FASA score once again. 2018 saw even more awards be achieved. And in 2019 £2billion of lending was reached.

How is More2Life rated?

More2Life has received a 4.5 rating on Trust Pilot which further shows its good service. 338 of the 441 reviews claimed that More2Life is excellent. Whilst 61 people claimed their service was poor. Reviews ranged from saying that More2Life was ‘very professional and straightforward’ to ‘awful experience’.

 

OneFamily

Who are OneFamily?

OneFamily is a financial service provider based in England. OneFamily offers a very different company structure than most financial services. OneFamily is a company owned by their members. It is currently owned by 2.6 million members. Awards have been won from Defaqto and Your Money. With over 2 million customers and over £7billion worth of money being looked after it is trusted by many.

What is OneFamily’s vision?

OneFamily has the vision of doing right by their customers, supporting communities, playing our part to reduce climate change and championing colleague wellbeing and diversity.

What is OneFamily’s history?

Over the 45 years OneFamily has existed a lot of change has been seen. In 1975 OneFamily began. Within the same year the Family Bond Launched. Five years later in 1980 the Homeowners Friendly Society was established. In 1982 Family Charities and Ethical Fund launched. 1996 was the first year that OneFamily won its first award, which was the regional and national Employees in the Community Award. Their first ISA product was launched in 1999. Later in the year they received a national award by Business in the Community. In 2004 Family Investments was formed. By 2008 over 500,000 Child Trust Fund accounts were being managed by the company

Do OneFamily offer any environmentally friendly services?

OneFamily has a passion for becoming more climate friendly. When investing with OneFamily you have the option to invest your money or a percentage of your money into climate-friendly companies.

Canada Life

Who are Canada Life?

Canada Life is a company that provides retirement, investment and protection services to individuals, families, and businesses. With approximately 3.5 million customers they are one the largest providers in the UK. They are currently managing over 40 billion of equities, fixed income, and property and comprehensive multi-asset range through their investment division. Canada Life has been in the UK since 1903 and has 1,200 employees in the United Kingdom. The company can be traced back to 1847.

Are Canada Life involved with any charities?

They have always helped the community through a wide range of charities. To help with the COVID-19 related issues they have been working with COVID-19 Urgent Appeal, Glass Door, Mind, NHS, Manx Solidarity Fund, and The Trussell Trust. Canada Life feels that it is important to be committed to being fair and helping the community. Contributions have also been made to support the LGBTQ+ community through the charities of akt and Regard. Donations have also been made to colleague chosen charities including Histio UK, Shelter, Help Bristol’s Homeless, Hospice, Manx Cancer Help, and Manx Wildlife Trust. More charities were supported during Canada Life UK’s charity week 26-30 April 2021. These included Larkin Community College, Colaiste Pobail Lorcain, The Grand Appeal, Alone, Histio UK, Shelter and Hospice.

What are Canada Life’s values?

Canada Life stands by 4 values that include People, Together, Excellence, and Integrity.

Where is Canada Life located? 

Seven locations are occupied by the company across the United Kingdom. These include Potters Bar, Bristol, the Isle of Man, central London, Worthing, and Dublin. The largest of these sites is Potters Bar.

Who is Canada Life’s CEO?

Canada Life is run by CEO Lindsey Rix. Joining in September 2021 she began the delivery of a transformation plan that would make Canada Life a competitor in the retirement market. Before joining the team, she was CEO of UK savings and retirement at Aviva. With further previous experience with Barclays and Santander.

What is lifetime mortgage?

Age Partnership

Who are Age Partnership?

Age Partnership is an equity release provider established in 2004. They are based in Leeds, Century Way. Age Partnership is an award-winning service that is one of the top providers in the UK. They had the largest number of plans from Q1 2021-Q3 2021.

How are Age Partnership rated online?

Age Partnership has received 7,963 reviews on Trustpilot, averaging 4.7 stars out of five. 89% of reviews claim the business to be excellent. Reviews can be seen stating that Age Partnership is ‘very helpful’, ‘first class’, ‘excellent service’, and ‘very efficient’.

Who is the CEO of Age Partnership? 

Andrew Thirkill is the founder and group chairman of Age Partnership. He started the business in 2004 because he believed that everyone deserves to enjoy their retirement without worries. The aim was to provide a better quality of service than their competitors and that is what makes their service different. Currently, they have over 80,000 customers and have advised on over £3.2bn of equity release transactions.

What are Age Partnerships’s ideals? 

Age partnership follows three ideals which are support, improve and deliver. Their vision includes improve and innovate, be the best, engage, learn and achieve, embrace digital, build the brand and leave a positive footprint. Age partnership has also stated their culture of communication, colleague feedback, reward and recognition, and diversity and inclusion.

Equity Release VS Remortgaging, Which is  Better?

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